Fishing Salt

[trent]

After reading some of the posts, it sounds like a few of you really enjoy saltwater; Krebsie, Jordan and Kevin have all mentioned it in the last day or so.

Tell me about fishing saltwater. I've seen pictures of people fishing on flats boats in the Keys, Bahamas, etc. and have seen spin fishing shows on redfish in the Bayou, but haven't seen anyone fly fishing for redfish on TV yet.

So, tell me where you go, what you fish for, flies used, tackle you use, how you fish for those species, and why you like it so much. Do you go with a guide or just go on your own?

Inform my curious mind.

[krebsie]

tell you and "I KILL YOU" Sure you want to know? This thread could be pages and pages! Some things will of course have to be omitted such as, where, and, with what, and how! Some things have very serious consequences if they fall into the wrong hands. So I expect you'll understand if some info is left out. So to sum up all my Saltwater fishing in just a few words, Don't ever pass up the opportunity to go weather by yourself or with a guide! It doesn't even compare with fresh water and once you do it, it's like a staff infection, it will CONSUME you. Still want to know?
Krebsie

[rstaight]

Trent,

I have fished the Gulf of Mexico from Clearwater down to Sarassota. If I don't hire a guide I just go wet wading in the surf.

I'm not to proud about what I use. I take fly rod and a spinning rod. The spinning rod is used when it gets to windy for the fly rod.

There was one time I hooked up with a 160# tarpon (so the guide said) while using 10# test line with a 30# bite leader. It was such a blast I almost wet myself laughing. I did manage a couple of jumps before he broke off.

[trent]

Krebsie:

I will brace myself and hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. As long as it isn't the super staph with no known treatment, I think I can take it.

Don't hold back. Just lay it out there...

T-

Rick:

I'd say if I hooked up with a 160# fish on any kind of tackle, wetting myself would probably be a given and most likely the least of my concerns.

T-

[phishinincident]

I was born in south Florida, and fished ever since my father thought i was able to, and im sure way before that too. Unf. I lived there only until i was 11 which was 10 years ago, we had a flats boat, and went to many places in the state spending most of our time in the keys and similar. My dad was pretty hardcore, i really dont even know the extent to the fish he landed only stories... The iner-coastal was only about 10 mins from our house and I at a young age can remember many of tarpon in the boat. We frequented Sebastian Inlet, along with Chuckaluskee where we fished the grass flats and groves for snook and trout, along with the oyster shelves for Reds. I want to go back soooo badly, this was all before we got into fly fishing, and to go back now would be a dream. We still have many connections and friends down south, but time is a huge issue.... I know ill make it back down someday, maybe even seasonally ( I have a few friends that do the AK in the summer FL in the winter deal)

It is addicting!

[krebsie]

Trent
To answer some of your questions without writing a book on this page. Snook, Saltwater small mouth bass with a large mouth and a bit of an attitude. We do sight fishing, which is more like hunting than fishing, then a lot of blind casting, depending on the tide and weather. 9wt fast action rod and floating line. We use poppers and subsurface flies like the First Cast and the Back Country Sweeper. Mostly in black and or white. Fishing off a 16' Whip Ray (Skiff) with a casting platform on the front and a polling platform on the back. All the scenery is the same, Mangroves, Mangroves and more Mangroves. Well keep the boat as far off the bank as one can cast then search with every ounce of your vision for something that looks like a fish. When one is spotted the spotter will direct the caster to him with the basic clock signals. Fish at 2:00 o'clock 50'...... Then it happens!!!!!!!!! The heart starts racing, vision becomes tunneled, your muscles start to tremble at the thought of making a bad cast and spooking the fish, you do a single back cast then let er fly. The fly hits the water and you let it set for a few seconds then start your retrieve. Then if your successful, "POW" and I mean POW like no bass has ever thought about. You learn to "strip strike" very fast, because if you raise your rod tip to strike you will NOT hook the Snook. Then just for good measure strike him again just to make him mad, then hang on tight and enjoy!! Land him, let him go, and do it again!!!!! I can't take it any more so I'm gona stop for now! We'll talk blind casting next!
Krebsie

[trent]

Was watching a show where they were sight casting for "tailing" bonefish. Do snook do that as well or are they just cruising and you pick them up and what is the spotter looking for exactly.

[krebsie]

Snook don't feed on the bottom generally, if they do it's just a quick grab at a crab or something like that. When a Red is tailing he's generally feeding in the shallows and as a bottom feeder his tail naturally comes up and sometimes out of the water, that's when he's "Tailing". Snook are cruisers most of the time and what you look for is tough to explain. Of course your looking for a fish but to know if it's a Snook or a Red or Shark.... takes seeing a few before you can recognize the difference. Looking for any color difference in the water ie log stick rock cast to all of them. Two years ago we were in a large shallow bay maybe 14" deep. You could see everything for 50 yards or so, and there were no fish cruising. I saw what looked like a small crab or just a dark spot at about 40' and out of boredom I made a cast to it. First cast was to the left and the thing didn't move so I made a non shalont kind of cast to the other side of it and "POW". It was a keeper Snook, he was laying on the bottom almost totally cover with silt, evidently he'd been laying there quite some time. The slot on Snook it 28" to 33", that's a pretty narrow slot. I think he was 28 1/2". That particular fish did a hard run to the right and then right under the bow of the boat, made a hard right and straight up out of the water. When he reentered the water it was so shallow that he literally stuck in the mud like a fence post. We had to pole over to him and pull him out by his tail. His mouth was open when he hit the bottom and consequently was packed full of this stinky black goo. We laughed and laughed then cleaned him up and, yes we ate him for dinner! The guide that we fish with once in a while is Capt. Kevin Mahiloff check out his site at snookin.com he has a couple really short videos that are pretty cool. There's a couple guys at flies and fins dot something, that made a video with Kevin I've seen it on You Tube but couldn't find it to tell you where it's at. Try searching for, fly fishing Snook or fly fishing everglades or something like that. If you can find it, it will let you see exactly what I'm talking about, the scenery, the casting, the strip strike, and mostly the battle these fish put up.
Krebsie

[krebsie]

I managed to find the You Tube video. Go to you tube and search for "Fly fishing Florida Everglades. The video labeled Fly Fishing-Florida Everglades by flies and fins is the one. The dude with the face mask is Capt. Kevin Mahiloff and the other two are the guys from flies and fins. In one scene the guy makes a cast and gets a strike and he does the classic "Rod Strike" and guess what, he doesn't get the fish. Later he makes a perfect strip strike and he gets his fish. Turn up the volume and listen to the commands from the Capt. he's pretty intense, but after you get over the nerves he's an absolute blast to fish with. Check out the scenery in this video. No mater where you go in the 1.4 or 2.5 Million acres of the park,don't remember what the actual acreage is, it all looks pretty much the same. Beautiful!
Krebsie