Anglers fishing with me on the Snook Fin-Addict, out of CB's Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key, during the past couple of weeks had a variety of action. Tarpon, little tunny, bluefish, redfish and trout were all caught and released with jigs and flies.
Only one other time have I encountered tarpon either on the flats or in the coastal gulf in December, but it happened again on Dec. 20th. Fly anglers Todd Spivey, from Saratoga, WY, and Jim McKiney, from Bradenton, FL, fished the coastal gulf along Gasparilla Island and we found blitz of little tunny, sharks and tarpon all feeding on several large schools of threadfins. Since the baits were big, we used large white flies, "Illegal Flies" to be exact. No funny business here. The "illegal fly" is fly that my friend, Capt. Scott Hopkins of Fly's Down Guide Service from PA, uses to target large stripers with his clients on the Susquehanna Flats in the spring in upper Chesapeake Bay. It is a large white (2/0 or 3/0) Bozo Hair Clouser fly with a rattle tied into the body of the fly. It matched the bait perfectly as Todd and Jim hooked up 6 or 7 times with little tunny, only to have ½ of them eaten by several species of sharks (blacktips, lemons and more) from 4' to 8' long.
Todd hooked and landed about an 80-pound tarpon with a 9-weight rod and an Orvis 350-grain depth charge fly line on one of his first casts of the day. With tired arms from battling tarpon and little tunny to 10-pounds, we headed for the backcountry to hunt for tailing reds. Even though the tide was getting too high and the wind had whipped up to 15 to 20-mph, we found reds tailing in Placida Harbor. We waded the flat to better deal with the wind and to allow both fly anglers to fish. Jim landed a pair of reds with a crab pattern. A great day!
Fly angler Nelson Alcaraz and his son, Lucas, from NY, fished the Terra Ceia Bay area with me on Dec. 23. They caught and released several trout and ladyfish with Clouser flies and jigs. I fished the same area the following Wednesday, Dec. 27 with Bill Beauchamp, from Bradenton, FL and daughters Noelle and Michelle. They had a great day catching and releasing about 30 trout to 18" and 7 or 8 reds to 26" with CAL jigs and shad tails. Fly angler Stan Miller, from the Baltimore, MD area fished there with me on Friday, Dec. 29 and caught and released 7 or 8 trout to 18" and a bluefish with Ultra Hair Clouser flies.
Fly angler Vince Georges and his girlfriend, Kristen Mickey, both from the San Francisco Bay area fished Little Sarasota Bay with me on Dec. 26. A front had just passed through on Christmas Day and there were a few rain showers and some wind lingering behind the front. Despite challenging conditions, they caught and released numerous large ladyfish and trout with Clouser flies and CAL jigs with shad tails.
Fly anglers Mike Delaney, from WA, and his brother Bob Delaney, from NY, fished Charlotte Harbor with me on Thursday, Dec. 28. The morning was slow probably due to cold water but the action picked up in the afternoon. They caught and released a pair of reds on CAL jigs with shad tails and numerous large ladyfish on flies and jigs to finish the day up. Fly angler, Bryan Beebe from Sarasota, FL, fished the same area with me on Saturday, Dec. 30. We had a few shots at tailing reds and Bryan briefly hooked one with a crab pattern, but then they quit tailing. We checked the coastal gulf out of Gasparilla Pass and found birds diving just outside the pass. Although I was hoping it would be little tunny or more, it was bluefish. Bryan caught and released several small blues with a pink over white Ultra Hair Clouser fly.
Next week's negative low tides tides should be good for tailing redfish in Charlotte Harbor. Trout season reopened today in the south region and they should be concentrated in potholes along with reds when the tide is low.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett
Snook fin-Addict guide Service, Inc.
(941) 923-7799
E-mail snookfin@aol.com
www.flyfishingflorida.net and www.snookfin-addict.com