April, the Month of Change on Florida’s Gulf Coast

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

April, the Month of Change on Florida’s Gulf Coast

Well April is in the wings. And April is a month of change on the Florida’s Gulf Coast. The northbound highways, on the east and west side, are both jammed with traffic, as the snowbirds flee.

If you’re a resident Florida angler, this is a relief, a welcome sign. Things quiet down at the ramp and there is plenty of parking even if you arrive a bit late. Yeah, you own the water once again, as the fishing picks up. I know the feeling; I lived there for 7 years.

Yet, something else is going on too. The rainy season is fast approaching. And it lingers right into fall, bringing more changes to the Florida Gulf Coast. Yes, the rain stains the water with tannins from the mangroves. Causing the crystal-clear waters of winter to vanish. You can already see it starting in this March photo. (note the blue tip on this redfish’s tail, an artifact of winter)  Soon the heat skyrockets. And thunderstorms become common in midafternoon. Well, I guess you can never win them all.

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False Dawn

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

False Dawn

Mysterious and beautiful, False Dawn is the haunting transition between the ink of night and the birth of day. From the east, a dreamlike reddish glow paints the zodiac. Typically arriving an hour before sunrise. Birds have yet to fly. Air temperatures are rock bottom. And if you have been fishing all night for striped bass, this is last call. With dawn the fishing will die.

 

 

 

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The Nirvana Fly Reel

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

The Nirvana Fly Reel

Did I already do this damn post? Keep thinking I did, but I can’t find it on the site. Well, no harm done.

On the net some time ago, I came across this Nirvana fly reel and immediately like it. The website was Moonlit Fly Fishing  Came in two sizes and was called a vintage “click” pawl reel. Which is exactly what it is. Not real expensive. Although it has crept up in price since I got it, but I believe they offer a discount coupon. Check it out.

I have two of the 4/6 size reels. (more on that fiasco in a minute)  Front and back plates are solid – not ventilated. Has a brass reel foot, line guard, and center screw. Nice touch. Frame 3.5″ tall, 1′ wide. Weight  7.20 0unces with 5wt line & backing. Great “click” on the line out. More than adequate drag. Simple construction, too. Reversible. Little to go wrong. And they look killer on my vintage Winston glass rods. In fact I used one to do the cover for Estuary Magazine.

Why do I have two? Okay I goofed. At one point I was certain I had lost the first reel, combed the house for days. Man, I was bummed; I really liked the thing. So eventually I broken down and got a replacement. Don’t you know two weeks later I found the original reel under my truck’s seat! Oh well, life goes on.

(PS I hear this same reel is offered under a different name by a different vendor.)

 

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Caddisflies by Gary LaFontaine

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Caddisflies by Gary LaFontaine

Back in 1981 Nick Lyons published Caddisflies by Gary La Fontaine. It was then and is still today the definitive angling text on the subject. A large format book of 8.5″ x 11″ and over 300 pages, it is well written, highly informative and well-illustrated by Harvey Eckert. And in today’s collectible book market brings about $75.

Since the earliest days, fly-fishing has been mainly focused on mayflies. In fact, it’s fair to say that when it comes to aquatic macroinvertebrates, mayflies are the gold standard that rules our reference books and our fly tying. Gary’s book was a wakeup call. It showed the angling world that caddisflies were every bit as important as mayflies. And he did it in an exhaustive way, leaving no loose ends, covering hatches, tying, fishing, and entomology. (ps, those are my caddis pupae flies sprinkled over the jacket.)

After Caddisflies, Gary’s wrote three additional books The Dry Fly: New Angles in 1990, Trout Flies: Proven Patterns, 1993 and then Flyfishing Mountain Lakes in 1996.  And I believe, he was also planning a book on blue-winged olives (BWOs), one of the most common and wide-spread hatches on our trout waters. Unfortunately Gary contracted Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and passed in January 2002, at age 56. Quite a loss.

 

 

 

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The Complete Book of Weakfishing

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

The Complete Book of Weakfishing

Recently I came across an old book I hadn’t seen in years – The Complete Book of Weakfishing by Henry Lyman and Frank Woolner. Published in 1959, these writers are two of the finest anglers to every pickup a pen.  I meet Henry Lyman years back in the offices of Salt Water Sportsman Magazine. Unfortunately never had a chance to meet Frank Woolner, although I wrote story about him for Fly Fishing in Saltwater Magazine back n 1996. It was entitled Von Woolner’s Fly Box. I’ll let you discover why.

And as you would expect, they do a good job here covering weakfish and their kissing cousins – the spotted seatrout, the silver seatrout and the sand trout – from Florida to New England. And they do so with a variety of gear including fly rods! Yes Frank was one of first writers to realize the value of a fly rod on the coast.

 

 

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