Southern Comfort

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Ed Mitchell

 

Southern Comfort

The Florida fryalator is in high gear. Each and everyday the mercury eclipses 90. Humidity hovers at 70 percent and the big gold orb roars down from the heavens. It can be intense. Blinding light, the air as heavy as a blanket. Then come afternoon thunderstorms scud in, bringing with them lightning, walls of rain – and some relief. Welcome to the tropics.

Like living anywhere, you either adapt, or you move on. Your choice. In the morning I kayak, fish and photograph. But when the sun points toward post meridian, I paddle home and take refuge. The heat is simply too much. Back at the hacienda, I partake in my preferred triumvirate: ice cold beer, a dip in the pool and a siesta. Ahh amigo, now there is southern comfort.

 

 

 

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Kayaking for the Silver King

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Ed Mitchell

Right now tarpon are scarce in front of my marina, although jumbos hangout there regularly in early spring. Ten miles down the road in Matlacha, however, there are plenty of silver kings. Its a very cool location for many reasons. So I launched the Adios there yesterday.

At one point I had a couple dozen tarpon rolling within 100 feet of me. These are youngsters, mind you, not the real big boys. Turned out to be very tough. Lotsa casts, lotsa fly changes. Nothing. And then…. bingo hookup!  Got a couple of jumps from a fish or 15-20 pounds. Didn’t last long, but hey, kayaking for kings is muy caliente, amigo!

 

 

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Reeling in Reds, Fly Fishing for Redfish

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Ed Mitchell

Right now I’m seeing more snook than anything else. Believe me that’s fine by me, but I’m enjoying other species as well. Spotted Seatrout are eager biters, tend to fight on top, and look a bit like their northern cousin the Weakfish. Mangrove Snapper take a fly, and fight surprisingly well for their size. I run into Jack Crevalles as well; they are eager biters too, and exceedingly tough customers. Hats off to those hardy hombres.

Redfish on the flats

The other customer I see on the flats is the Redfish. Besides being an attractive quarry, they are excellent fighters. Super on a fly rod. They run hard and bore deep like a striped bass. I’m impressed by the Reds. Would love to meet more of them.

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Jumping a Tarpon at First Light

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Ed Mitchell

Yesterday I got down to the ramp at first light. As I’m dropping the Adios into the drink I spy a fin glide by, 20 feet away. Tarpon. Damn, I pick up the rod and fire a fly. Wham, the tarpon rolls on the it but misses! The next cast is right on his snout and he gulps big time. The rod bucks and off the tarpon roars, crashing through the marina night. A moment later he is free.  Jumping a tarpon at first light? Its already a great day.

Later out on the flats, the snook bite is on. Not as good as the day before, but plenty of action. And one is near 30 inches. He stages a long, sweet slug-fest of runs and aerial action. I’m in heaven; my biggest snook yet on the 6-weight.

6-Weight Snook Morning

That fine fish took a slider. And the surface strike was a thing of beauty. Turns out surface flies work wonderfully down here. In this case I was using a small silver Farnsworth Slider. A slow retrieve and a floating fly line round out the presentation. Next I going to try bigger sliders and poppers. Yes, going to have to dig out the 10-weight for those flies.

Farnsworth Slider

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Snook on a Fly

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Ed Mitchell

Snook on a 6-weight fly rod

After 30 years chasing striped bass in the New England suds, these southern flats felt a might foreign, my friend. But I’m getting dialed in!

Had a very good morning. Hooked 12 snook, landed 11, all on a 6-weight fly rod. The largest couple of fish were around 27inches. What a major blast! Snook remind me very much of striped bass.  And that is muy cool amigo. Both are ambush predators, that prefer low light, structure, and current. Stripers are more powerfully built; still snook fight very hard and can jump. Standard striper flies work fine on snook – just scaled them down a couple sizes – although it seems to me snook like a slightly different retrieve. Looking to learn more, tide by tide.

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