Beat the Heat
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:10 am
I've lived in Florida for most of my life. Is it just me or is this the hottest summer ever?
It's brutal to be on the water during mid-day. But if you get out before dawn, it's very comfortable -- especially if you're fishing dock lights.
I've been getting tarpon, snook, spotted seatrout, lookdown and jack crevalle. I've caught and released 15 tarpon so far this year.
I use an 8-weight fly rod, with floating line, 9-foot fluorocarbon leader (20 pound) and my Snook Shrimp fly.
I won't divulge my favorite spots, but I will advise that you'll probably find fish around any lighted dock where the water is deep enough and there's decent current. I prefer a strong outgoing tide.
I tie my flies on No. 4 hooks. Realize that most of the bait (minnows and shrimp) are small and that's what the fish are keyed into. Cast a larger fly into the light and it most often will go ignored.
On the maiden voyage of my new NuCanoe Pursuit, I managed two tarpon and two snook before daylight. I jumped six tarpon and probably had another three or four hit that I didn't get the hook set.
In fact, the tarpon were so aggressive that I couldn't get past them to get a snook until it was nearly daylight.
Fish in the light:
Tarpon (you can have them out of the water if they're less than 40 inches):
Snook:
Trout:
Lookdown:
It's brutal to be on the water during mid-day. But if you get out before dawn, it's very comfortable -- especially if you're fishing dock lights.
I've been getting tarpon, snook, spotted seatrout, lookdown and jack crevalle. I've caught and released 15 tarpon so far this year.
I use an 8-weight fly rod, with floating line, 9-foot fluorocarbon leader (20 pound) and my Snook Shrimp fly.
I won't divulge my favorite spots, but I will advise that you'll probably find fish around any lighted dock where the water is deep enough and there's decent current. I prefer a strong outgoing tide.
I tie my flies on No. 4 hooks. Realize that most of the bait (minnows and shrimp) are small and that's what the fish are keyed into. Cast a larger fly into the light and it most often will go ignored.
On the maiden voyage of my new NuCanoe Pursuit, I managed two tarpon and two snook before daylight. I jumped six tarpon and probably had another three or four hit that I didn't get the hook set.
In fact, the tarpon were so aggressive that I couldn't get past them to get a snook until it was nearly daylight.
Fish in the light:
Tarpon (you can have them out of the water if they're less than 40 inches):
Snook:
Trout:
Lookdown: