Florida fishing report, February 2014

[Dalton Terrell]

Trent Jones and I managed to barely escape the snow in DC last week and fly down to Florida for an extended Presidents Day weekend. We fished several days around Ft Pierce on foot and booked guides for the Everglades and Mosquito Lagoon areas. Fishing in the Everglades with Capt Mark Hall (http://www.flyfishpeacocks.com) was excellent, we hooked our first tarpon and snook along with 8 other various species. Ft Pierce provided some tough dock and wade fishing but we managed a decent number and variety of fish. Our last day the Mosquito Lagoon kicked our asses while we chased elusive redfish.

Hope you enjoy our pics.

D

[Ernie]

Nicely done gents! You still asking yourselves why you came back?

Here is a picture of a Jaguar guapote that I caught with Capt. Mark on Feb. 2.

.

[Vic Velasco]

You guys killed it!!!  What fly did the Lookdown take on?

Vic

[Miles]

Good job, boys. What a wonderful V-day for the two of you!

And for now for the Florida fishing minority report...

I also was in Florida for the last week or so. I managed to get out with a guide in the Ten Thousand Islands, Capt. Dave Anderson, for a half day. Alas, our half day was blown out by 20+ knot winds. Capt. Dave drove that boat all over, and managed to find some snook, best of which is the photo.

It was my first time fishing with a non-Snowhite guide, and I was a little reluctant setting it up -- but was I glad I did. In weather like that, I would have never found a fish on my own. He was stoked to have a fly-only customer. In 2010, there was a bad freeze in that part of the world that killed a lot of snook, and his fly-fishing business with it. He says it's just starting to recover, so that's good.

A nasty head cold knocked me out of action most of the week -- yay, vacation -- but I did stagger into the Indian River for a couple hours on Sunday, to no effect.

[TurbineBlade]

Nice reports -- and P.K. Dick reference (though I prefer UBIK).  

Gene

[Dalton Terrell]

Ernie, sweet picture of the Guapote and I'm definitely trying to figure out how to do the early retirement thing in Florida as soon as possible.

Vic, Trent caught that Lookdown, so I would bet that it took an olive and white Clouser. Fishing around the dock, Ladyfish, Pinfish, Snapper, Grouper and Snook all fell victim to our Clousers; well, it may be more accurate to say that we fell victim to the Snook we couldn't land there. In the Everglades, olive and white Clousers worked well also, but I primarily used a tan bonefish slider on a whim and hooked most of my fish on that.

Miles, cool Snook, and the wind definitely put a damper on some of our fishing as well, several days it blew 15-20 and kept us from venturing out more. Unfortunately, one of those days the wind was blowing in from the West and we didn't take advantage of the surf loaded with fish... as the old timer we ran into on the beach later more bluntly said, "You effed up."

D

[Trent Jones]

Ernie,
 
I would probably be content fishing the waters of FL for the rest of my days. The wide variety of fish is certainly one of the reasons. Dalton and I fished the opposite banks of a large canal system by foot for about 45min, close enough to see that rods were bent but far enough away that we could not really communicate or see what the other was catching. When we linked back up I figured we had had about the same luck and I asked him, "Sooo, did you just catch about 15 Largemouth?". His response was a little shocking. "No, I got a Snook, a Gar, an Oscar, a Tilapia, a Cichlid...and some Bass."
 
That being said it was a great day out with Mark, he certainly put us on fish.
 
Vic,
 
That Lookdown at a size 2 clouser in either chart/white or camo/white. I tied with Steve Farrar's Flash Blend and could only get my hands on the camo color which was my go-to for the snook. I am color blind, but the camo looks close enough to olive for me. Problem was the flies lasted for 2 or maybe 3 Snook before they were completely shredded, and I was out of my go-to in pretty short order. I usually hook those Lookdowns with size 4-6 hooks. They don't get big but they look awesome. I caught this one last year or the year before, they are such a thin fish that they are actually somewhat translucent.
 

Miles,

 

We were plagued by 15-20 knot winds most of our trip as well, certainly makes for some interesting fishing and casting. I can tell by the grin in that photo that you love some Snook!

-Trent
 
 

[Terry C]

Nice job guy's !