Targets in and around florida?

[Li'lDave 0]

When fishing the salt down south (usa) what are you targetting?

 

Permit, snook, bonefish, redfish, tarpon (sizes?)

 

 

Anything else?

 

And...

 

What size / style fly would you prefer for each?

[agn54 0]

It really depends on which part of the state, you are in, where you are fishing (backcountry, flats, bridges, passes, offshore, etc., and then there is freshwater too).When you fish here you see why they call this state the fishing capital of the world, there really are a ton of different ways to fish and a ton of different species to target. Some species like snook are only found in the southern half of the state, though with rising water temperatures they are becoming more common as far north as Jacksonville near the boarder with Georgia, and as far as Crystal River on the west coast. Others like bonefish and permit also are confined to the southern portions, especially bonefish which are seldom found on the west coast at all and rarely north of Palm Beach on the east coast. Your flies will vary as much as the species, from big palm sized baitfish patterns to small crabs, shrimp and glass minnows. You really want to know what they forage on in that area rather than just using the "big bait = big fish" logic. You can catch some really big fish on small baits. I once jumped about a 6 ft tarpon on a 2 inch shrimp jig to give an example. This means you will also get the occasional surprise when catching small to moderate site fish when you nearly have the rod yanked out of your hands and have to pray not to get spooled. It's one of the things I love about the salt here, you never know what you will catch.

 

Where I fish in the northern part of the state, I usually target redfish and speckled trout, but on the flats you run into all sorts of other species like cobia, tarpon, pompano, jack, ladyfish, bluefish, mackerel, flounder, and sharks. I am lucky enough that I also get to fish the central part of the state on both coasts a lot where snook are plentiful.

 

I know this is vague and doesn't really answer your question but the answer is really too broad to give for the whole state. It's also why I don't exclusively fly fish, there are just too many ways to fish here that I enjoy to limit myself to just one.

[Permitcapt 0]

It really depends on which part of the state, you are in, where you are fishing (backcountry, flats, bridges, passes, offshore, etc., and then there is freshwater too).When you fish here you see why they call this state the fishing capital of the world, there really are a ton of different ways to fish and a ton of different species to target. Some species like snook are only found in the southern half of the state, though with rising water temperatures they are becoming more common as far north as Jacksonville near the boarder with Georgia, and as far as Crystal River on the west coast. Others like bonefish and permit also are confined to the southern portions, especially bonefish which are seldom found on the west coast at all and rarely north of Palm Beach on the east coast. Your flies will vary as much as the species, from big palm sized baitfish patterns to small crabs, shrimp and glass minnows. You really want to know what they forage on in that area rather than just using the "big bait = big fish" logic. You can catch some really big fish on small baits. I once jumped about a 6 ft tarpon on a 2 inch shrimp jig to give an example. This means you will also get the occasional surprise when catching small to moderate site fish when you nearly have the rod yanked out of your hands and have to pray not to get spooled. It's one of the things I love about the salt here, you never know what you will catch.

 

Where I fish in the northern part of the state, I usually target redfish and speckled trout, but on the flats you run into all sorts of other species like cobia, tarpon, pompano, jack, ladyfish, bluefish, mackerel, flounder, and sharks. I am lucky enough that I also get to fish the central part of the state on both coasts a lot where snook are plentiful.

 

I know this is vague and doesn't really answer your question but the answer is really too broad to give for the whole state. It's also why I don't exclusively fly fish, there are just too many ways to fish here that I enjoy to limit myself to just one.

Beautifully and succinctly said!

[Li'lDave 0]

Thank you

[agn54 0]

Dave, hopefully you get the chance to come over here one day and sample the waters. I know firsthand from swaps that your flies work well over here

[FlatsRoamer 0]

Yeah it kinda depends where. Are you thinking the keys or where?

[mikechell 0]

When fishing the salt down south (usa) what are you targetting?

 

Permit, snook, bonefish, redfish, tarpon (sizes?)

Florida is just a part of "down south USA". And Florida has more than 2000 miles of tidal coastline.

You'll really need more specifics if you want a good answer to your question, Dave.

[Li'lDave 0]

Fair enough Mike, I get annoyed when people ask the same sort of open ended question about queensland (mainlaind coastline is about 2x that of florida, and doubled again with our islands).

 

When I read, watch or hear anything about Florida, we read about the Keys and the backcountry / everglades.

 

So I guess Keys - Migrating Tarpon, permit and bonefish?

Backcountry / Everglades - laid-up tarpon, snook and redfish.

 

So if we're in the north eastern part of the state what are we looking at?

 

And does the Gulf Coast offer similar fishing as the everglades?

[Li'lDave 0]

The info you have all given despite the vagaries of my question has been very helpful.