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Fly Tying
Capt Bob LeMay

Everglades backcountry, 21-23 October

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The snook fishing is very good right now - tons of bait along every gulf shoreline - but still no fly anglers... I was fooled by one party that did ask for a fly rod aboard -they only wanted it along and didn't plan on using it at all... sigh.

 

At any rate check out this report for particulars...http://forums.floridasportsman.com/showthread.php?250870-Fishing-report-Everglades-Flamingo-21-23-October

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I would love to fly-fish the Everglades for snook, baby tarpon (or anything really). I was just there in mid-August and fished for snook on the beaches of Sanibel; found a few fish, but my buddy and I were brand-new to the game, dealing with the learning curve and we never managed to hook up. It was fun but brutally hot, so I would love to come back but when the weather is more bearable. I've always wanted to do the Everglades. May make it down there sometime this winter -- will have to look you up if I can put it together, and if you're available then.

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to put it mildly - I'm always available, seven days a week - unless I'm already booked... Fall is definitely a bit more temperature friendly than August (understatement) - but as I write this, we just got our first cold front (and that temperature drop is the signal for most of our tarpon, particularly the big fish, to disappear overnight back out into the Gulf... thank heavens the reds, trout, and snook still keep feeding). I can almost always be on the money when I expect that first cold night just about a week before Halloween...

 

During winter, we get a lot more visitors -but the weather then is always the ruling factor. We usually get a cold front every seven to ten days during winter. Along with the temperature drop, the winds shift from prevailing easterly around the clock and hit northwest as the front passes - then usually just howls out of the north for a few days before moving back towards an easterly direction. Winter is fun with lower tides and a bit clearer waters than normal -and enough wind that we find ourselves fishing behind islands and always looking for wind-sheltered shallow coves that will warm up quick on a sunny day... Great for fly fishing... if the weather doesn't get ugly.... Winter is also the time of year when big tarpon flood back into the interior (Whitewater Bay at the top of the list) when water temps are attractive. The fish aren't there to do much at all, just warm up and loaf until something edible comes by (interior bay waters are just warmer than the coastal areas -that's why Whitewater and similar places are very attractive - long before waters around the Keys for the big fish....). It can happen as early as the second week of December or as late as the last week of February -just depending on how cold the water is that year....

 

As you can guess, that area is my favorite place in this world....

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How would the cold front affect fishing along the western side of the trail around Everglades City?

 

A couple of my buddies in Charleston were in the western side of the Glades last weekend and hammered the snook on fly. Hoping I stick one sooner or later!

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In general the waters in that area are still quite high (the hurricane, more than a month ago now left so much water on the ground that it's still draining back down toward the south..). Once cold fronts begin to work their way south we'll get a lot of days when the wind is somewhere out of a northern direction. Once the water is down a bit those winds will push small bait out of the grass edges along the northern side of north side canals... Match the hatch and you're in business when that happens. On ordinary days with no extra boost from the winds then I'd concentrate on the tiny bridges that allow water to pass from north to south - and I'd work the south side canal, concentrating on tossing small flies back up under those little bridges (or anywhere that fish are feeding on the south side of the roadway...). Remember to be a bit cautious whenever fishing the trail since you're very close to the roadway (with barely much of a place to park your vehicle). None of us have stout enough fly rods to do much if a passing car or truck grabs your backcast at 70+ mph.... To add to the fun, remember that 'gators and snakes are abundant along the canal...

 

By the way, the best guide for that area that I ever knew of was Steve Kantner (he billed himself as the "land captain" and worked out of his vehicle from Ft. Lauderdale all the way west almost to Naples, much like a western fly guide doing walk-in or roadside charters on foot). He's still around but I don't know if he still guides at all. He did write a book about that style of fishing if I remember correctly. If you talk with him - tell him I said Hi....

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As far as I've been able to tell, over the last 26 years, cold fronts don't really affect the fishing.

Up north, the bite picks up just before and shuts down during and after a cold front.

Here ... it just makes it miserable for the angler. (it was 54 this morning ... almost too cold to leave the house !!!)

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Not much fun fishing in 20 to 30 mph winds (and the rain that comes with them when a serious front rolls through..). Where I fish in shallow backcountry areas - any exposed waters quickly turn into a chocolate milkshake and become un-fihsable (unless you're planning to use cutbait...).

 

I guess a lot depends on your local waters - where I am there's been many a trip either cancelled or probably turned into a real struggle - all because of cold fronts blowing through. I get a much higher cancellation rate during winter because of them (and just to rub my nose in it - occasionally I'll get a cancellation then the front stalls out between Tampa and my area - so it never arrives, the weather is actually much, much better than predicted, but I'm at home instead of on the water....

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