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Fly Tying
Capt Bob LeMay

backcountry Everglades report (excerpt) 10 March

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As usual my fly trips are only a part of each weeks activity so I've just posted the fiy fishing part of today's report with one photo to give a size of the fish we're seeing now....


The big tarpon are inside at Flamingo now and we're finding them every day up inside small rivers that drain into the Gulf coast. On Saturday my two fly anglers had six bites in one spot, putting three in the air on a 10 wt and a 12wt. Our fish that day didn't stay connected very well - the first time a freshwater fly angler tangles with big tarpon the hookset takes some learning (no you can't "trout strike" a 70lb tarpon -it just doesn't work at all....). The next thing that happens is the angler realizes that you really need to strip strike -then you begin breaking fish off on the strike... I'm pretty sympathetic because everyone goes through the same learning curve. We're looking forward to a re-match with big silver that will hit a fly so close your feet get wet....

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To read the full report (spinning gear and all...) go to http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1425987396

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Good stuff man; I really miss it down there. I spent 45 days camped out there in Shark River a couple years ago. I had a come to God moment when a big female took my fly right at the skiff and knocked me off my casting platform when she came out of the water and missed me by a couple feet. Made me look pretty pathetic. Keep in mind I was the only guy out there so that could have ended bad. Keep it up man and dont let the noseeums carry ya off.

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Glad you enjoyed the report - and your experience mirrors my own... There are times when big tarpon can be downright life threatening at extreme close quarters. If one hits you it's like being hit by a log (one that's coated with vaseline...). The biggest we've had jump in the boat during a fight was only a sixty pound fish on a night trip. The fish was solidly on fly and after a few moments I was reaching for my camera when the critter jumped in the boat. It took a minute or two to get it back overboard looking like it had been beaten by sticks. There was tarpon slime and scales all over my boat, my toes needed a few band-aids (that was the last time I'll wear flip flops tarpon fishing....). None of my rods were broken fortunately - but a week later I found that my center console needed to be re-secured to the deck because of the beating it took from that poor fish.

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Wow thats some serious situation right there.Can't believe that he rocked your center console that hard.

70 pound vaseline covered log lol, that about sums em up perfectly. I remember my first one all I could do was think it was just a hundred pound ladyfish lol.

Hows the MB area looking right now? I've had so much luck there in my day

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My night trips have been unusually slow this winter (there's dredging in Government Cut and they're doing bottom restoration north of the Julia Tuttle Causeway...). I'm booked to fish it this coming weekend so I'll have a better handle on it then.... When the bridges in Biscayne Bay are on it's as good as it gets on a falling tide. If things don't improve I'll be calling my night bookings and offering them a day trip instead (for a bit more money...). At night the fish bite better on flies than anything else - and you're looking right at them when they bite - they're small fish averaging 20 to 40lbs in winter, 10 to 30lbs in summer with an occasional much bigger fish when you least expect one.... There's always big fish in the ocean inlets like Government on Haulover - but in a small skiff it's not such a good idea with paying customers so we stick to docklights and bridge shadows.....

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