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Warmer Waters

Warm waters are ahead! Working through our last cold front in Naples hopefully. The Everglades have been great fishing for snook, redfish and baby tarpon but I am ready for some fired up warm water fish! Everglades fly fishing will remain stable throughout but the months ahead spell big snook and bigger tarpon on fly and plug gear. As the water temperature rise the bait comes back and the fish get fired up! If you are planning a fly fishing trip to Naples there are endless opportunities down the coast of ten-thousand islands and the Everglades. Spring and summer are my favorite times as the tourist head north and west we have the fishery to ourselves! With higher water temperatures these fish will get in some deeper pockets and I am able to run the larger tarpon skiff. Drop me a line if you have any questions about the areas fishing season or weather patterns. There is no place like the Everglades-

 

 

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Tarpon fishing guide

When looking for an Boca Grande  fly fishing guide  passion is everything! I am lucky enough to have found one of the greatest sports on planet earth; fly fishing in saltwater. It is one of the most explosive, rewarding and passionate things I have ever done in my life and I love to share these experiences with our clients. Tarpon on the fly get all the glory and rightfully so; I grew up crazy about white tail deer hunting and can only compare it to such an experience. Much like a deer, you wait for long periods of time for tarpon to appear but there is no trigger to be pulled to end this game of cat and mouse– its big game hunting and I’m totally consumed! Its time to coax this 30-50 year old swimming dinosaur that weighs upwards of 150 pounds to eat a little tiny fly usually smaller than a trout streamer. That is were the magic is for me: we can communicate with that animal through the materials we have tied onto a bare hook and watch how he reacts to it. With a perfect cast and with a little twitch, wiggle, and luck, he swims over to it and nonchalantly opens and closes his mouth and moves on. Then all hell breaks loose and he usually has the standing line from the deck of the skiff onto the reel and halfway to Mexico before you ever knew what happened. It’s simply amazing and I’m lucky enough to get to guide clients in some of the greatest Tarpon fisheries on the planet.
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Everglades Winter Fly Fishing

 

Its been on fire fly fishing the Everglades the past week, I fished everyday and was very dependable with the warmer temps. Snook were very good and some big ones too on twitch baits and fly! Small Tarpon were fired up and when the water temperatures rose we got some big resident tarpon as well on the fly. I have been in the Everglades most days but fly fishing in Naples area has been great as well from what I hear. I am running an East Cape Caimen for my winter time backcountry trips which is able to access some very shallow water and sight cast for laid up snook of all sizes as well as baby tarpon in some deeper pockets while still be a comfortable ride for my clients. My tarpon season is filling up so please let me know if you are looking to book an Everglades fly fishing guide and we can discuss some possibilities. Thanks! -There is no place like the Everglades

 

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Dog days of summer

The dog days of summers end are in sight here in the everglades and Naples. I love this time of year in September-November as all of the visitors do not come to The Everglades and Ten-thousand islands until after the holidays of Thanksgiving and X-mas. It also means the big snook are still on the outside beaches and river mouths along with lots of Tarpon still hanging around waiting on the big southern migration. Any drop in water temperature will produce balls of bait on the outside passes especially on outgoing tides. These ‘bait balls’ will have tarpon, big jacks, false albacore and many other species in a feeding frenzy! A great time of year to book a fly fishing guide in the everglades and Naples!

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South West Florida fishing guide

Planning your fall/winter trip to Florida hopefully involves some fishing and if it does somewhere deep in the Everglades should be on your list. Definitely the top winter fishery while the Keys rival the location in the early summer. I pick up on Chokoloskee Island which is a 5 minute drive from Everglades City. Everglades City is 45minutes from beautiful Naples, 30 minutes from Marco Island and 2 hours from Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. It is centrally located between major airports and lots of hotels and dining close by. I do recommend staying overnight in Everglades City a night to see the Old Florida charm of a last of its kind fishing village. Fall fishing will be on fire and everything will get in place including big and small tarpon, big snook and schooling redfish. Fall is a time before many second home owners travel to their winter homes in Fl so many days you do not even see another boat on the water which lends itself to literally endless opportunities at on of the most unique fisheries in the US. I recommend booking your Tarpon migration dates early as they will fill up! (Feb-April) I look forward to chatting with you about what is going on in the park if you are looking for a Everglades fly fishing guide!

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Upcoming Fishing Season!

 

Here is look at the upcoming fishing season!

September-February (Everglades National Park- Chokoloskee)
Will be great time to target big snook, all tarpon sizes, redfish, jack crevelle on the outside of ten-thousand islands and in the rivers of the Everglades, a true wilderness experience. The bait will be pushed nearshore which causes the game fish to school up on the bait balls including large tarpon smashing through bait on the right tides. We will also be hunting laid up large snook and small tarpon in the deepest part of the everglades.  Will target snook and tarpon on fly and plug gear
March-April (Everglades National Park- Chokoloskee)
The annual tarpon migration and resident tarpon time of year in the Everglades. This is as good as tarpon fishing gets in my opinion. You can find tarpon in all different situations and target them with fly and plug gear. One the right weather you can look in one bay and think there is more tarpon there than anyplace in the world, free jumping, slashing mullet and eating flies ands plugs. This is the best place in the world to catch your first tarpon as they are more forgiving. My favorite time of the year!
May-June (Florida Keys- Islamorada)
Private boat and pick-up location in Islamorada, Fl fishing the legendary Florida Keys. This is sight casting with fly only and in gin clear water you can see some of the best tarpon fishing in the world those 2 months. Large tarpon will be eating smaller flies and some of the most visual takes ever, the fishery here demands accurate quick cast. Fishing is right out our back door here and will make a bit of longer runs when the worm hatch starts around the full and new moons. A beautiful time of year!
I hope you can plan a couple day trip in advance and look forward to fishing with you!
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Summertime Fun

The summertime is a great time for fly fishing the Everglades and Naples area! Plug fishing with top-waters and twitch baits is Very stable early in the morning with top water and with twitch baits when the sun gets up during the day. I love to show clients how to throw traditional “plug gear” on my skiff with Calcutta baitcasting reels. Conventional plug gear is the most accurate way to throw big plugs tight into the mangrove shoreline and consistently keep it there, it spends much less energy than spinning gear throughout the day. We are getting lots of juvinelle tarpon moved into the area taking smaller flies and gurglers off the surface. The giant snook are coming from top water plugs early in the day. If your interested in a late summer or fall trip please shoot me an email and I will get you some details. Thanks!
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Fresh water

 

Post storm fish have been on fire! Everglades and Naples fly fishing has been productive for mid-sized tarpon, big snook and redfish. With the tannic water these fish will be on the top and ready to eat. Its a great time to fish The Everglades when everyone is dealing with wind, rain and other boats! None of those bother us in the protection of the tall mangrove trees there is always somewhere to hide. Adult Tarpon fishing was good prior to the front and should stabilize after the water settles and clears. I just love the time after the rains as it seems like the place is flushing out and as good as it gets. Come inquire about a fly fishing guide in the everglades and ten-thousand islands.

I teach about the estuary and encourage first time fly fisherman and plug fisherman alike. I am passionate about both kinds of angling here in the everglades and ten-thousand islands. I am located south of naples so can always meet up for some fly-casting lessons or refer you to one of my master casting instructors in the area. I look forward to your next fishing adventure in the beautiful Everglades!

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Juvenile Tarpon

Fly fishing the Everglades and Boca Grande for baby tarpon can be a blast and very productive in the cooler months when the big ones are not showing. I love walking the deep creeks for these fish, tarpon, snook, reds you never know what you are going to find! Gurglers and sub surface flies are very productive! Canoes are very productive as well taking it into the backcountry and getting into some real shallow spots some never reach for a true adventure. Im a passionate Boca Grande fly fishing guide and have a relentless passion for putting my anglers on fish. Check out this new video we made in a series of videos!

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December in Southwest Florida

December has been unseasonably warm which has these monster snook confused and just seem to be everywhere we look and big boys too! Have had some great moon tides that have turned our water gin clear, with small cold front approaching the water will be highly visible for low water wade fishing or higher tide sight casting from my new Beavertail ‘Mosquito’ skiff.  These skiffs get us anywhere shallow we want to go and such a comfortable ride!

Snook have been eating a lot of high riding sub-surface flies in skinny water, I like brown when the water clears up like this in the backcountry. For me there it dosen’t get much better than feeding a giant snook after you have seen and stalked him on foot and feeding him within 20 feet, it just as good as it gets fly fishing in Boca Grande.

Fly fishing in the Everglades around Chokoloskee has been great and with some longer runs some of these fish haven’t even heard a boat since Irma and are willing to eat anything they see, the big tarpon can be fantastic on a warm winter day along with smaller tarpon daily but the edges have laid up giant snook in The Everglades currently and I love every minute of it!

Hope to see you out soon to share this great sport of ours.

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