2024/2025 Fall & Winter fishing

Welcome!

First off, I'm not a writer, I am a fishing guide. Don't expect some lyrical wordsmith here.

We can simply call August, Sept, October of 2024 hurricane season in Sarasota. So this report is basically after hurricane Milton to now-Feb 3 2025.

After the storms blew through, It dumped tons of rain, which also led to the absolute best juvi tarpon fishing I've ever witnessed. There were many days of hundreds of fish in the 10-30lb range rolling early morning until the heat kicked in. Clients jumped multiple fish and had a blast throwing 8wts to the smaller fish. As many tarpon that we'd see rolling, you'd expect to jump 20 or 30, but it never turned out that way... After putting a few in the air, the bite would always shutdown. Gurglers and baitfish flies seemed to produce the best rewards. The water was dark and tanic from the runoff so having the right profile and pattern was key. Chartreuse, white and black were my most successful bugs. I ran few night tarpon trips and it was absolutely fantastic. The average night clients would jump 5 to 10 fish all from 15-40lbs. It's a fun way to spend the evening.

It seemed like it took forever for the water to clear up post storms, which made classic sight fishing difficult. Once it did, it was game on! I can honestly say that I have encountered more redfish this fall and winter than ever before. One caveat, there are so many fish in the 22-26 inches that finding the fish above 30 has been a little challenging. I like having the fish around and it's nice to have clients get shots at every stop. We are still finding a few big fish and more keep showing everyday now. Some of my favorite flats have turned from grass to sand from the hurricanes. It makes sight fishing easier, but I doubt it's healthy longterm. One things for sure though, redfish love hanging out over sand and watching them eat your fly is pretty cool. One quick note, most clients want to cast way too close to our fish which almost always results in spooking the target. Unless the fish is sitting still or barely moving, a big lead is a must! Often times a lead of 10-30ft is what it takes. By leading and crossing the fish, you have time to manipulate the fly into the exact position calmly and smoothly. This is what it takes to catch fish over sand in Tampa/Sarasota bay. Tailing redfish has been very hit or miss.... Not seeing the numbers like I normally due on the winter negative low tides. I'm guessing its from the hurricanes wrecking havoc on the turtle grass flats and maybe there's just not enough critters for the fish to tail on? One added bonus to poling along looking for reds is the amount of giant trout laid up all over the place! My client had a grand slam on fly last week with a 27" red, 22" snook and a 24" trout. I have never seen trout fishing this good, Ever. I'm not talking about blind casting clousers over turtle grass, I'm talking about sight casting big laid up trout over pot holes. Big ones.

The snook fishing is spotty with the multiple cold fronts we've had in late January. My last charter was on a warming trend and my client had multiple shots at 30" snook. It's my favorite time to target big snook but the weather has to cooperate. We need calm winds, bright sun and the fish will lay up shallow. Long cast and delicate presentations are necessary for success. Luck helps too.....

Anyways, thanks for giving a slice of your time to read this thing. I'll update another report soon. Maybe talk a little about casting and presenting flies next time. Until then, I'll be prepping for our annual fly tournament the "Waterman". 2 biggest reds in two days. Probably will need over 62" to win it. Fingers crossed.

Capt. Colby Hane