Making the cast and delivering the fly.

Before we get into the casting portion of this writeup, I'll give a quick update on the recent fishing. The past few weeks of weather has been all over the board. Temps have ranged from 85 to low 40's based on the late Feb cold fronts. The snook fishing really fired off after the fronts passed and the warming trend set in. Our big snook will come out to sun in very shallow water which makes seeing them very easy, catching them is another story.

This is by far the best time to get a true giant laid up snook in inches of water! I've been seeing fish from mid 20" to over 30" every charter. We've caught some solid fish as well. Redfish are still very consistent with tailing fish on the negative low tides and fish over sand and shorelines when the tide rises throughout the day. I've been finding reds and snook from Sarasota to Tampa Bay.

I recently had a very cool charter a few weeks ago with a great client. We started off with redfishing and immediately landed 2 nice fish. I suggested we change things up as it was a blue bird perfect day. We made a long run to one of my favorite oceanside flats and were rewarded with 2 solid hours of permit fishing. He had probably 30 shots at smaller permit in the 4-7lb range and hooked 2 fish. Unfortunately the hooked pulled on both! Sarasota and Tampa actually have a very good permit fishery when the weather, tides and sun line up. I will absolutely drop everything to target permit, because once I find them, It's a very good chance we will get one to bite the fly! This is classic shallow water permit fishing using a push pole and 100% sight fishing, not deep water wreck fishing.

"It Survived Entry"!

That is one of my favorite sayings. It's the one thing that's needed to get the bite. Most anglers throw way too close to the fish. Our fishery isn't easy but if the fly lands without spooking the fish, the bite ratio goes way up. In order to achieve this, the cast needs to be proper. Every shot and presentation is a different scenario and requires minor adjustments based upon each one. For example: If we have a school of reds cruising over white sand or swimming down a shoreline, a cast that leads the fish and crosses the path is needed. Sometimes the lead maybe as short as 5 feet or as long as 20ft. By leading the fish, your chances of "surviving entry" go up, and by crossing the fish you can manipulate the fly to swim directly into the bite zone. If the fish is tailing, you'll need to drop the fly very close to the fish. A tailing red is looking down and often in very thick grass so its window to see the fly is small. The cast needs to be delicate and soft with great accuracy. I like to stop the delivery cast very high so the fly flutters into position. Like I said, each scenario is unique but I will talk you through as the situation unfolds. Anglers need to have the ability to deliver the fly at least 40-50ft with as few false casts as possible. A double haul and not rocking the boat is a huge benefit! A guided trip isn't cheap, but casting lessons are. Do your work and have the casting skills needed for shallow saltwater fly fishing. On average I give casting lessons at least twice a month and I appreciate my clients taking the time out of their busy day to become better anglers.

Spring is upon us and that means the 11 weights will start to ride in the boat. If the weather and water temp is right, I will devote a portion of time on my charters looking for big early season tarpon. Most years the first fish is jumped in late Feb or March and really kicks into gear by April. I still have a few openings in March and early April, but mid April though July is almost full. If you want to tarpon fish, reach out and I'll do my best to find a spot open.

Capt. Colby Hane