Islamorada Backcountry/Flats Report

[Capt.PeteRowney]

Greetings from the Florida Keys. It's been a great few weeks of fishing as of late. With cooler water temps and loads of bait around, the redfish, snook and tarpon fishing have been just awesome. Finding the bait is key when on the search for gamefish and even fun fish like trout, jacks and ladyfish. Locating a solid mullet mud is always a good place to start but not a guarantee. Most of my fishing has been in the Everglades sight casting to reds and snook. Generally these fish have been in the 5-10lb range with some little guys and the occasional slob mixed in. As we get into the windier months, the challenges for fly anglers increase. Being able to present a fly on the backcast is a skill that anglers really should have part of their repertoire. The reason being is that casting "through" the boat puts the guide and any other angler in harm's way. Most people don't like hooks driven into their skulls or parts of their face, (myself included) and as such, I don't allow such casts to be made. Laying out a backcast is critical when oceanside tarpon fishing but it also comes into play when working a shoreline. Wind speed and its' direction dictates a lot of fishing here. While finding a lee shore makes it easier on the caster and the guy poling the boat (me) sometimes the light is better going one way and sometimes this might mean casting to the backside. Learning to present a fly on your backcast will only increase your options and your odds. Anyways, in addition to the reds and snook, we've been finding some large jacks. These guys have been in the 6-10 lb range and just awesome. Talk about fun. Drop a fly into a group of jacks and they'll be all over it like a pack of hyenas. All you have to do is hang on! A lot of people turn their noses up on these fish and for no good reason. Maybe it's simply because they're considered poor table fair but it's definitely not because these guys are weak. Jacks will kick all the way to the boat after making some great runs (remember, they're cousin to the permit) and will leave your arms aching. Around town the snook and tarpon fishing at the bridge has been solid with all the mullet around. Bonefishing has been excellent now that the water has cooled a bit and there have been some monsters around. A friend took a 14-1/2lb. brut last week. Now that the bay is cooling off, these guys will start to crowd some of the oceanside flats. November is a fantastic month for just about everything so get on it! Until next time. -Pete

Capt. Pete Rowney
Fly fishing and Light Tackle Angling with Capt. Pete Rowney on the Flats and Backcountry of Islamorada, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys for Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon, Redfish and Snook. (http://www.islamoradaonthefly.com)