The Broad Cast

As the weather cools in central Florida, anglers eagerly await the arrival of schools of a certain silvery fish that eats flies, fights hard, and often jumps clear of the water when trying to escape. No, it’s not tarpon. Those won’t show up for another few months. The fish I’m referring to is the American shad.

If you hit the run right, these fish are incredibly abundant, easy to locate, and often very easy to catch. All you need is a 5 weight fly rod, a handful of flies, and a way to get out on the water.

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If you’ve ever fished the stretch of river from the upstream end of Lake Harney upstream (south), you know what a difference water levels make. To help bridge the gap between numbers on a table and what you will see on the water, we’ve put together a series of satellite images at different water levels for the areas around two of the most common boat launches.

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A classic sequence in saltwater fly fishing starts with a fish moving across the flat at a distance. The captain slides the skiff into position as the angler lays out a long, perfectly placed overhand cast. These are the casts fly anglers prepare for, practicing accurate fly presentation at the edge of their range with minimal false casts. We should all be ready for this type of shot but, just as important, are the close-in shots, often just a few feet from the boat.

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Every year it gets harder to find out of the way fishing and hunting locations. We’d all like to get the most from the limited time we spend afield, so our scouting efforts need to be effective and efficient. Scouting a location is a necessary part of being successful, but sometimes we’re limited by what we can see from the road, time constraints, access limitations, and physical ability. I’m sure we’d all like to know what’s on the other side of the mountain without having to physically go there.

Fairly recent technical advances provide us with opportunities to do some very in depth exploring from the comfort of our own homes. Becoming acquainted with them will greatly increase your chances of finding that next honey hole.

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Fall as we know it is here and many anglers have turned their attention to the nearshore waters along the east coast in anticipation of the fall mullet run.  Despite what the name implies, the mullet aren’t actually “running,” nor are they the species people are trying to catch. Rather it’s about the fall baitfish migration and the predators that follow them south.

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How many times have you heard “Where’s your favorite spot to catch big (insert fish name here)?” I’m willing to bet it happens regularly if you’ve been fishing for any length of time or have a reputation of being a somewhat “fishy” angler. How do you handle these questions?

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At one point in the not-too-distant past I assumed that others who fly fished were doing so largely for the same reasons I was and that their values related to fly fishing would be similar to mine. This assumption has since been dispelled, primarily by fellow fly anglers who clearly have different ideas about what fly fishing is and what they want out of it.

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South Florida exotic fish behavior that leads to a strike and hooked fish can be broken down into two distinct categories:

1. The fish sees something that looks like food and must eat it.
2. The fish sees an enemy that may be a threat and must destroy it.

Pretty simple if you ask me.  The trick is being able to tell the difference, selecting the appropriate fly, and presenting it in a manner that will trigger a strike. 

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We’ve talked about the fish and the places you can find them in previous blog posts so now we’re going to dive into the equipment and flies you might want to have on hand when chasing some of our resident exotics.  They can be fished with a wide variety of gear, so it’s likely that most freshwater and saltwater anglers already have equipment that will function perfectly well.

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