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PaulC
10-18-2005, 10:21 PM
Hey Folks,
Thought you might enjoy a report from out of state.
I just got back from Naples, FL for a wedding. Of course, I had to add some form of fishing to the trip.
We arrived on Friday and I managed to get a bit of beach fishing in friday afternoon and saturday morning. Not much happening from shore by the hotel. Lots of mullet, but no snook cruising.
It turns out they had been hammered with red tide just recently killing off most of the small baitfish. Apparently fishing from shore was very poor as a result.
Sunday, we went guided with Capt. Aaron booked through everglades anglers fly shop.
We went out to fish the 10 thousand island nature preserve, which turned out to be a fun time.
The conditions were a bit windy with the water off color, which was non-ideal. However, I managed to get into a few snook and some jack crevalle busting the surface which was a blast.
The snook were interesting as they hung out by the mangroves, and would mad dog you trying to get back in there. They wouldn't move much to take the fly, so you needed to almost bounce the fly off the mangroves.
Saw some tarpon rolling but they wanted nothing to do with me.
Casting was different with alot of sidearming like steelheading under bushes to get things close to the mangrove roots.
Most of the flies they use out there are EP flies with a split V of heavy mono for a weed guard. That was also really effective when the wind pushed your fly up into the mangroves. A little twitch and it was out again.
Overall, it was a great trip. I could see when conditions were right, that place could be phenomenal. When the water is more clear you get alot more stalking & sightcasting than I experienced.
According to the guide, the best time out there for larger tarpon was in the april-may timeframe.
Lots of shopping in Naples, with the downtown much like downtown Santa Barbara. Great place to go if your spouse doesn't fish.
Here's some pics.
-Paul

Sunrise @ 10k islands, a jack, and a snook
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Cronin/collage_1copy.jpg

[b]Cast at those roots!, Looking for the next cast, Naples sunset
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Cronin/collage_2copy.jpg

Darian
10-18-2005, 11:05 PM
Hey Paul,.... You must've wondered what it takes to get away from Red Tide (....having left it on the west coast and finding it in the Gulf) :wink: :lol: Does sound like you had a good trip, tho. Good to have you back on the BB. :D :D

mems
10-19-2005, 01:50 AM
Aloha, nice pictures. My uncle took me to the 10,000 islands area when I was a kid. Caught snook, tarpon and reds there. I like the little jack, isn't it amazing how hard a little dide like that pulls with the head shakes. Glad you had a good time, key lime pie and conch stew, stuffed flounder. Yum, Mems.

Hairstacker
10-19-2005, 09:58 AM
Paul, GREAT report and pictures! Sounds like you had a blast. 8)

PaulC
10-19-2005, 10:10 PM
Darian- No kidding. We've been lucky enough to avoid it in SB this year but the guys down south have been battling it all summer. We get dead seals and dolphins...down in FL they get their whole shore baitfish population wiped out. I don't know what is worse. Every year it seems to be getting worse out in CA. I keep hoping its just a cycle due to outflows of the rivers and increased rainfall resuspending pollutants. The pessimistic viewpoint would be pollutants are increasing and the outflow remains the same. I'm still trying to be optomistic.

Mems - Those Jacks pull harder pound for pound than anything I've been fortunate enough to catch. You think you have a big fish on with the 8wt doubled over and find its just one of those little guys. We did see some real big ones, but the little jacks would swipe the fly first. I guess the croaking they make when out of water is due the grinders in their throat for crushing crabs according to the guide? I was wondering what that was all about earlier this summer in baja.

Another side question is: why do mullet jump out of the water for no apparent reason? The guide had a few theories...i'm curious what other boardmembers think.
His were:
(A) they just like to get air.
and
(B) they root around in the bottom and jump to clear the gills.

I'm so used to casting to splashes from trout fishing, it took a bit of restraint not to throw at jumping mullet every time.

Its all a learning experience, but man it is so much more fun than reading a textbook like I'm doing now :roll:

-Paul

Darian
10-19-2005, 11:02 PM
I'm not sure there's much of an answer to why Mullet choose to jump. :? :? It's a lot like why Salmon roll and jump while in a river :?: Lotsa theories but no proof of any real motive. :? Perhaps a guide who observes these things is the best source of info after all.... 8) 8)

mems
10-20-2005, 04:36 PM
Aloha, I think mullet jump because it is and instinctive way to flee from predators. I heard they might call other fish, or clean off parasites. I notice they jump most during low light conditions, maybe they are checking their surrondings. They jump like hell when you hook one, even the little ones jump just while swimming along. But the number one reason why the jump is because they can. Mems.

PaulC
10-20-2005, 08:18 PM
Hey Mems,
Out of curiosity, what did you hook the mullet on? The guide said he had hooked only two on EP flies in his time out there.
Those guys definitely had some jump to them. I could see them going nuts on light tackle.
One day at the resort beach there was a long black cloud of them cruising the shoreline. Really freaked out some lady on her cellphone while wading out there when they went right through where she was standing.
-Paul

Darian
10-20-2005, 10:50 PM
Hey Paul,.... A 50' seine or castnet works just fine..... :lol: :lol: Altho, they used to jump over the seine when we pulling 'em to the beach.... (I know that's not what you were asking but the Devil made me do it :twisted: :twisted: )

mems
10-20-2005, 11:46 PM
Aloha, over here they feed the mullet bread. Check out Rainy's flies. In their new carp section they have a bread fly. I have a seaweed fly that they will take. It is green marabou tied on a long shank hook with a small cork to keep it floating on the surface. If I can get the awa, milkfish to hit that then look out. I have only hooked a couple of mullet on the fly. I have snaged a couple by accident, but they still jump like crazy. Mems.