I hope everyone is off to a good start in 2017and getting out on the water. The last few weeks I have spent most of my time fishing Everglades National Park out of Flamingo and Chokoloskee, but have also squeezed in a few night trips chasing snook and tarpon in Miami. So far, the New Year has brought us some mild weather in South Florida, which most of the time means a lot of action from our targeted species. Although we are still a couple of cold fronts away from having a good strong shrimp run in Miami, there has been some shrimp flowing through Biscayne Bay out to the cuts. The last few weeks I have fished the bridges in Miami with clients that wanted to target tarpon with a fly rod. The tarpon will stack up underneath the bridges waiting for the tide to bring them their next meal. This style of fishing is one of the most exciting ways to fish for tarpon because of the vicious bites and epic battles you can with the lights of downtown Miami in the background. You get to sight fish these tarpon and they will devour anything that looks like a shrimp to them. I like throwing a Shiminnow style fly on a 1/0 or 2/10 hook.
What a lot of people don’t realize in South Florida is how good the fishing can be in Everglades National Park, which we are lucky enough to have in our own back yard. Flamingo lies about an hour and a half drive from Miami and on certain occasions can be some of the best sight fishing in the world. The northerly wind that we typically have with passing fronts this time of year makes it an ideal situation for sight fishing with a fly rod. After the fronts pass through South Florida, the water in the glades can turn crystal clear, and that makes it easier to hunt fish in very shallow water. This situation has played itself out the last few trips with lots of redfish and snook being released. The addicting part of fly fishing Everglades National Park is the plethora of species you can catch on fly in one day. On any given day, you can have shots on tarpon, redfish, snook, trout, tripletail, black drum, and the list goes on. Truly a special place to spend a day!
Capt. Jason Sullivan
Orvis-Endorsed
Fly Fishing Guide
www.RisingTideCharters.com
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