I live in a place I consider to be paradise; however, some days are cold and windy, sometimes even very cold, and very windy! A couple weeks ago we had a temperature drop of over 30 degrees as I headed out for my evening charter. During the day it was beautiful blue and sunny skies in the mid-80s, and that evening it dropped to 46°F. If you arenât a native Floridian, thatâs equivalent to a blizzard. We still managed to catch some nice snook. but man did we freeze!
The following two days I had the same guys in my boat, Ron and Rick from Colorado. It was too windy to run the beach for Spanish mackerel, so I decided to run way up the river and look for juvenile tarpon. After a few ânothingsâ I found an area with a decent number of these juvies. We had to put some time in and try a lot of different flies but ended up with some beautiful little tarpon. Considering winds up to 25 mph and the cold temperatures, we did good and my guys were very happy. They are already booked for the summer and have expressed that they now feel prepared for the big tarpon. I canât wait to see their faces when they hook up with a big one!
It is still mind blowing for me to have all these options which makes it such a secure fishery despite all of the environmental challenges. In most places when you face weather like I just described, there is very little or NOTHING going on for us fly guys.
In our area, these little canals and creeks can save your day. They are not only more wind protected, the water temperature is warmer during the day in the cold winter months.
Letâs remember this and protect and enjoy our environment.
The Fly Fishing Column is written by Capt. Michael Mauri, www.mauriflyfishing.com, michael@mauriflyfishing.com, (772) 485-3321.
