“Boom boom like I told you,” is is what my friend Jose says. He is a one of a kind human and a damn serious fisherman. He’s not fly guy yet, but this guy fishes probably more than any other angler in Martin County.
April is one of my favorite months here on the Treasure Coast. We have the tarpon migration and fishing for massive schools of big jack crevalle, primarily on poppers near the beach.
Jack crevalle, simply a smaller version of a giant trevally (GT), can grow up to 50-pounds here in Florida. Spotting and chasing big schools of up to a few hundred fish is just mind blowing. Sight fishing with big flies and hooking these brutal beasts is just pure hardcore fun.
Start fishing just when the sun is high enough to run the beaches with your boat. This allows the best visibility to see the schools and be sure to approach slowly. Mornings usually work best but be sure to keep your distance as to not disrupt the school. If I have clients in my boat that are inexperienced casters, I place the boat in front of the the school moving in, let my guy cast out the popper and wait. As soon as the school is moving in close enough I tell him to strip short and hard without any stops.
If you fish big streamers instead of poppers cast your fly out, put your rod under your arm and strip with both hands as fast as possible. Either way you choose, try to present your fly on the edge of the school and when they take the fly, strip strike hard! Put a lot of heat on the fish otherwise it will take forever to land him.
Use a 10-weight rod with a powerful WF floating line to turn over the big flies and poppers, a 7-to 9-foot 20-pound leader with a 30- or 40-pound tippet. The reel should hold 50-pounds. backing and have a strong drag. Flies on 4/0 hooks work perfectly.
Enjoy this adrenaline thrilling sight fishing! It brings me back 20 years when I was chasing GT’s in the Indian Ocean. #youngandwildforever
The Fly Fishing Column is written by Capt. Michael Mauri, www.mauriflyfishing.com, michael@mauriflyfishing.com, (772) 485-3321.
