I needed a break

Baby tarpon face

After a long busy winter, I was due for a real break.  All I wanted to do was fish my ass off and get some revenge on some Southwest Florida saltwater species who have been giving me hell for some time now.  Mission accomplished!

Redfish tail spot

I spent some serious time spooking every redfish I came across.  It took many days for me to be able to consistently spot redfish with enough distance to get a shot at them before they took off scared.  By the end of my trip, I was pretty good at it and started to catch a lot of redfish.  What a beautiful and fun fish to catch on the fly!  I can't wait to get back on my secret redfish flats!

Redfish face

Baby tarpon

The big tarpon were in SW Florida while I was there but the wind was insane and I don't have a big enough boat to get out into the Gulf, yet.  I did, however, get into some great baby tarpon!  All I can say about these guys is holy shit!  They are the most insane, acrobatic, and fun fish you can ever imagine catching.  Like the redfish, it took a couple of days of exploring and getting my ass handed to me to be able to catch this entirely new species on flies.  With some help from the local fly shop and endless determination, it happened big-time.  I also can't wait to get back to my secret baby tarpon ponds.

Florida gator

Mother and baby manatee

Going fishing in Florida is full of sights, sounds, and dangers.  The variety of birds, plants, animals, and fish in Florida is just insane.

Gigantic Florida ditch pickle

Even the bycatch is cool here.  While deep stripping streamers for tarpon, I'd sometimes hook into the biggest largemouth bass I'd ever seen.

Gar

Anyone who's fished Florida knows about these gars.

Tarpon skin

Southwest Florida fly fishing is super challenging and fun.  I'm so lucky to have a connection to the region and I can't wait to spend time studying and exploring the fishery in the future.

Until then, it is go-time in Southwest Montana!  There are salmonflies on Rock Creek and the Big Hole, the MO is heating up big-time (as long as there isn't another push), and the carp are on the flats in the lakes.  The hills are green and there is still a lot of snow in the mountains.  The lilacs are blooming in Butte and it's a good time to be a fly fisher in Montana!

Starting out 2017 on the saltwater flats of SW Florida

Florida pelican

2017 is off to a good start fish-wise.  My first fish of the year was a little crevalle jack.  Pretty cool!

Small crevalle jack

Over the last few years, I've fallen in love with Southwest Florida.  It is a fly fishing paradise.  I went down there with dreams of huge snook and tailing winter redfish.  I never could find the redfish even though I waded miles and miles of flats.  I did, however, find snook, jacks, barracuda, and a puffer. I'm still new to saltwater fishing and I need more time to explore and learn.  Rest assured, I won't die until I figure it out!  Until I get more time, I'll keep practicing on carp.

Small snook

Snook have become one of my favorite fish of all time.  They are vicious, sneaky predators that get huge, fight hard, and jump like Missouri River brown trout.  I caught a bunch of smaller ones and stuck one huge one which exploded out of the water when hooked.  Then, it raced under some dock pilings at the same time our boat was being blown into an adjacent dock.  The impending disaster, my undersized 7-wt, the wily snook, and a dock piling covered in sharp barnacles prematurely ended the fight.  I'll never forget it though and those Florida snook better keep an eye out for me next time.

Feeding snook

We stopped at a marina with a bonafide snook preserve.  Here, you can feed the snook that reside underneath the marina's bait dock.  I saw a huge silhouette and threw in a shrimp.  About 20 3-foot + snook appeared and destroyed the shrimp.  I shit my pants and spent the next hour feeding them and taking pictures.  Wow, what a cool fish!

Little barracuda

I also caught a couple of little barracuda.  These little guys were beautiful and put up a hell of a chase and fight for their size.

Mom's black drum

My mom caught this nice black drum and the following porcupine fish.

Porcupine fish

I was untangling a knot in my line and when I picked it up I thought I had hooked a bunch of weeds. Turns out it was a puffer, on the fly!

Pufferfish

Small spotted sea trout

The wildlife and beauty of SW Florida is outstanding. I can't wait to get back.  I've got a feeling it wont be long!

This is an unfiltered picture I took with my phone!  It looks like a painting, crazy!

The tarpon egg

This super effective tarpon fly was designed by Eastgate Anglers out of Cody, WY.  Leave it to some trout fishermen in Wyoming to develop one of the most successful saltwater patterns of all time!

The tarpon egg

Hook:  15# galvanized halibut hook
Thread:  Orange nylon twine
Body:  1 large navel orange
Tying Instructions:  Lay a base of nylon twine.  Insert hook through orange.  Sew orange to hook with a large needle and twine.  Hint from Easgate Angler: Cast to rising tarpon; dead drift with occasional small twitches.

This fly has saved many a day for guides in the saltwater flats from Cuba to the Texas Coast.  When the tarpon are on the spawn, snook and redfish will follow them around to gorge on their eggs.

I like to fish it under an indicator (20" crab pot buoy)

Don't forget to use plenty of weight to get it down, eggs don't float!!

Saltwater flyfishing is WAY more fun and difficult than I had ever expected!

I recently took a trip to Western Florida to attend a week long party family reunion.  I got the chance to go on a guided flats boat trip with Sea and Stream Outfitters in Boca Grande. 

Fly Fishing Guide Austin Lowder took us deep into the mangrove flats around Boca Grande.  This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.  We were in what seemed like a mangrove jungle.  There was such an amazing variety of birds, fish, and creatures that I was totally overwhelmed.  Not to mention, Austin was poling us through water from 8" to waist deep that was loaded with large, super skittish redfish and snook.

I bet a flats guide's worst nightmare is an avid trout fisherperson.  A trout fisherperson may think that because they can catch a bunch of trout all the time that they'll be able to go to the flats and rock it.  NOPE. That was the hardest fly fishing I have ever attempted.  It was also some of the most exciting.

Austin's Hells Bay Flats Boat at the marina in Boca Grande

Favorite coffee thermos from Headhunters

I would certainly recommend Austin Lowder for your Florida fly fishing adventure.  Unlike many other "charters" in Western Florida, Austin only guides fly fishing and he prefers to sight fish for tarpon, redfish, and snook.  Austin Lowder also guides out of the Livingston, MT area for trout in the summertime (Austin in MT).  I learned a lot about the fish, threats to the local environment, and got a great casting lesson.  I was so busy scaring away all the fish and being overwhelmed by the natural beauty that I didn't take many pics.

Here are some pics of the Gulf of Mexico's fabulous wildlife that I took when I wasn't on the guided trip:

Gopher Tortoise

I saw many friends from MT like this heron

Brown Pelican

Heron in the mangroves

Those big sticks were mangroves that were damaged in a hurricane

Stump Pass, FL