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| Florida pelican |
2017 is off to a good start fish-wise. My first fish of the year was a little crevalle jack. Pretty cool!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| Mom's black drum |
My mom caught this nice black drum and the following porcupine fish.
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| 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!
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| Pufferfish |
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| 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!
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| This is an unfiltered picture I took with my phone! It looks like a painting, crazy! |
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