A Trout By any Other Name

A Trout By Any Other Name

submitted by Mark Whitney

This past weekend, while the weather was right and the fishing reports even better, I thought I’d try my hand at fly fishing for trout; spotted sea trout, that is.  It was my first foray into salt water with a fly rod so I didn’t have high expectations for my chances.  But, with a buddy who has a house on the Gulf, another who generously loaned me a stand-up kayak, yet another who gave me a box of flies, and having purchased a brand new 8 weight, how could I possibly go wrong?  I got to my destination on Thursday evening and the local Sheriff’s deputy, who happens to be a fishing buddy, told me the trout were biting and the fishing had been good the last few days.  The local weather called for calm clear skies through the weekend, plenty of sun and mild temperatures.  Yep, things were looking up!

Friday morning, the sky was clear, the temps were mild and the wind was howling like a dog with its tail caught in a closed car door.  These are not prime casting conditions for someone who fishes creeks in north Georgia and generally only sees the first 12 feet of his fly line.  After wearing my arm out back casting into a gale, I pulled out my trusty spinning rod and laid waste to those toothy critters using an electric chicken salt water assassin.  There’s more than one way to fill the skillet!  At about 2:00 in the afternoon and 6 hours of fishing, the wind quit being mad and went away.  Fortunately the bite was still on, the tide was low, the trout were huddled up in the deep holes and I hadn’t noticed how sunburned my legs were yet.  I went back to the fly rod, tied on a white and pink clouser minnow and called myself a fly fisherman once again.

I finished up the day with 5 trout using my fly rod and 3 lady fish.  The lady fish were the most fun, running, jumping and trying to shake my flies.  They certainly earned their reputation as the poor man’s miniature tarpon.

Saturday broke a little cooler and the wind was mostly a non-factor.  I stuck with my fly rod most of the day and was happy to have the chance.  I ended up with more trout than I could keep and caught another 5 lady fish.  Again, most were caught on a clouser, but a couple were caught on a fly tied by a friend of mine.  I’d tell you what it looks like, but then he’d have to kill me (his words, not mine).

I have spent many days fishing for spotted sea trout and redfish in the bay near my friend’s house on the Gulf.  It’s not too far from Steinhatchee and this time of year the fishing is always good.  Usually, I’m a little more efficient and proficient using a spinning rod, but I have never had as much fun as I did using my new fly rod.  I highly recommend it!  And I know I will be going back as often as I can.  Trout in north Georgia hold a special place in my heart, but trout on the Gulf Coast hold a special place in my imagination!

I hope to see you on the water some time.

Mark

Capt. Pete's Sarasota Fishing Report

Our great friend Captain Pete Greenan regularly sends us fishing reports from Sarasota and Charlotte Harbor so we feel obligated to go down and fish with him on occasion. Pete is one of the true characters in flyfishing the salt and we always enjoy it when we get to spend time with him whether it's on one of our north Georgia trout streams or in the bay chasing tarpon. He's a great guide and if you're headed down that way, you need to set up a trip with him. The conversation is worth the price of admission. Here's his report from today:

Boca Grande Report
23 Feb. 2009

Fishing has been rated good this week in Charlotte Harbor. Anglers fishing with me caught snook, redfish, seatrout, bluefish, pompano and ladyfish. Most fish came to a variety of flies including Puglisi patterns, Clouser Deep minnows and Estaz Marabou flies. The lures we used included DOA Cal jigs, Cotee jigs, Rip Tide and Exude swim baits and Johnson Sprite spoons. The photo above is of a nice seatrout taken by Kevin Terry from Colorado on a Clouser minnow near Whidden's Creek.

Cindy Stanley and her Texas Belle sister fished Sarasota with me and caught bluefish, seatrout, ladyfish and pompano on jigs and flies. Pete Smith and his friend Klaus caught redfish, seatrout and pompano in Bull Bay later in the week. Dusty Sprague and I caught redfish to 7 lbs. in the Peace River on Monday. Will Hallett and Charles Grudzinskas caught redfish, seatrout and ladyfish on a windy Tuesday on spoons and jigs. Byron Stout, a popular Outdoor Editor from Ft. Myers, joined Dusty Sprague on Wednesday. Dusty caught redfish to six pounds and a nice 28 inch snook in Turtle and Bull Bays. Kevin Terry, a wildlife Biologist from the Apache Indian reservation in New Mexico, and his femme-fatal, Stephanie caught seatrout to 25 inches, bluefish and ladyfish on fly in Gasparilla sound on Sunday.

The variety of fish caught and the appearance of baitfish schools indicate improved fishing for the next week. Look for continued good fishing for seatrout and redfish with snook getting better everyday. Pompano are plentiful but scattered throughout Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor.

I hope you all get a chance to fish this month. Good weather and clear water make the fishing very enjoyable.
Fish Hard,
Capt. Pete
http://www.floridaflyfishing.com
941-923-6095