Teeg Stouffer
09-27-2005, 02:00 PM
I had a chance to go to Miami this past weekend for work.
I got out Saturday afternoon on the north end of Key Biscayne, wading the flats. Finger Mullet migration is on, and I stopped and bought "the fly" plus a shrimp pattern, which is supposed to be a point-of-difference pattern when there are tons of mullet around.
I saw some big fish busting bait as I waded the flats, but never got close enough to put a fly on them. I had some slashy follows from what I assume were pin fish. A couple times, I had bigger fish boiling behind my fly, once I saw a stiff tail come up behind my fly, but I never really got a good hook-up.
Sunday morning I went back, and there was good tidal movement, plus a cloudy morning sky, with short bursts of rain. I fished a tide rip that had fish showing on it, and once had a school of what looked like reds, but could have been other fish, slashing at my mullet pattern, but none legitimately took. I drifted back through with the shrimp, and got a good hookup, but then the line went limp a couple seconds later. A few other chases and follows as I waded the flats, then I missed what I can only assume was a bonefish. I was wading a flat and saw a boil, then another boil a few feed ahead. It was totally unlike the big, splashy, crashy takes of the snook and cudas (I assume) I'd seen earlier, these were subtle and may have just been from, say, a tailing fish. I casted ahead of the second boil, and sure enough, my line went taught a few seconds later! The fish was off like a rocket, I got the satisfaction of a single deep bend in the rod before the line fell slack. Rats. I got takes on a smaller clouser, and near the end a school of pinfish would bite at my fly on every cast, but I never really got hooked up with one.
Saw lots of cool stuff wading out there, a ray swam directly at me, I saw several of those. Saw some real colorful crabs, both in underwater grass and in the rocks.
In the afternoon, I went for peacock bass in the canals and lakes near the airport. I had one fish chase my fly, and I saw in three places these fish explode on bait - man, they're savage.
I learned a lot more about how to fish these two fisheries, which is good, I hope I get the chance to go back. It's frustrating knowing that you're close, but doing something just a little wrong, when you're not getting fish and they're around, or when they're giving you refusals. Should I have stripped a little faster? Paused? Switched colors? Gone to a little bigger pattern? A little smaller? That's all part of getting it figured out, it will be fun to try again some time.
I got out Saturday afternoon on the north end of Key Biscayne, wading the flats. Finger Mullet migration is on, and I stopped and bought "the fly" plus a shrimp pattern, which is supposed to be a point-of-difference pattern when there are tons of mullet around.
I saw some big fish busting bait as I waded the flats, but never got close enough to put a fly on them. I had some slashy follows from what I assume were pin fish. A couple times, I had bigger fish boiling behind my fly, once I saw a stiff tail come up behind my fly, but I never really got a good hook-up.
Sunday morning I went back, and there was good tidal movement, plus a cloudy morning sky, with short bursts of rain. I fished a tide rip that had fish showing on it, and once had a school of what looked like reds, but could have been other fish, slashing at my mullet pattern, but none legitimately took. I drifted back through with the shrimp, and got a good hookup, but then the line went limp a couple seconds later. A few other chases and follows as I waded the flats, then I missed what I can only assume was a bonefish. I was wading a flat and saw a boil, then another boil a few feed ahead. It was totally unlike the big, splashy, crashy takes of the snook and cudas (I assume) I'd seen earlier, these were subtle and may have just been from, say, a tailing fish. I casted ahead of the second boil, and sure enough, my line went taught a few seconds later! The fish was off like a rocket, I got the satisfaction of a single deep bend in the rod before the line fell slack. Rats. I got takes on a smaller clouser, and near the end a school of pinfish would bite at my fly on every cast, but I never really got hooked up with one.
Saw lots of cool stuff wading out there, a ray swam directly at me, I saw several of those. Saw some real colorful crabs, both in underwater grass and in the rocks.
In the afternoon, I went for peacock bass in the canals and lakes near the airport. I had one fish chase my fly, and I saw in three places these fish explode on bait - man, they're savage.
I learned a lot more about how to fish these two fisheries, which is good, I hope I get the chance to go back. It's frustrating knowing that you're close, but doing something just a little wrong, when you're not getting fish and they're around, or when they're giving you refusals. Should I have stripped a little faster? Paused? Switched colors? Gone to a little bigger pattern? A little smaller? That's all part of getting it figured out, it will be fun to try again some time.