Any frsh water fly fishing in Fl

[Donat]

I'll be spending the winter months in Jacksonville,Fl and wondering if there is any fresh water fishing in the area.

[Eric-WD]

http://www.fishingjacksonville.net/

Looks like it, but I have no personal experience

Eric

[Lotech]

There ought to be plenty of places for bass, bluegills & crappie. I got real nice sunburn there once back in '69.

[flyguy66]

I'm a Contributing Editor to Florida Fly Fishing Magazine, and an author recently sent me his new book on fly fishing fresh water in central FL to review. I didn't publish a review on it because the book wasn't...well, I didn't write a review. I'll leave it at that. But it's not for lack of subject matter.

The St. John's River flows into the Atlantic at Jacksonville via a long series of fresh water lakes, lagoons, and marshes that runs almost to Orlando. This is some of the best Largemouth Bass fishing water in the world. It is "ground zero" for the Florida strain of LMB (Black Bass). There are literally hundreds of places to cast a fly in fresh water in NE FL. I live 2 hours N of JAX right now. Pan fish get ridiculously big down here! Bluegill, Redear (called Shell Crackers by the locals), and a few species you won't find much anywhere else the size of salad plates are not unusual and are pretty much everywhere there is fresh water.

What most anglers who have never fished fresh water in FL don't realize at all is that Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, and Crevalle Jack will also enter fresh water. You won't find Snook as far N as JAX, but they do have Tarpon and CJ's. Juvenile Tarpon up to 50 lbs. or so spend a lot of time in sweet water, and locals catch them on fly rods from the bank. CJ's can be great fun from a canoe or kayak in inland fresh water canals, as they behave like 5-15 lb. Bluegill. Finally, Redfish can thrive in fresh water and will sometimes show up inland in rivers and marshes.

One note about fishing fresh and brackish water in FL: You have to get used to sharing the water with alligators. First of all, they are very dormant in winter. Secondly, leave them alone and give them their space and you are 99.7% unlikely to have any issues as a fly angler. They like bait fishermen. LOL Just like with snakes (which we also have), keep your eyes open and pay attention and you won't have a problem. Never, ever feed or taunt or try to "get a closer look at" an alligator! They are VERY quick when they choose to be, and take their prey by "playing possum" and then pouncing suddenly on it without warning. But when they're cruising around in the middle of the lake, laying on the opposite bank, etc. they are no threat to you.

[Lotech]

flyguy66.
That was an awesome report. It reminds me of when I was stationed at Ft. Stewart back in the 60's.

[billhouk]

I lived in JAX for several years and I would say flyguy66 is right on the money. There are also a number of tributaries to the St.John's you can reach by canoe or kayak that would hold bream and bass. Unless you are near a spring it is black water (stained with tanic acid it looks and tastes like iced tea [never drink surface water without filtering]), be aware of your surroundings. Jax Beach is 30 to 45 minutes away, get a heavy long fly rod and some stainless steel hooks and tie up some streamers for beach / surf fishing too. Oh, one more place, the Okefenokee Swamp is about 90 minutes north. There is a federal park and Stephen Foster Georgia State Park. If you have never been in the swamp you won't want to pass it up. The St. Marys River leaves the swamp and flows to Mayport on the Atlantic coast. It used to be a really great canoe trip.

[flyguy66]

Thanks. Fresh water fly fishing gets overlooked pretty mightily in FL these days due to all the media hype and marketing focus on saltwater fishing. FL has an incredible abundance of terrific saltwater fishing options, and if you mention a trip to FL in fly fishing circles it is a given that you are getting salty. But FL has just as much excellent freshwater fly fishing opportunity as it does of the salty stuff. From Peacock Bass and Mayan Chiclids on the southern tip of the peninsula and arguably the best Largemouth Bass fishing in the country throughout much of the interior of the state to some wacky rough fish action statewide and Chain Pickerel along the FL-GA state line, fly fishermen could spend a lifetime in FL without ever casting a line in saltwater and have a blast.

Back in the earliest days of fly fishermen pioneering FL's fisheries, anglers from NY, Boston, etc. would winter in FL with their long rods and explore the river estuaries. They documented their catches like naturalists, and marveled at the abundance and variety of fish they took on the fly from the same river as it turned from freshwater to brackish and then to salt. Some of the earliest writers claimed to have caught over a hundred different species of fish on the fly in FL. Personally, I have caught about twenty in the past four years.

[Donat]

You all made my day. I had no idea. Thanks for the great replies