Greetings, I am heading down to siesta key in about a
month for vacation and have a boat load of questions
for you guys. While I may not be ?new? to fly fishing
I still have no clue what im doing. Ive read the
books and done a lot of looking on the internet but
nobody seems to give clear answers?..maybe that?s just
because there really are no clear cut answers to this
sport. In either case. We will be fishing
specifically in Roberts Bay. The south end of it
anyway?a bit north of Stickney point bridge.
From what I can tell the game fish will be Snook,
spotted seatrout, jack crevalle, ladyfish and mangrove
snapper. What types of lures do you guys recommend
for these fish? Streamers? Deceivers? I am assuming
these types of flies are supposed to mimic fish?..so
would I need a sinking tip line to use them? Or can I
use floating line?
Currently I have a redington Clearwater setup. 9 ft.
pole that?s a 9/10wt and the reel handles 7/8/9wt. I
could not find any 9wt line at gander so I ended up
getting 8wt. Will this work with my 9/10wt pole?.or
would you guys recommend I get the 9wt. Also, I read
that weight forward floating was the most universal.
Is that correct and will it be the best solution for
the bay? (in a general sense)
I have 100 yards of 20lb backing. Is this enough or
should I get 150 ? 200 yards. I will be wading in the
water not very deep. This will be very close to
mangroves along the shore of the bay. Would anything
in this location even be powerful enough to pull out
all 100 yards of backing? Of course that?s assuming I
can even catch something.
The fly line I specifically picked up is Scientific
Anglers Air Cel WF-8-F. Any good?
The leaders I have are saltwater 8 ? 9 lb. Would
these suffice for the area I will be fishing in? I
noticed that other posts recommended 10 ? 12 but at
the same time I am not sure if they are fishing
further out than I will be. The tippet I have is 3x
and 1x. The 3x is rated at 8 ? 9 lbs?.and the 1x is
something like 10 ? 11. Which one would be better to
use?
I do a little fly tying too. The Streamers and
Deceivers I have made are about 1 ? 3 inches long. Is
that about the right size for my application? I used
some bigger bass hooks for these as well. Would that
be a big problem? Also, I noticed that anyone who
ties flies crimps down the barb. What is the
reasoning for this? So it does not hurt the fish as
much?
And regarding knots, do you guys recommend a loop to
loop connection for the fly line to leader as well as
leader to tippet?
In either case?.I know these are a lot of questions
but I would extremely grateful for any help you guys
can provide.
You should enjoy some decent fly fishing while vacationing on Siesta Key. Roberts Bay should provide some opportunities. However, don’t overlook the surf north and south of Turtle Beach. There should be snook in the shallows there.
No. 1 fly locally is the chartreuse-and-white Clouser on a No. 1 or smaller hook. Also, any of the Puglisi minnow-type flies in No. 1 and No4.
Floating lines are fine. I prefer about a 9-foot leader (10-pound), with a 20- to 25-pound fluorocarbon bite tippet. I employ and loop-to-loop conection.
Save any bad flies or old flies for ladyfish and jacks – they will tear flies up and are not particular.
I’m not sure whether an 8-weight line will work efficiently on a 9-10 rod. You’ll figure that out and adjust.
Thanks for the information. I have a few clouser minnows tied up already so I can give those a try and also create some new ones. I was able to pick up some number 1 saltwater hooks. They are huge. About how many inches do you make your clouser’s?
I am not sure what this “bite” tippet is you are referring to? Is it also called a “shock” tippet? I had a hard time finding anything that said this. I did find this http://cgi.ebay.com/RIO-Fluoroflex-Shoc … dZViewItem
Is there a good place online to purchase this special tippet?
I am assuming you use loop to loop for both your fly line to leader and leader to tippet. I figure this would be a good config because you can change tippets without loosing any leader
Also when you mention bad flies for ladyfish and jack…do you mean actual flies like the adams? Will these fish go for flies?
Not being a Florida guy, I can’t help at all with questions on the area.
I can tell you that you will have a hell of a time trying to cast an 8wt line with 9/10wt rod
The lines I like on my 10wt are a 10wt full sink, a 11wt intermediate and a 12wt floater
All my true 10wt lines are on a 8/9 size reel
If you need to, you can fit a heavier line on a smaller reel by either using gel-spun backing or by cutting back the length of the line at the rear end
I know they’re not a sponsor, but I buy my lines here http://www.discountfishinginc.com/
Factory second lines are $9.50, with free shipping. You can get a couple of different ones and try them out on your rod
Here in the northeast it is common to use straight mono fishing line for a leader
Eight feet or so of Trilene extra-tuff or the equivalent does it. If you need to use tapered leaders you can still use regular mono for the tippet.
I wouldn’t use a 10# tippet on a 9# leader, as you mentioned in you first post though.
Also, shock leader, bite tippet, wire trace… all means the same. The first line of defense against sharp teeth, sharp gill covers, sharp oyster beds… whatever
By bad flies, I believe Steve is referring to flies (streamers) that are either not your best tying effort or flies that have been beat up by prior use
We call them “bluefish flies” around here.
Salt water fish do eat plenty of small stuff, but not the insects that we imitate with our trout “flies”
Deceivers and Clouser minnows are pretty much universal salt water flies. With those and a few local favorites you can’t go wrong
Flies tied on bronze hooks will work but will dull and corrode if not washed after use. They might straighten on a larger fish too.
Flies with pinched barbs are not only easier to remove but also penetrate boney jaws easier too.
I just got back from fishing just a bit south of Siesta Key (Venice).
Fished from the beach (never got more than my ankles wet) from just before dawn until 10 or so. Had a great time catching snook (biggest was 32 inches), ladyfish and jacks.
I was using an 8 wt. floating line with a 20# floro bite tippet. Most productive flies for me were a Snook Alley Slammer and a Chartreuse / White clouser. One day I had good luck with an Olive / White clouser. All were in size 4. The clousers has small red dumbbell eyes.
Here’s a link for the Snook Alley Slammer:
[Snook Alley Slammer instructions[/url:61ed8]
I would also recommend a stop at Casey Key Anglers and Outfitters, which is just a few minutes south of Siesta Key, on coincidentally, Casey Key. Kevin is a great guy and can help with anything you need, including flies and the latest info. (I have no affiliation with him - other than as a happy customer)
I have already ordered some 9wt floating line. Anybody need 8wt???
MNFisher,
I hope my siesta key experience goes something like yours. Sounds like you guys are having a blast down there.
I will admit im still confused about this tippet business. Do they actually call it shock/bit tippet? Or is anything over 15 - 20 lb’s automatically shock tippet?
What ever you buy will not be called shock tippet. It’s only shock/bite tippet if that’s what you use it for.
Besides floro you could use mono or wire if that’s what the fishing called for.
When fishing for bluefish in this area I use braided knotable stainless wire. Others use mono from 50-80# test
I was a Mote Marine intern a few years ago a went fishing in siesta key. Try stickney point at nigth, from the bridge, you can see snooks in the road lights. I had great time catching some up to 30 inch, but you need at least a 20 lb mono or maybe a 30 or 40 for this particular place since they go directly to the pilings and you can’t always stop them.
I also fished philipi river wading from the estate park. Its a oystery and muddy (sometimes) but snooks are jumping on a popper along the mangrove. Usually small snooks in summer but I spotted several tarpons going out of the river before low tide.
Red tide was on the shore (covered with dead snooks and reds in places) so I mainly fished rivers.
I also had some great night action in New pass, fishing near mote marine docks, my first florida snooks.
I would put 200 yds of backing on your reels, a nice jack can take you a lot of it. An if you can find intermediate and sinking line, you will have perfect set up.
It would be a pleasure to have some news when you go back
Since the weather has been winds from the west blowing in the seaweeds & morning showers churning up the surf making sight fishing tough, flyfishing the beach has been put off until the summer weather pattern with winds out of the east in the morning takes hold, which should start later this week. Walking the beach early in the morning when the sun just starts hitting the waters is like fishing in an aquarium. Getting the snook to strike is another story. With a 18" 20lb fluorocarbon bite tippet ( it’s just called leader material ) you’ll get more bites but lose more flies. Snook don’t have teeth, but there mouths are like sandpaper, therefore 25lb bite tippet is better for the 36"+ fish you’ll see. After each catch you’ll probably have to retie the bite tippet to fly knot, even with most of the snook being caught 20"-30". Remember that snook have gill plates which are just like razor blades, so don’t land them that way. Just lip 'em like bass ! If you’re down near Nokomis ( about 15 miles south of Siesta Key )stop in at http://www.caseykeyanglersandoutfitters.com & Kevin, who hosted the FL Fish In, can get you on the fish. 8)
The fishwest SA 80lb tippet is for tarpon, but is what you’re going to need in 25 lb for the beach & 40 for the bridges, docks etc. What kind of #8 fly line ? Just had to shorten one on the back end by 36’.
The fluoro sizes will work. If you’re losing too many flies with the 20, put on the 30 unless the waters “dirty”& start with it. If they don’t strike with the 30 lb, put on the 20. SA flyline might just work for bass fishing, wrong color for the salt. 8)
Kind of prefer clear flylines ( floating & intermediate ) of Airflo, Monic, & Orvis; but the SA saltwater pastel blue or sand colors are also good choices. Probably don’t spook the fish as much. There’s so many choices that you may want to see if any of the FAOL sponsors carry them for online shopping.
This is just my opinion but, I think the clear lines are more about not spooking the bait than about not spooking the game fish.
A game fish might avoid a colored line, but I don’t think they’re afraid of them
Bait on the other hand will spook at anything. Chase away the bait and the gamefish will follow
As for colored line, as long as you stay away from bright colors, I don’t think it matters all that much.
Sometimes when the snook are on the beach swimming in different directions & you cast to one swimming in one direction & another swims towards the fish you hope to catch from the other direction that you don’t see coming until after the cast, even the clear flyline will send the snook out to the deeper waters & instead of spooking one it ends up spooking both. Haven’t really gone to colored lines to see if it’s worse. 8)
so what do you guys think would do the trick for the lowest amount of $$$. I was looking a little bit at airflo and sa’s saltwater line and everything was 50 - 60 bucks.
