Capt. Austin Lowder
November 25, 2009
Boca Grande - Saltwater Fishing Report
Boca Grande, Florida Fly Fishing
It's the day before Thanksgiving and I have been fishing for the last 7 days straight. The fishing has been great. Last week I made some videos that I will be posting on my facebook page called Fly Fishing with Austin Lowder. There are some great visual strikes on Snook and Redfish. The day I made the video I caught and released 14 Redfish and 2 Snook. The redfish were 22 to 27 inches and the Snook were both 27 inches. The water was low, the visibility was great and the fish were pounding the fly. For the last 6 days I have been guiding and the redfish have been tailing like crazy with this low tide scheme. This past Sunday we had southwest wind lots of clouds and humidity and a hard outgoing tide. These conditions were perfect for blindcasting so I ran into some deep dirty water with low visibility and we worked the mangrove shorelines with big topwater baitfish patterns. We hooked 6 snook between 25-30 inches and were able to land two of them one of which was 27 inch 7 pound Snook. Since then, the wind has been calm and the fish have been spooky, but we have managed to catch 3 or 4 nice reds each day sight fishing to tailing fish. The fish have been eating a variety of flies and because they have been so spooky with the calm winds I have had my best success with flies that push water. You don't have to cast a deer hair slider right to the fish and spook him, they feel the fly coming by and swim over with a big wake and eat it on the surface. I feel like the weather has just been too nice lately, the water is warm and food is readily available to the fish making them more wary of flies. We have a cold front headed this way and I think falling water temperatures will help get rid of the live bait and make them more susceptible to flies. When a cold front comes in with some high pressure, good sunlight and north winds the tide stays low and the visibility is great. I expect the fishing to be great over Thanksgiving weekend. The week after Thanksgiving we get back on the full moon tides and this means low tides and hard incoming water which will produce nice catches of redfish and snook. December tides are alway the lowest tides of the year and we will continue to see lots of tailing redfish. I am hoping for some good cold fronts to concentrate the snook in their winter lies so I can start really hammering them deep in the backcountry. For more information about fly fishing Boca Grande, Florida check out my website at http://www.seaandstreamflyfishing.com/ or call me at 941-815-0254. Tight lines and Happy Fishing.
Captain Austin Lowder
Fish your dream waters with Sea and stream Outfitters. Whether it is tarpon or trout, rainbows or redfish Sea and Stream is your outftter of choice. During the Summer we guide and outfit on Montana's great trout streams. Late fall, winter, and spring come and fish Florida's fisheries for tailing redfish, busting snook, or triple digit tarpon in Boca Grande. Our guides, both freshwater and salt, are experienced, professional, knowledgeable and are always ready to fish.
