Fishing with the Southern Angler

It's been a long time since my last report, so I at least want to post some pictures of charters from the last month or so. Here are a few!

Glenn Dell with a nice Redfish!

Peter Mandeville with a big Fat Snook at a early morning dock light

John Chamberlin with a late morning Snook near the inlet.

Mark Eustis hooked up with a April beach Jack.

The outcome.

The wind is not my friend

JD Delmonico with a Beach Jack on a less than nice day on the beach.
A true 30 pounder on a perfect beach day in April.

The fishing this time of year is so good, but the wind can be a real pain in the butt in March and April. The days we can sneak outside the inlet during these months are sometimes few and far between it seems, but when it all comes together the fishing can be awesome. It's real cool to pull up to a school of Giant Jacks with all their tails poking through the glassy surface as they daisy chain in a circle. I have seen it thousands of times but it still makes me want to drop a popper fly in the middle of them every time, and it gives most first timers what I call jack fever. We have been fortunate enough as of late to be able to make it out and fish the beach a hand full of times and it never seems to disappoint.

A small school of big Jacks Daisy chaining on the surface.

Summer is in our sights

Bud Scheie with a nice beach Cobia on fly

We have seen some hints of summer in the past few weeks, and the fishing is showing it. I was training my 3 labs at a ranch west of Stuart this past weekend and the thermometer on my truck read 88 degrees. The ocean has flattened out for us a few times and luckily I had charters scheduled and was able to take advantage of the great conditions. Local resident Bud Scheie has been trying to get out with me to fish the Giant jacks on fly but the conditions in the ocean never cooperated with us. Last week though it all came together and we were able to make it out. The weather was perfect, flat seas, no wind, warm water, and a full tank of gas so we could track the Jacks down. Unfortunately the Jacks had other plans on this day and didn't want to show up and play our game. We covered many miles up and down the beach to no avail, but the fish Gods didn't leave us empty handed they bestowed upon us a couple nice schools of Cobia. Bud made some great casts with his 12 wt rod and was rewarded with a nice cobia on the fly and a great dinner that night. We'll get those jacks next time Bud! On a side note my charter the next day yielded a dozen Giant Jack hookups on fly and we landed probably six of them the biggest being 27 pounds the smallest around 20. My clients that day where Mark Denigris and his buddy Marc Brock from New York. It just goes to show that things can change on the water very fast, for the good or bad. To bad for Bud he was a day early.

Dock Lights

As promised here are a few shots from charter last night. Chris Oliver... what a great guy, I could tell he is very passionate about fly fishing. We had to work hard for the fish we caught last night (which is not typical of Snook fishing on the dock lights). We are still dealing with some wind and cool water temps, but the great thing is we live in south Florida where we can always find something to bend a rod. Chris is from the coast of Maine where they have been up to their neck in snow for months with nothing to do but watch fishing shows on TV. He luckily decided to drive south for a month to get his fishing fix.

Stuart Fly Fishing in Springtime

With the given economy. I've got to say people are still down this year and willing to fish. I have stayed fairly busy so far this year, not as busy as some, but better than most. Spring is in the air and I really get jazzed up to fish and guide this time of year. The big Jacks and Cobia start showing on the beach, soon after that the Tarpon and permit and then you move into full blown Summer and the Snook fishing is off the hook, not to mention the Little Tunny and the rest of the offshore species that us inshore guides catch in the Summer...It's a great time of year to fish Stuart Florida. Yesterday I fished with Jerry Nergo from Boston Mass. Jerry was just looking to get out and bend a fly rod which is what we tried for, unfortunately we had one of those super windy late February days and the fishing was tough. We did manage some Ladyfish and Jerry managed to hook a big Snook in the south Fork of the St Lucie but the fish didn't stay hooked long. After checking a few spots that baby Tarpon tend to hold in the winter with no luck we called it a day and headed to the dock, again thank goodness for Ladyfish on windy days. Tonight I have a night fly fishing trip which should go well the Snook fishing at night has been great this winter. I will report back tomorrow.

Guides day off

Well tomorrow will be the first time in a while that I have fished for myself. As a flyshop owner and full time guide you would think that I fish all the time...Well not really, I may spend time on the water but I don't get to fish as much as I would like. So tomorrow my good friend and fellow Stuart fly fishing guide John Meskauskas will be hitting the water for some much needed pulling on some big fish, and to make it even better David Mcleaf is coming along to photograph the trip. I have never met David, so I'm looking forward to it. David is a great photographer that gets lots of cover shots for certain fishing publications. Our quarry for the day will be the giant Jacks that have been cruising the beach and also some Spinner Shark action later in the day. So with my 10 and 12wt rods in hand I will hopefully have some great pictures and a story to share tomorrow afternoon. On a side note since I like to put a picture with each post, the one above is a picture I took of a Don Ray painting with my camera on the black and white mode. I thought it turned out pretty cool and wanted to share it.

Capt. Scott Cormier

Sharks!!

It's time again to dust off the 12wt rods and do battle with the most fierce predator in the ocean. The yearly migration of the Spinner Sharks has started on the Treasure Coast between Stuart and Ft. Pierce. I had great success flyfishing for them last year, I tie a fly called the Southern Angler Shark Fly that they couldn't resist. It's a big bulky orange fly that really gets them going, I think it's the orange color more than anything that turns them on. The way I fish them is to chum from an anchored boat and bring them into casting range and sight cast to them. The first run is truly amazing, every bit as fast as any Tarpon I have ever caught, a truly great species on fly or spin. Here are a few pictures, the sharks should be around for a few months. Give me a call at the Southern Angler 772-223-1300 to book a trip for these great predators.

Capt. Scott Cormier

Heavy Weights

The Giant Jack Crevalle...What a great game fish! I wait for these guys all winter hoping they will show up sooner rather than later, and this year they didn't disappoint. Saturday the 24th of January was my first shot at the Jacks this year, and they were out in full force. The three guys with me, Tim Niles, Fred Shiple, and Nick Mcdonald had a big time cathing these big brutes. We did a six hour trip and fished the Jacks the whole time. I bet they where feeling it the next day. It's hard to explain just how hard these fish fight, pound for pound they have to be the hardest fighting fish I know of. They are also a great choice for the flyfisherman, they will teach a beginner how to fight big fish in no time because you get so many shots. Great job guys hope you were not too sore the next day.

Happy new year Snook

Starting off the new year right, January third and the fishing has been great. This time of year we are normally hiding from the wind and happy catching the usual wintertime residents like Ladyfish, Mackerel, Pompano and Jacks. These guys can keep us busy on the worst days, so I'm always thankful to catch them in the heart of winter. But as an added bonus I've been able to put my clients on some quality Snook this winter. This was the first fish of the morning for Stu, after this Snook we made a run to the Indian River and caught Trout, Ladyfish, Pompano, and a few small jacks. I'm crossing my fingers that the winter will keep going as it has been.

The last Snook of 2008...WOW

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Charters have picked up quite a bit over the holidays and the fishing has been great. The weather has really been good this winter with lots of warm temps. This Snook was caught on the last day of 2008 in the St Lucie river. The fish was 27 pounds and fell for a black and purple polar fibre minnow, the water was cold that day, 63 degrees, so the fish didn't fight quite like a normal Snook that size. All I can say is nice fish Dan, thats a Snook of a lifetime on fly, great job!