Outdoor Sports – products, apparel, footwear and gear

Bonefish Flies

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How much must one spend to get a quality saltwater fly fishing reel?

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I need a resonably priced reel for chasing Tarpon, Snook, and Bonefish. Brand names would be appreciated.

Okuma makes a decent reel for saltwater applications and you could match that up with decent saltwater rod as well. I would get an 8wt or a 9wt. Go to FAOL or outdoorbest.zerofrorums - flyfishing section and search archived posts and ask some questions. I would not target tarpon with anything less than a 10wt rod and reel with a good line. The 8wt or 9wt will cross between salt and freshwater fishing if you want to target peacock bass in Florida or largemouth basss as well. Based on your budget, say $250 look at Cabelas and Bass Pro combos for 8wt and 9wt. Good luck

Fishing report

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Captain Jim Hale of Florida Sportfishing Charters reported that bonefishing on the flats of South Biscayne Bay has been very good, with schools of tailing bonefish and tarpon up to 60 pounds that are eating flies. Nighttime snook fishing for catch and release continues to get better in Biscayne Bay.
How to tie the Crazy Charlie bonefish fly

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Florida Keys Saltwater Fly Fishing

 

In the early days of saltwater fly fishing,anglers would use a heavy freshwater set-up.A (Steel head or King Salmon rod),and a reel that would require you to cup the reel with your hand, to apply drag or resistenc to a hard running fish .Things have changed,although the heavy freshwater stuff would get the job done,and to some degree it still does,you can get saltwater equipment to handle just about any fly fishing you would like to do.

  In the Florida Keys anglers use these saltwater fly fish set-ups to catch :Tarpon,dolphin(mahi-mahi),tuna,bonefish,permit,snook ,even sailfish and marlin.In saltwater,most of the time,  larger wet-flies are used to resemble shrimp,crabs,baitfish,but there are times when saltwater species will feed on the surface on poppers and surface flies similar to freshwater fly fishing.

When fishing for the offshore species like sailfish and marlin,anglers use a technique called ""teasing" ,(trolling a hookless lure to get the fish close-enough to the boat to be with-in casting distance,or "chumming" with baitfish to get the fish close to the boat.

 The old method of cupping the fly reel to slow these big boys down,on a long run,will not work.You will need a saltwater fly reel  with a drag system and a saltwater fly rod ,to get the job done here,along with a heavier corrosive-resistant  body design.As  with any type of saltwater fishing equipment corrosion-resistance and durability are a necessity.Saltwater fly fishing equipment is not cheap so expect to pay for good stuff !

In the Florida Keys saltwater fly fishing is typically done from a flats boat,(shallow draft boat),for species such as tarpon,bonefish,permit,snook,and redfish,or from a deep-vee offshore boats for dorado,sailfish,marlin,tuna,and other pelagic species,and also can be done from shore with waders on the many flats that are available from the  parking/fishing areas.

 Most Trout fly fisherman can do very well with this type of fishing .You will have to be accurate,because most of this  fishing is sight fishing,and once you spot a fish or school of fish you will have to be accurate with your cast to position the fly in the path of a moving fish.Polarized sunglasses are a must have ,to see in the water for movement .More than likely you will be fishing on the flats during high water,and they can be very spooky when cruising the flats,so being quiet with the boat and push-pole  and make accurate casts.

The Florida Keys water is very clear and there is nothing like watching a huge Tarpon hone-in on that perfect presentation you just made with your fly,and exploding out-of the water like a missile.Man,you know  your in for the  fight of your life !  Good Luck !

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