For a change I decided to visit Florida before the hurricane season at the end of May. The primary target was Snook and then sight fishing for them in the clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The “no hurricane” part of the trip was achieved, the sight fishing part did not go that well.
Prior research meaning ask AI yielded the selected time frame as the period with the clearest waters. Unfortunately real world conditions proved to be otherwise. Steady SE winds kicked up waves early in the day and thus visibility was usually very poor.
Furthermore the lack of baitfish and visibility meant there were few Snook on the beach. So in order to catch fish it was either blindcasting near structure or fish near inlets where the water was usually clearer and Snook could be found. It was a tough fishery for sure.
Still fish where to be caught and besides the Snook I managed to catch a lot of Seatrout. I had one freshwater session, in hindsight I had not the right equipment with me for that. In the end the Tilapia and a Catfish cooperated and I also had a tussle with a Mayan Cichlid. Jumped a Tarpon, caught a Tarpon and spotted a couple others at the beach and in the ponds.
The Fall Mullet run is definitely a better season to fish with the risk of hurricanes and tropical storms as a drawback. Best performing flies a Flatwing Deceiver pattern which I sourced from Piscari Fly in Ireland. The flatwing in a Mullet livery worked good on the Snook. A Fulling Mill Foxy Clouser minnow with sili legs that resembled a sandfly was a good pattern for blindcasting near structure, that fly catches anything.
To put it short this years trip was a combination of disasters being hurricanes back to back and personal tragedy that caused me to break off the trip after one week.
So back to business … prior to my departure hurricane Helene had pounded Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas so I was not sure if my flight would depart due to damages along the route. With the airlines usually not that forthcoming with giving info about cancellations the decision to cancel or not cancel was made by using info from poweroutage.us.
With all counties that I had to pass having power for 85 percent or more I figured airports and other important facilities should be operational. With no negative advice from the hotel I stayed in I was good to go.
Although my destination was not directly in the path of the hurricane the damage was still done by the storm surge. The beach road was swamped by several feet of sand so impassable. Beach accesses and public parks where closed with only some access points open.
Fishing was dismal for the first couple of days due to wind and wave action causing the usual muddy mess in the Gulf of Mexico. The only fish willing to play where small ladyfish that would hover around structure like pilings and rip rap.
After a few days the water cleared up and more access was restored. The main target remained ladyfish although I spotted some snook and tarpon at certain locations. A trip to the southern end of the beach convinced me that the beach was missing 3 to 4 feet of sand due to erosion caused by the hurricane.
I could only reached the last part of the beach at the inlet by wading waist deep at low tide during calm weather. This would be a dangerous venture during rough weather and higher tides … So fishing was off … I barely managed one small snook after losing a big one as there where not many around. Had some shots at the tarpon but they where not willing to play.
With access to the southern end of the beach difficult I concentrated on the northern end where the inlet was always good for some fish. Mostly small ladyfish and blue runners that would congregate on the incoming tide to harass the baitfish. Action on the beach itself was pretty slow, highlight for me was catching a nice redfish while fishing a clouser-minnow for any bottom feeding fish that might be around.
After a week the next hurricane was looming but I had to cut my stay short due to the passing of a family member. A few days later the area I was staying in received a mandatory evacuation order due to hurricane Milton so all in all a pretty bad time.
Spend October in SW Florida chasing various fish species on the beach. Fishing was not as great as I had hoped and weather conditions made life hard on many days. Still some of the target species (Snook) where caught with as bonus a Tarpon from the beach.
With the USA finally open to EU citizens after 2 years of covid entry blockades a trip to Florida was once again possible. The destination would be Naples in SW Florida. Unfortunately hurricane Ian ruined the lives and property on the SW coast and my plans to travel there. It all happened a day or two before my departure so I was not able to arrange a plan B on short notice.
It took me more than a week to figure out that plan B. Having read a forum post on SOL about NW Florida I arranged a trip to Pensacola beach. The area was totally unknown to me so I expected fishing to be a struggle. For a change that assumption was totally correct.
I cursed the place many times for the lack of fish or my inability to track and catch them. But as I explored more of the area I made a little progress in catching fish. I had high hopes of sight fishing the beach but on most days the surf was too rough for flyfishing and not much was moving.
My choice for Pensacola beach being a barrier island and next to a national park was a good choice. The bay in the back was fishable most of the times albeit lacking bigger fish. In the end the largest fish came from the bay and it was exactly as I had envisioned it, getting a large redfish on sight from a big school.
The goals of catching seatrout and flounder where also met with the seatrout appearing after a cold front passed the area. The letdowns where the bluefish (not present) and the pompano from the beach. The only pompano I got where the small ones.
So all in all mixed emotions about this trip but the area has enough potential for a return trip with the insights I have gathered. I did best at Ft. Pickens in the national park. And since Pensacola NAS is adjacent to the Fort you can watch the Navy’s Blue Angels on their practice twice a week if weather and season permits.
Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Escambia County, Florida
I skipped Florida last year due to personal reasons and off course the dreaded red-tide situation that killed off everything from fish to dolphins. Took a gamble and went for two weeks in October to Naples where I was lucky enough to avoid any hurricanes. On the red tide front things where different and there where some days where I was confronted with severe fish kills that left the mullet dying by the hundreds in the Gulf. Still most of the other species seemed unaffected so I caught my fair share of the picky beach snook with the usual mix of ladyfish, blue runners, spanish mackerel and some of the bottom feeders. Hightlight was the tarpon, one jumped and one landed. All in all a pretty good holiday be it a tad short.
Most fisherman probably have a certain fish species they want to catch that seems to be out of reach because of various reasons. A species that was on my wish list was the Striped bass. I had red many books about the subject and roamed forums about this fish species for information. Locations like Martha’s Vineyard, Montauk, Rhode Island and Massechussets came to mind.
The plan
I did not have a plan to pursue my dream untill I came into contact with Jeremy Cameron of Maine. Jeremy did some IT work for the Everglades Angler flyshop I frequented in Naples Florida. Jeremy ran the Flies-and-Fins website and as a New England local he pointed me in the right way. My first thoughts where to visit Massachussets but with some intervetion from Jeremy it became Rhode Island.
Travel
Plans where finalized and off I went on a flight to Boston with a short stopover in Iceland. From Boston South Station I took the Amtrak Northeast Regional to my final destination in Rhode Island. Just about midnight I arrived at a small train station in South county and with the last charge of my mobile phone I ordered the only cab in town.
Confusion
The late arrival worried me and when I came to a small hotel at the beach confusion set in. The hotel all dark with loads of people outside in the parking lot. In the middle of all this confusion a girl came up to me and told me that crowds where attending her wedding party. At my request she pointed me out to the appartment of the caretakers. Luckily they answered the door and gave me the keys to my room. After all the planes, trains and automobiles I was as drained so I dumped my stuff in my room and fell asleep in no time. The next morning at check in I was asked if I had heard anything of the racket from the other night. The cops had to come out twice to restore the peace but I was out fishing for stripers in dreamland.
The fishing
It was as hot in Rhode Island as in Florida so not what I had expected. In the first week of my stay I received the grand tour of Rhode Island by Jeremy when we fished various locations from foot and from the boat. The first striped bass came from a set of rockpiles where fish started hitting our flies when the tide began to run. I got a taste of fishing the breachways to the saltwater marshes and the open coast. The open beach was epic as we had the luck to run into a bluefish blitz with the waves, diving birds and the whole lot that makes this fishing so addicting. An eyeopener was the sight fishing for striped bass in the shallows at one of the barrier island, I always thought that was only done in southern climes.
Striped bass
Second week
The second week as my unguided week and so I explored the beach and the nearby bay on foot. I spend a lot of time on the beach slowly learning how to find the fish and when to fish for them . It went so far that I was on the beach untill midnight catching stripers in the moonlight. I even ran into one of the Flies-and-Fins forum guys while fishing the bay when we both hooked into large stripers.
Striped bass
Equipment
For the fishing I used 9-weight rods and fished with an intermediate line to fish through the waves. Besides the obvious clouser minnows I used several flies I sourced from an auction at the Stripers-online Surftalk forum. My most favourite pattern where surely the flatwing patterns I had sourced from the auction, light to cast and still having a full profile. With the risk of lower temperatures occuring any time I had off course waders with me.
Conclusion
My time in Rhode Island was fantastic. I sampled all the environments where one could expect to find stripers with the exception maybe of freshwater. The Mission to catch stripers was accomlished. While travelling home I vowed to visit Rhode Island again in the future.
The first time I was in spring in SW Florida due to circumstances. Four weeks in Collier county in April fishing the beaches and inland lakes. What I noticed where larger crowds than at my usual Fall stays and other fish species available at the beach. Also a different weather pattern and less lush landscapes.
