Caney Fork Trout Fly Fishing - Caney Fork Trout Guide

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Author Topic: Snapper? On the fly?  (Read 4190 times)

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mrl0004

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Snapper? On the fly?
« on: June 03, 2015, 10:55:32 AM »
I have been wanting to catch a red snapper on the fly for quite some time now. I’ve been bombarding people with questions like: “What kind of leader?”, “What weight rod should I use?”,”What charter should I use?”, etc. All this stems from my being consumed with achieving my goal. That’s just how I am. When I set out to do something, I am like a crazed maniac until I accomplish it. So, after weeks of reading, bugging people, borrowing the gear I would need, etc., the time had finally arrived. I set out to Pensacola last Saturday for 3 days. One day was basically just to set up camp, procure provisions, learn the lay of the land, etc. That night, I wanted to grill some seafood by the campfire. So we went to Joe Patti’s and endured the madness long enough to get what we wanted. Now it’s time to relax, enjoy some libations and plan for the next day.





I rented a kayak for use around the campground on the grass flats, and the weather and tides looked favorable for my time slot. Unfortunately, the fishing wasn’t stellar. Not even okay. I caught a single pinfish after casting a 9wt (from a seated position) in a kayak for 4 hours. Oh well, there’s always cold beer and nice scenery to enjoy.





We decided to give up surf fishing for the day because everywhere we wanted to go was pretty crowded. We went to a highly recommended place for lunch and wasn’t overly impressed, but we were hungry. After that we did as everyone else was doing and sat under an umbrella on the beach and drank beer.



Went back to the campground and took a much needed shower and headed out to another highly recommended seafood place for dinner. After dinner, we went back and made sure we had everything set for the trip the next morning. Woke up early the next morning and headed to the marina to meet our captain. While heading out, we ran into a pretty nasty storm (little did we know that was going to be the day’s norm), and beached the boat and took cover at Ft. Pickens. Once it passed, we stopped in the pass to catch bait because my buddy isn’t a fly fisherman.



I tied on this fly for my quarry, for no reason other than it had some weight to it relative to my other options.



Made it to our first stop and on my first cast I hooked up with this beauty:






I was totally unprepared for how hard these fish fight. I was using a 12wt, and I thought that fish was going to snap it in two. We had snapper and triggers swimming around, and after I caught several snapper, I tried to get one of the triggers to bite. I had to actually start snatching the fly away from snapper to give the triggers a chance. Unfortunately, they wanted nothing to do with the fly. So I caught a few more snapper and we decided to motor off to another spot.



At the next spot, I used my 9wt because we saw some undersized cobia. I had on a pink clouser and hooked one finally after multiple frustrating follows and rejections. He wasn’t big, but it was a cobia.




I caught a few remoras too, but didn't waste pics on them!

From that point on, the snapper and triggers weren’t really hitting the fly anymore. So I watched my buddy catch quite a few on gear and then we motored off to one last spot. We pulled up to where the captain thought there would be some king mackerel. I cast a fly and stripped as fast as I could for about 100 casts, while my buddy caught mackerel and bonita. I finally said to heck with the long rod and grabbed a spinning rod to catch a mackerel. On my first cast I hooked up and we added several mackerel to our snapper haul for the day.





We ran back in during a horrible storm. I had my eyes closed to keep the water out and could see the lightning flashes. I thought I would die out there. We got back safe and sound, other than drenching wet, and made the long drive back to Alabama. I can now mark snapper off the list, but there’s still dorado, pompano, jack crevalle, etc. to go!!!
"Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful."

icthus

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2015, 01:53:07 PM »
Great report,


A nine wt sitting all day is work not fun. :)

-Pal
"You see the fish, make the cast. Tic, tic, hit him, no not a trout set!!!!!! What are you doing?"

David L. Darnell

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2015, 03:30:36 PM »
did you ever get your 20" Brown ? don't remember photos, but I'm almost as old as Grumpy  :o

mrl0004

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2015, 04:36:37 PM »
did you ever get your 20" Brown ? don't remember photos, but I'm almost as old as Grumpy  :o

I wanted a 24" kype jaw, but I just gave up
"Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful."

JoelO

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2015, 05:17:22 PM »
You mean one like this? 23.5" last year.  ;D


mrl0004

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2015, 05:24:59 PM »
 >:(
"Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful."

grumpy

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2015, 09:13:59 PM »
Those vittles on the grill look good, nice TR to.

gaspergou

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2015, 06:11:32 AM »
Nice report! Did y'all chum them up, or were you dropping stuff to the bottom?







And thanks. I love my boat but I know its limitations. I've been wanting to add something in fiberglass for a while now -- and this most certainly did not help. ;)


grumpy

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #8 on: June 04, 2015, 07:09:52 AM »
did you ever get your 20" Brown ? don't remember photos, but I'm almost as old as Grumpy  :o

hey, watch it now ;D

mrl0004

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2015, 09:42:57 AM »
Nice report! Did y'all chum them up, or were you dropping stuff to the bottom?

Thanks all.

Gaspergou, we chummed them up. I am not aware of "dropping stuff to the bottom." What is that tactic? I thought it would be impossible to get a fly 90ft down. I wish one of those trigger fish would have eaten the fly. They were extremely frustrating and the guide said that sometimes the snapper are the same way. I just caught them on the right day I guess.
"Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful."

Steve H

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #10 on: June 04, 2015, 06:56:19 PM »
What an awesome TR. Why am I hungry all of a sudden?
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum

gaspergou

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2015, 08:39:21 PM »
I am not aware of "dropping stuff to the bottom." What is that tactic? I thought it would be impossible to get a fly 90ft down.

You might be surprised what you can do with a 30' shooting head of T14 or T17 and mono running line...




mrl0004

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Re: Snapper? On the fly?
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2015, 09:52:20 PM »
I am not aware of "dropping stuff to the bottom." What is that tactic? I thought it would be impossible to get a fly 90ft down.

You might be surprised what you can do with a 30' shooting head of T14 or T17 and mono running line...

I'm listening...
"Often, I have been exhausted on trout streams, uncomfortable, wet, cold, briar scarred, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, but never, with a fly rod in my hand, have I been in a place that was less than beautiful."