Naples, FL

[Garym]

Would it be possible to get a few locations where I can easily access and wet wade in the Naples area? I'll be there 5/9 & 5/10. Only time to fly fish is the early mornings.

Any assistance is appreciated.

Thank you

Gary

Garym@gsinet.net

[jeffsod]

Last year in April I fished early mornings at Doctor's pass and got into some serious ten pound Jack Crevalles on the fly rod. What a kick! Early morning is the best and only time to go as it gets too crowded to cast later in the day. At least off the beaches anyway. I fished on the South side of Doctor's pass. You park at Laudermilk Park which is metered parking so bring lots of quarters and walk north about a mile to the pass. Typically the end spot is taken by bait fisherman but I got lucky one weekday morning and no one was there. I hooked a nice jack on the fly outside the pass to the SW then the jack ran me out around the end of the jetty and up into the pass. Luckily he went inside along the jetty otherwise he would have fouled on the channel marker which is right there. You can also fly fish off the beach by the Pier too.

I fished Wiggins Pass a couple of times too which was good. Parking was at the state beach which is a real nice beach. I caught a couple of Ladyfish there.

Marcial Kassis has a nice website on fly fishing the Naples area which helped me out a lot:

http://home.hetnet.nl/~shimanto15/Trips.htm

http://home.hetnet.nl/~shimanto15/apf.htm

http://home.hetnet.nl/~shimanto15/Wiggins_pass.htm

Tightlines...

[Quicksilver]

jeffsod - Thanks for sharing those great links !

[jeffsod]

My pleasure.

Really the thanks should go to the sites creator though. I caught a nice keeper snook on the fly and some real nice sized jacks at on of the sights he recommended.

I also saw a lot of fish, snook, along the beach from the pier to Doctor's pass. Each rock jetty had activity around it. Most of the snook were not interested in flies at the hours I fished from 7-9am. Probably better before sunup or after sunset.

Flyfishing was also good at Big Carlos pass along the southern shore on the edge of Lovers Key. Got some trout and spanish macks there. Incoming seemed better.

Tightlines.

[Marcel_Karssies]

Those Snook are sure difficult to fool. I have thrown loads of flies at their face and all of them ignored the fly or where spooked by casting. This happened so often that I would not even try to fool them anymore when I went to the pass.

Fishing at the pass last year was not as I hoped it would be.
The fish where just not available in such numbers as in previous visits. On one afternoon I was about to leave the pass fishless. I hate when that happens so I gave the Snook another try on the way home to lunch.

The Snook patrolled the deeper water off the beach while all the tiny mullets and scaled sardines would hug the shore to keep out of harms way. I tied on a small EP minnow and actually coaxed one of the Snook in following it. It seemed the fish where willing to feed but I still could not get them.
Then I tied on a sillicone Johnny's angel and when a couple of Snook swam in formation all got interested. I guess the competition made on of them greedy and he decided to go for it. A couple of seconds later a Snook was jumping and I had a ball. Thinking this was a one of a million occasion I prized myself lucky. I fished on and in time managed to get another one. That was good for my confidence and I repeated the trick on several other locations.

After that day I fished more on the beach. The place I always thought was unfishable yielded more secrets to me.
Suddenly I was doing as good or even better than fishing in the passes. It was a real eye-opener. I guess you just have to try, try and try.

Snooking at the beach (http://home.hetnet.nl/~shimanto15/Snooking.htm)

[jeffsod]

Marcel, good to hear from you. I was meaning to shoot you an e-mail with results of my most recent trip. Again, thanks for a creating your helpful website on fly fishing Naples. I ran into other fly fishers on the beach who knew of it and also found it helpful.

I have put in some long hours presenting flys in a similar setting as the one that exists along the beach in Naples for the beach Snook. On Cape Cod in MA the island off of Chatham called Monomoy has very similar crystal clear waters with large numbers of Striped Bass cruising the shallow waters during the months between May-October. On an average July day you could present your fly to 200 Striped Bass to have only a handful of takes. Persistance has paid off for me here.

Things that I have noticed that increase my chances of hooking up are to fish the incoming tide, fish low light early in the day so a low incoming tide at 6 am is good, current flow find moving water and fish will be there taking advantage, and a little wind to make it harder for the fish to see you.

I will tell you the Snook I managed was ambushing bait around the Jetty as a strong incoming tide was drawing water from along the beach and around the jetty into the pass. I hooked the snook on the beach side and wound up fighting him around the tip and on up into the pass where he was landed.

I do think the stretch of beach from Laudermilk park to the pass is a very productive area for fishing and an onshore wind should increase your chances of hooking up. Clear calm conditions seem are great for the fisherman but fish are more picky.

Try Big Carlos pass along the southern lovers key side for a change of pace. Walk in fee is 1.00 and grass flat in the pass about midway from parking area seems productive on the incoming. I caught spanish macks and sea trout.

Tight lines.

[Marcel_Karssies]

Good to hear that people find the info on the site usefull.
I am just a tourist so my knowlegde is very limited. That area sure is heaven to me. Imagine you could live down there.

I fished for the Snook at incoming tide. I guess the deeper water and the increased wave action brought the Snook closer to their prey. I fished at very short distance to the Snook down there. It was however impractical to continue fishing with my clear floater when the waves would turn up. It was impossible for me to present and track the fly properly.
Laudermilk park is thick with Snook, I guess they know that fishing is not allowed down there :). They are present all the way to the pass so you can have plenty of shots at them.

It seems Snook and Jetties belong together. Both at Doctor´s and Gordon´s Snook where present. Those fish have seen it all, maybe even more difficult than the beach Snook for me.

I have fished Lovers Key last year for the first time with the fly and actually caught some fish. I landed one Snook and a couple of Ladyfish in New Pass at incoming tide. Early morning I waded the beach down there but boy was the water murky. When I was there only the dolphins where present but I still felt a little unsure to wade there. While wading Naples beach I was in the path of a 8 ft. shark. The shark was coming right at me and it was bigger then I had hoped for. I took a few very quick steps to higher ground just in case. It shot past me in a straight line but it made me think about such big fish in such shallow water. I would not want to meet one while wading in the murky waters at Lovers Key.

I tried the Big Carloss pass but I never caught anything. You have to tell me how you managed to catch the Spanish Macks and Trout. Those fish are missing on my fly caught species list.
With a bit of luck I can visit Naples this fall once again. Any tips are appreciated.

[jeffsod]

Marcel,

I do not own any floating fly lines but can envision chop being a problem interfering with your presentation. A slow intermediate sink type line is almost all I ever use. I have both the clear versions from Cortland (Camo clear) and Cortlands intermediate Striper Line which is more like a shooting head with the running line attached. Slow intermediates are very popular fishing for Striped Bass in the surf as the line runs under the surface and you are able to keep a straight line thus a better connection to the fly.

As far as wading the surf a common rule of thumb for striper fishing we use is to stay out of the water all together especially at night. If you are wading waist deep at night for stripers then the fish are probably swimming behind you along the shoreline.

A lot of the snook I saw were in six inches of water right at the shore line. Casting parallel to the shore would seem to be the best approach. Fishing before dawn is probably a good idea too. Fish will be a lot easier to fool before the sun comes up.

The fishing in Big Carlos I waded shin deep just to allow more room for back casting about mid way up the shoreline towards the point. The trout and Spanish Mackeral hit flies on the start or first half of the incoming tide. Most hits were out about twenty yards using my intermediate line. I cast straight out with the tide running in and allowed the fly to swing to my right with the tide just twitching it to make it look alive. I fished both a small #2 chartruese clouser and a white streamer and had hits on both. The spanish macks have sharp teeth and will cut you off so bring extra flies. Use of a wire leader may result in no hits at all. Best to use Flourocarbon leader material in twenty pound test to help with cutoffs as it is more abrasion resistant.

I don't think either of those two species are real paticular on fly pattern but white seems to be a good color. Try and pickup an intermediate fly line whether it is clear or not is up to your personal taste. The clear should help with casting on the clear calm days to beach snook. One caveat with the clear lines is they are slick and sometimes I miss hits due to line sliding between my fingers. The Cortland Clear Camo seems to be a popular well received line.

[Marcel_Karssies]

When I fished the beach i fished with a clear floater, dare I say Monic :) At the beach something that resembled a wave would only start to form in the afternoon. I figured I needed an intermediate at the time. That will be the next item on my wish list. Did you have any problems with your lines concerning the heat ?

When I fished the Atlantic beach at Fort Lauderdale I would most of the time fish with a sinker.
Overthere they got a steep sloping beach and real waves.

As far as the Snook goes I stood well upon the beach because the fish where so close. If I spotted fish I would cast the fly well in front of their path and just let it rest on the bottom.
Once they came close I would start the retrieve and sometimes they would try to intercept the fly. When there where more than one fish competition seemed to kick in and eventually one fish would grab the fly.

Early morning was a good time for Ladyfish and Jacks. Especially at Doctor's I encountered hundreds of them when they ploughed through the flat clear Gulf waters. An impressive sight to see so much Jacks coming right at you. I had a ball when I retrieved a clouser fast in front of the school.

I had some luck with letting the fly swing with the tide at New pass. Maybe I should try that this year with the intermediate also. I was told by a local that this tactic also works well in Gordon pass. Haven't tried that though.
I gues since I have relatives working at 3M up in St. Paul I will skip the Cortland and get one of the 3M lines, can't beat the discount :)

BTW Any plans to revisit Naples this year ?

[jeffsod]

I will be back there sometime just not sure when exactly. Family has made a comitment to the area so I know I will be back. Every trip I learn a little bit more.

I had purchased one of the older 3M Clear Striper lines and absolutely hated it. It was junk! The think coiled so much it wasn't worth the effort. I feel bad for anyone who was new to flyfishing that bought this line as they would have given up fly fishing thinking it was too difficult and not worth the effort.

That said I know they received enough complaints about this line to change it. Latest version of the Mastery 'Surf' version supposedly is good. Worth picking up if you can get one at a discount. Best of luck.