This trip took place in June of 2018. Let me say that fishing salt is a real treat for me. Two of my friends from Florida, the other Amigos, Reid and Mel hosted me at Mels favorite spot in the Boca Grande area. Yes it was a tarpon trip. Or Poon as they say in Florida. It was also a “snook on the beach” trip, and I love sight casting snook in the surf. It is as satisfying as stalking bonefish on a saltwater flat. And snook and whatever else was eating in the mangroves.
I met Reid way back when I lived in Florida. We belonged to the same fly fishing club and fished together a lot. Reid had the boat, I only had a kayak. Even after I moved back to Colorado and then Utah, we stayed friends and sometimes on business trips to Florida, I would stay at his house and we would fish together. Some of my best, lifelong friends are fishing friends. The payback began after we bought the cabin in Victor. Reid has been up to visit a few times now, once with his lovely wife!
Reid actually introduced me to Mel at the cabin. Mel was Reid’s first guest. Drift boats are designed for 3 people, hence the Three Amigos! Mel and I became instant fishing pals and he has been back to the cabin too. Since the COVID epidemic was winding down last fall, we decided on a fall Yellowstone trip. The cabin was still home base, but we also booked a few nights in West Yellowstone. I will document our other trips in future blog posts, as well as our next trip to……..the Everglades! Mel bought a place there las year and this will the Three Amigos inaugural trip!
With the set-up complete, here is the scoop about Boca Grande in June of 2019. It was actually late June we had a vey cool rental home lined up that had a boat dock on a canal. We brought both Reid and Mel’s boats. Reid captains the legendary Hell’s Bay Waterman, Mel captains the legendary Hewes Redfisher. I could not have been in better company. Turns out Mel has been fishing tarpon and snook for decades. Reid has a similar resume working the flats in the Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River area.
May and June are both excellent tarpon months for the Boca Grande area. The first couple of days our focus was on visiting Mel’s favorite haunts. Reid knew them too, and I had been to a couple of them once before when I lived in Florida. The thing about Tarpon is you never know a) If the tarpon are gonna show, and B) If they will eat. Our problem on this trip was A. In fact the were absent from all of Mel’s favorite spots. Mel had the trips and the conditions dialed in, but we just couldn’t find fish, except for the first day. On that day, the fish were not numerous and were rolling very infrequently, so we never had a decent shot. After the first day, we couldn’t find them at all.
However, it was still an awesome trip. We captured some beautiful pictures. The highlight for me was fishing the beaches in the evening and the pictures tell the story. One of the nights, I caught four different species, a spotted sea trout, a snook, a ladyfish and one other. Again, although the fishing was good, check the pictures! Does it get any better?
We also fished the local dock lights for snook a couple of nights. So cool! These fish were larger than the fish we targeted on the beach. Snook, have a sandpaper-like mouth. If they eat the entire fly, the abrasion from their mouth can work through the line and break it. When snook fishing it is common practice to tie on a heavier “bite tippet”, say 40lb test fluorocarbon. Flourocarbon resists abrasion better than nylon and the thicker diameter line provides an insurance policy. It turned out, we needed it. Most dock owners know that when they turn on the dock lights at night, they will attract baitfish. The baitfish attract the snook. The approach has to be fairly stealth when nearing the dock. You can actually see if the snook are there from fairly far away. Thankfully, we managed to find them.
We were casting schminnows and gummy minnows and other baitfish patterns. With three of us on the boat, two of us could cast at the same time if were alternated and were mindful of each other cast. I was casting my Scott Meridian 9007/4 7wt, with a Nautilus reel. 8wts and 9wts are preferred, but I had sold my 8wt earlier that year when I decided to shift from an 8 and a 10, to a 7 and a 9. It was a good move because I was also upgrading my older Scott STS’s to newer Scott Meridians. The 9wt is perfect for big nook, permit and juvenile tarpon. The 10wt is a bit of an overkill for those. It is a fit for larger tarpon and jacks, but not for snook or permit. Also, the 7wt is a good redfish, spotted trout rod, but can crossover to freshwater too, for steelhead, bass and other big species. So for fishing the docks at night, the 7wt was a bit underpowered, but workable. With no wind at night, the 7wt cast the smaller baitfish flies, like schminnows, quite well.
The fish scare easily, so we didn’t get too close. We all had a solid 50-60′ cast, even at night. So we posted up about 40 feet from the dock, which would allow us to work the sides too. With two casters, we could each work a side. The eats were ferocious, but we didn’t always hook up. When we did, the challenge was to immediately steer the fish away from the dock. Several fish either got off or broke off. Knot failure got me. Tying a solid loop knot with 40lb tippet in the dark is quite challenging. I had the curly’s come back sans fly at least twice.
The first night was a really good night. I think we each had three to hand, Reid maybe four. The pics below show the sizes. I think Reid’s was the biggest, maybe 29″. He had another about the same size. My biggest was 27″. Even with a 7wt, I was tightening the drag and putting some serious bend in my rod, but it was necessary. We had to move the fish away from the dock posts. We actually had two break-offs due to the “wrap around the posts”. You had to sick ’em and immediately move them, even if they wanted to run. We had to make frequent fly changes because after showing the same fly to the same fish a few times, they began to refuse it. Anyway, the whole experience was a blast for me and the snook I’m pictured with below is a PB for me, even though in snook land, it is considered on the smallish side.
Besides the “dock light” fishing for snook, I also enjoyed walking the beach and sight casting for them. Reid and Mel were a bit less enthusiastic but they live in Florida, so walking the beach with a fly rod in hand is perhaps less of a treat. I could seemingly do it all day, but soon remembered that it is not productive all day. In fact, it is a fairly low probability Sight casting for snook on the beach was a. favorite of mine back when I lived in Florida. A mutual friend of ours, Marcia, one of the best casters I know, was a regular on Bathtub beach in Stuart, and I was able to join her a few times in that area of the east coast. What you learn, is that with the morning sun rising in the east, you don’t see the fish well until the sun reaches a certain height. On the gulf side, you can get a bead on them earlier because the sun is at your back. What makes snook on the beach particularly challenging is you need to see them without them seeing you! They are also more inclined to eat your fly if they are already targeting something similar,. The favorite is the “glass minnows” and they are regulars in the surf and they usually show up in schools. The schminnow is a good searching fly, similar to casting a Parachute Adams in a trout stream in June, but the gummy minnow is a better match to the glass minnow. 2-21/2″ long and slender.
The feeding snook will chase the glass minnows right up into the shallows of the surf and then move back out and repeat. The cruising snook running parallel to the beach are less interested in the artificial, but but can sometimes be enticed. It can be frustrating chasing these fish, but the key is if they have seen you, move on. Light is another important factor. I mentioned the sun angle earlier, but clouds can really mess with your ability to see fish in the surf. Sunglasses also play an important role and we all wear high quality ones. My preference for many years now is Costa Del Mar.
The sunsets on the gulf can be spectacular! Fishing during these sunsets makes it perfect. Even better, we regularly caught fish, mostly small snook. With these light conditions, we were blind casting, but we were on a point and that seemed to improve our odds. In the 3 Amigo shot, Mel is the tall guy in the middle.
We got out into the mangroves a few times too. We had to go when the tides were best and sometimes the weather was not, meaning windy. We gave it a go, but catching fish was challenging. In the pics below we found a shack that was abandoned, but we needed to get out of some of that weather while a squall was moving through. We carefully tied up the boat with bumpers and we rode it out. Fishing can be good even when you don’t catch fish.
All in all an awesome trip. Of course we are disappointed that the tarpon had moved on, but every season is a little different.
Big shout out to Mel and Reid for making this such a memorable trip!
