I spent this past weekend in Islamorada with the goal of putting this past year’s less than stellar tarpon season behind me. Over the years, whether I’m totally satisified and worn out from catching them like last year, or just yearning for more as in 2007, I have found the single best way to purge the poon from my system is to rack my 12 weights once and for all and go redfishing.

For some reason, I can’t get excited about catching or focusing on multiple species in a day’s fishing. Whether it be bones or poons, permit or reds, I’d prefer to focus on just one at a time. There are still plenty of catchable tarpon around, and this time of year they are getting very little pressure. Tarpon eat flies like crazy in July and August, even on the ocean. Permit fishing in Islamorada in the summer is at its’ peak, and bonefish tailing activity in the early mornings and evenings can be epic.

But nothing gets my juices flowing more this time of year than targeting skinny water tailing redfish in Everglades National Park. I fished by myself both Saturday and Sunday from sunrise to close to noon each day. Poling my Mirage from the bow platform into ultra skinny water I was able to land 15 reds from 6 to 10 lbs, all on Borski Extended Chernobyl Crab flies.

I’m not a big fan of fishing by myself. It’s exhausting to both pole and fish, but this weekend it was different. Slick calm conditions, beautiful sunrises, and the chance to catch some beautiful, willing fish made for a perfect couple of days. Clearly, this weekend reminded me why I love these fish so much.

After landing a 10 lb-er at sunrise on Sunday, I reflected on my attraction to redfish, and found myself “writing” this article as redfish thoughts danced around in my head:

- Redfish tail longer than any other fish, and when tailing they tend to stay in the same general vicinity for a lengthy period of time. Redfish are tailaholics, they can’t get enough.

- Redfish have a low I.Q. Let’s face it, they aren’t bonefish. Better yet, when you apply technology to them, it becomes almost unfair. I’ve been fishing Monic Clear Tropical fly lines for redfish since my Redbone days. Monic provides a huge advantage in clear water redfishing, and combined with the stealthiness of the Mirage, you will literally have redfish heads spinning.

– Everglades redfish are flat out gorgeous. There is nothing like looking out over a flat covered with hundreds of bronze, black dotted flags.

– Most of the time when a redfish eats your fly in skinny water, you can actually see his mouth open and close. It is very visual. The expression a redfish makes when eating is priceless and is only surpassed by the look he has when he realizes that hook in the lip is not a crab shell.

– Redfish are not fly picky. I use one fly pattern for all of my Everglades redfishing – the Borski Extended Chernobyl Crab tied in 3 colors: brown, chartreuse, and red/white.

– Redfish do stupid things. They put their head down and tail to the point they seem to get stuck in the mud. You can catch them close to the boat by “dapping” (I’ve even caught them by throwing the fly, no cast!). They will spook and then eat your fly while running away from the boat. They will disappear and go “subterranean”, below the grass. They will tail on your fly, lose their balance, and fall over. They will bite your fingers and hold on when trying to remove a fly. Bottom line – redfish make me laugh like no other fish.

Redfishing improves casting accuracy. It will definately make you a more successful glamour species fisherman. Redfish will rarely move far for a fly. Normally it has to swim past their nose to get a reaction. One foot to the left or right and you might as well cast again.

By the way, most of the photos you see in Tournament Tails were taken by good friend, Mirage owner, and professional photographer Pat Ford. Pat is considered by most to be the number one fishing photographer in the world. Somehow, he has figured out how to put the rod down and commit himself to getting incredible fishing and outdoor photos. You can check out Pat’s work at www.patfordphotos.com.

The Fall Fly Bonefish Invitational is just two months away, but, before I get too serious about bonefishing again, I’ve got a redfish flu to cure. Knee surgery will keep me down for this weekend, but, next week I’ll be fishing Islamorada for 4 days looking for bronze backs and more black dots.

So, until then,
Tim (Flatsheadd@aol.com)

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 9:34 am and is filed under Tim's Journal Entries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.