Fly fishing - Anna Maria Island.

BigVern

Hi there. I am a stranded saltwater addict from England looking for advice! I will be vacationing on AMI this August and would like some advice on fly fishing from the beaches. Any tips on species I might encounter, tactics to employ, flies I can tie and general areas to concentrate on would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks in advance for taking the time to help me out! August can't arrive quick enough!!

FlatsFrenzy

Look online and get a copy of "Snook on a Fly" by Norm Zeigler. Norm developed the Crystal Schminnow for beach snook, runs a shop in Sanibel, and quite literally wrote the book on catching snook from the beach here in SW Florida.

BigVern

Great, thanks for the tip! What are the chances of pompano and permit along the beaches in August?

FlatsFrenzy

Not sure about those. I've never had success with pompano. I also think we're too far north for reliable permit.

139sst

Big Vern, I have spent some time fishing from the beaches of AMI, never in August, mostly June, July. You will see lots on snook swimming in the swash channel right off the beach well before the first bar. The problem is all the beach goers and swimmers in the water while you are trying to fish. I found it frustrating trying to cast and worry about the beach walkers behind me. I ended up just using a spinning rod and doa glow cal. I think if you took a ride further south you would do much better because it should be less crowded. In August it might not be crowded though because the kids may be back in school?

jaym

Vern,

Pompano are not a great summer target. Snook, jacks and tarpon will be your most likely targets. You can catch permit but you are going to have to focus on just fishing for them and nothing else. You could use a clouser and try to target all three but you may only see a handful of permit a day so it is high risk/high reward scenario.

BigVern

Hi folks! Huge thanks for all the tips! As you can see I am a little excited and I still have 6 months to go! Will permit frequent the beaches? If so what would be the best tactics? I am not worried by a lack of fish- just ask my wife! I salmon fish and am used to waiting for a take!! If I am targeting snook I have been told very early morning is good. Would fly patterns be greater in outline in low light or would you still use small fry type patterns. I do have some ideas on the surf flies I will attempt to tie. Any pictures of snook surf flies would be greatly appreciated!! Are tarpon likely from the beaches or will I need to be in a boat? If you can also recommend a guide I would appreciate that too! Huge thank you again for your help!

noelg11892

BigVern wrote: »

Hi folks! Huge thanks for all the tips! As you can see I am a little excited and I still have 6 months to go! Will permit frequent the beaches? If so what would be the best tactics? I am not worried by a lack of fish- just ask my wife! I salmon fish and am used to waiting for a take!! If I am targeting snook I have been told very early morning is good. Would fly patterns be greater in outline in low light or would you still use small fry type patterns. I do have some ideas on the surf flies I will attempt to tie. Any pictures of snook surf flies would be greatly appreciated!! Are tarpon likely from the beaches or will I need to be in a boat? If you can also recommend a guide I would appreciate that too! Huge thank you again for your help!

So i grew up in tampa bay and spent alot of time in ft myers/sanibel area and fly fished alot of it and iv never seen or heard of any one catching permit on the west coast let alone that far north. Im sure its possible but probobly more of a chance occurance than something you can target. As far as jacks snook and tarpon go, jacks from the beach are alot of fun just gotta find the bait and you will find them and they will hit basically anything. Snook is a ton of fun! they will be right in the first trough iv been on sanibel and seen huge schools 10 feet from the beach, any white fly works, decievers, clousers, some times gurglers. My favorite flies are a schminnow, or an all white clouser and i like to put a white pearl chenille on the shank over the bucktail for some flash and to make it more full bodied, but really anything that looks like a pilchard will do. As for tarpon from the beach iv never had luck so if you figure it out let me know haha.

BigVern

Thanks again for all the tips and advice! Halfway through Norms' book Snook on a fly!! Good read and certainly filling me with confidence to attack the beach! If the snook are being really picky about what they are eating, does anyone have a good recommendation for a glass minnow tying, or similar small fry pattern I could tie. 6 months and counting!!!

noelg11892

BigVern wrote: »

Thanks again for all the tips and advice! Halfway through Norms' book Snook on a fly!! Good read and certainly filling me with confidence to attack the beach! If the snook are being really picky about what they are eating, does anyone have a good recommendation for a glass minnow tying, or similar small fry pattern I could tie. 6 months and counting!!!

Iv seen it before but what i did in various sizes, is use maribou or bucktail for the tail, then i wrap flashibou or something similar on the hookfor some flash, then wrap in ribbing, put eyes and then finally uv epoxy to finish the body. If you google glass minnow fly epoxy you will see some examples of flies similar to what im saying.

BigVern

Huge thanks! Hooks just arrived - the vice is calling! Will post a picture after I have tied a few. Thanks again!

Surfcaster

I was there last April. Saw several schools of large jacks but had no takers. Other than that, nothing much to brag about. Just nice being on the water casting to fish.

FlatsFrenzy

BigVern wrote: »

Thanks again for all the tips and advice! Halfway through Norms' book Snook on a fly!! Good read and certainly filling me with confidence to attack the beach! If the snook are being really picky about what they are eating, does anyone have a good recommendation for a glass minnow tying, or similar small fry pattern I could tie. 6 months and counting!!!

Glad you picked up the book. I read it myself before a trip to Sanibel Island.

I like tying schminnows. You can use a variety of eyes, chain, or dumb bells when tying them. This will give you some options depending on tides, water depth, and where you see the snook cruising in the water column. They are super simple to tie and don't need fancy materials.

Tgrass

Norms book is a great book to start with as a foundation and it is very informative. It covers lots of stuff many books don't. Everyone should read it, very knowledgeable anglers would learn a thing or two.

I have a place on Sanibel and do a lot of Snook fishing and i have learned a lot from Norm as well as some of the locals who do a tap dance on the Snook. One of the things I have found is that many times the flies used are much bigger than thee traditional Schminnow. While my best day number wise was still on the Schminnow my bigger Snook come on other flies. These are the 5 flies I use on the beach a lot they are all either size 2 or 1

The other thing is these will also get the attention of many other fish that happen to be around.

backbone

If you are looking for a guide for a day or two Capt. Shawn McCole is a superior guide that will put you on fish. He knows the area well and is a great casting instructor as well.
Capt. Shawn McCole - 863-608-3758
Tell him I sent you.
-Greg

Carl Blackledge

Greg who ?

BigVern

Thanks for the info Greg. If I am unable to get out with Harrison I will definitely give Shawn a look.

BigVern

Great fly patterns! Will definitely include a few of them when i can get to the vice!