Fall Fishing Wrap Up: Big Keys Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon…

Posted under fly fishing reports by Will Benson

Well, the 2008 flats season is coming to a close.  Despite a challenging season with tough conditions, long stretches of miserable weather, and less then enthusiastic critters on the flats, we still managed to end on an high note.  Mike Allen and I managed to eek out a couple final permit this November to finish the year with 36 together.  We were hoping for more, but never had the consistent fishing to make it happen.  Frank Smith had another very successful outing landing several good bonefish with me over the course of 5 days.  We didn’t manage a permit but we did find a fly line that we had lost the day before to a very big bone.  It was intact with fly and all!  Thanks to Mitchell at the Saltwater Angler for keeping us rigged in the meantime.  Jim Schneider and Pat Cummings were the beneficiaries of some late season tarpon action as they combined to jump 20 over 4 days.  Some of these were babies, but some were big boys.  For a couple of hours a day, and for a stretch of 4 days, large schools of resident fish were swimming for us just like they do in May!  It made me excited to see this again and kept the anticipation for next season high.  Then, just when I was really pumped, I managed to cut my foot wide open.  Damn rod holders!  No worries though, my neighbor, the good Dr. Burton came in on a Sunday night and put 12 stitches in me.  Many thanks to him and my charter Pat (with his Canadian survival kit), for taking care of my dumb-ass!  One day off then right back at it though.  My friend Dan Hall just finished fishing with me for 2 days and caught a tremendous bonefish.  Since my boat was in the shop at Murry Marine having a tune up done, I fished out of the Captain’s skiff and convinced him to come along for the day.  Turned out to be a pretty good idea as we landed this great bonefish, and managed to wrestle a few redfish, which is always fun.  I’m headed north next week to meet Dave and begin shooting a jungle snook piece, which we’re all really excited to put together.  Word on the street is the big boys are beginning to show.  Stay tuned…

Everglades Tarpon Fishing: SW Florida 2009

Posted under fly fishing news by admin

No other fly fishing destination in North America offers the kind of raw wilderness and pure angling adventure found deep within the confines of Everglades National Park.

The twisted labyrinth of mangrove islands, rivers, creeks, bays, lakes and brackish water ponds offers hard-core fly fishermen angling challenges far beyond the ordinary. During the winter and early spring mmonths, Capts. Bill Faulkner and Kevin Mihailoff ply the farthest reaches of the Everglades in search of trophy snook and resident tarpon often found in places far too remote and too clandestine to be known or remembered by name.

Dissecting the mysterious tannic waters of the Everglades Backcountry in the most technical poling skiffs puts you in places you might never have thought existed in the continental U.S.

Fish for world-record size snook and juvenile tarpon in inches of water — and if you’re lucky — you might just hit one of those calm winter days where hundreds of giant river-dwelling tarpon decide to meander across an expansive bay some 30 miles from the nearest man-made structure of any kind.

The World Angling Crew is currently filing dates for January, February, March, April and May 2009.

For more information…contact us