Everglades Pan fishing
Early November trip to fish Everglades for panfishing was excellent with catches of quite a few species. Mayan Cyclids, Oscars, largemouth bass and peacock bass all ate flies. Glass minnow patterns ,small olive Wooly Buggers and1/80 of an ounce jigs in black and purple were very effective. Rods were 3and 4 weights with floating lines. We fished a 6ft length of 6 lb Maxima chamelion leader, casts were from 15 to 40 feet depending on depth and structure. Probably caught 30-40 fish, which was a slow day for the Everglades…but only fished 4 hours.. But still a beautiful day with light westerly winds…
Peace River November 12
Day started off with temperatures around 50 and North wind blowing 20mph and an outgoing tide and water temperature at 63* …Morning fishing was slow but as the temps warmed, found a couple of Redfish in shallow but clean water. Vinny caught a couple of decent Reds. Day turned out to be warm and breeze died to almost nothing…Peace River is famous for fossils from the Paleolithic period which lasted 2.5 million years. This was the age of” Big Predators” T Rex, Raptors and huge Sloths… many remains of these are found Above Arcadia north..and stone implements such as Arrowheads and stone knives are found.
Near shore
We are seeing Tarpon rolling close to shore which is common during the secondary migration about this time of year. Water in the gulf is 72 and is conducive to their travel. Generally, the fish are travelling south and have an agenda…Hooking one on fly is a major accomplishment. These fish are accessible by skiff and generally stay around the 20 foot depth. The fish I hooked during these migrations were near shore, feeding on Herring, and took a fly readily. Patterns are about 8 to 10 inches in length…Herring or Ladyfish patterns on 2/0 Gamagatsu sl12s will work.
Redfishing are schooling in the backcountry at present….
Will have more reports this month…
Thanks, and Stay Well
Capt.AL
