Milestone Achieved On The Fly

 I've been catching Mangrove Snapper in the summer for years with live shrimp under a float or on a jig and when the Trout/Redfish/Flounder bite is slow I've been able to turn to the Mangrove's for an almost "guaranteed" bit of an action. Most times you can drift a shrimp by the "hotspot" and BAM!  You have a hookup. Then they tend to go into a frenzy and it's catching one after the other.  So I always wondered, "wouldn't it be neat to catch them on a fly rod?"

I've had multiple times where we were catching the Mangroves with shrimp under a float and have my guest toss a fly in with a fly rod and....nothing. Not a bite. At first I tried some of my sinking Shrimp patterns, but no takes. I tried fishing with some slow sinking Shrimp, but no takes. This was on different trips with multiple casters, many who could put it right in the "honey hole". But not a single Mangrove Snapper caught on the fly.

Today was the day! I had Mike and Jean DuBartell fishing with me early this morning. We had made the long run from Sawpit Creek boat ramp up the Nassau and around to Pumpkin Hill where we set up fishing float rigs along the flooding marsh grass. It wasn't long before Mike had put a hungry Seatrout in the boat.  Then the duo hooked up with a Shark that headed to Tallahassee, and kept going!

We came back and fished an outflow at Nassauville where we did get a couple of bites but nothing more than a slimly Catfish. We were in need of action so we went Mangrove hunting.  Drifting floats and shrimp it didn't take long for them to turn on and then both anglers were catching Snapper. Jean easily got the hang of it and  put one fish in the boat after another. These fish were a tad bit bigger, too, a couple measuring just over 12" - they put up a good fight. 

I had explained the fly fishing for Mangroves to Mike and he was up to the challenge. We went with a small, slow sinking shrimp pattern on a 10' leader. Mike was making an excellent presentation to the hot spot, but had no takers.  We then went with a small BB split shot about 20" up from the fly, made few casts and again, no takers. We then put a small shrimp on to the fly, made the cast and got bit!  Then we broke a big live shrimp in to, and smashed/smeared the juices all over the fly. I think it was Mikes first cast with the stinky fly and, BAM! Mangrove Snapper on! He played it perfectly and landed the first Mangrove on a fly I've ever had! Whooeee! Mike continued the "smash and cast" and hooked up with a number of the  Mangroves. Most of them were over 12" which made for a good fight on the fly rod.

Jean was steadily hauling in fish. We hit one more spot and caught a few of the Mangroveson jig and shrimp then headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.