Life on the Water, Tim Gleason
August 2024
Fly casting lessons / video analysis – I always have people asking about learning to fly cast. And maybe could I teach them. Well I tried to teach exactly one person and they were casting worse by the time I was finished teaching them than when they started. So that tells me that fly casting is somewhat difficult and teaching it is even more so.
There is actually a certification program for casting instructors. Now my first recommendation when someone is expressing an interest in fly fishing is to take a lesson with one of these certified instructors. If it is cost prohibitive for you there are various group lessons/demonstrations available if you look into it. If you don't learn the right way from the beginning not only will you never become a good caster you will continue to reinforce your bad habits and they will be much harder to correct down the road.
My cast is a perfect example of this. I have been fly fishing about 25 years and while my cast is somewhat effective it has limitations especially upwind and generally is not particularly attractive. (A good fly cast is ascetically pleasing to me.) Since I have been casting a while and I know the mechanics of what a decent cast should look like, one effective, quick and simple way to improve your cast is actually quite easy to accomplish using a tool that most people have these days: ultra slow motion video. Every newer iPhone has this function. All you have to do is have someone film about a half dozen or so casts in the 240 frames per second “Slo Mo” video mode on your iPhone. It literally takes less than 5 minutes and you can see EXACTLY what you are doing; both right and wrong.
Make sure to review on a larger screen than the phone like your computer monitor or TV. I had my sister do it for me a couple of years ago and I was able to pick up a couple of timing issues with my cast. I'd say my casting improved 25% afterwards. Thinking about it, it might be time for a quick video tuneup session for me again as I can feel some of my bad habits creeping back in.
Casting Accuracy – Speaking of casting, no matter what kind of fishing you do in SWFL, you need to be able to cast accurately. The only way you are going to get to be a good caster is to do it; a lot! I hate to say it but you might even need to PRACTICE. One drill that really helps; especially for fly casting folks (but is completely transferable to spinning gear) is to go to an open grassy field and set up targets at different angles and distances. Make sure they are upwind, downwind and crosswind. When you can hit a trashcan sized target almost every time out to about 60 feet with fly gear and 100 feet with spin gear, you are accurate.
Another couple of things to practice are throwing up against a wall (mangrove practice) as it just feels different with that solid structure in front of you and a skip cast under something for fishing holes in mangrove shorelines and under docks) A good example where all this is transferable to real world situations was from this morning. The tarpon were tight up against and in small open pockets of the mangroves. If you couldn't put your offering right against or into a pocket, you weren't getting a bite. I got some fish but felt I could have caught more if my accuracy was just a little better. After writing this, I feel I should practice what I preach and go out and do some practicing but it is just too dang hot this afternoon.
Random Stuff I've Seen This Month – I love living out on Pine Island. When my wife and I are away on vacation, I usually can't wait to get back to get back on the water around here. Our saying is “Our life is better than most people's vacation” and it's true. It always amazes me the cool stuff I get to see when out on the water. Since I am out in the dark every morning docklight fishing, I get to see great moon sets and sunrises all the time. You can get a bit jaded but when you slow down a second and take it all in, it is just spectacular.
One of my favorite things to see out there are pods of dolphins terrorizing fish. Most people think of dolphins as cute, cuddly entities. Man, do they have you fooled. They are a true apex predator. Watching two or three adult dolphins hunting is a sight to behold. I have never seen such acts of sheer speed, power, and violence in my life. Keep an eye out for crazy explosions out there and enjoy the show. Speaking of dolphin, I was out on a shallow flat tarpon fishing last week and was absolutely hounded by 8 dolphin. I've never seen that large a pack here in my area (Matlacha Pass). They just rolled in on me and stuck to me like glue. I saw a Goliath grouper hanging next to a piling while docklight fishing the other morning. Made some casts and hooked it up. I have never sight fished a Goliath before. Took some San Diego friends out for a boat ride the other day. Was cruising by the fish shacks out in PI Sound and stumbled across two huge nurse sharks mating. Watched them for like 20 minutes. They didn't have a care in the world.
Tarpon in Odd Locations - speaking of tarpon, I used to fish for juvie tarpon in roughly the same handful of spots every year. That doesn't seem to be the case the last few years. They seem to pop up in different locations and I have to go find them on an almost daily basis. Even their behavior is different but that discussion might be for another article. The best tips I can give for finding juvie tarpon is to go to lightly trafficked areas and physically just look for rolling or feeding fish or signs of fish like bubble on the surface, small glass minnows showering along the mangroves or birds like white egrets and tricolor and green herons down low on mangrove branches. Chances are there will be poon pushing bait right below them.
One thing that I find myself doing is shutting down in likely areas and just listening. You'll be amazed at what you hear if there are tarpon nearby. You will hear the fish rolling, gulping air and busting bait. What is sometimes the easiest thing to hear though is the bird life, especially if it is around the corner from where you are and the fish aren't visible. If you hear a bunch of fussing and squawking birds around a bend, go check it out. You may have just found the mother lode of baby tarpon. These new locational twists have made juvie tarpon fishing more difficult but definitely more interesting.
Stuff I Like – A product that I absolutely love is RT Fluorocarbon leader by SPRO. This slightly pinkish premium Japanese fluorocarbon comes in large 100 meter spools with a really smart and unique one piece packaging design that is indexed in 1 inch increments so you know how much leader you are pulling off. It also holds the tag end of the leader in place just sticking out a bit so it isn't just flopping around all over. The other brands I use if you aren't careful, the leader material gets all over if you don't put the 2 piece spools back together well and you can ruin multiple feet of it. And admit it, who is careful when you have to retie a new piece of bite leader during a hot snook bite? Abrasion resistance and knotting both seem good. Best of all they hit a great price point on this product. You get 4 times the leader for less than twice the price of other premium leader brands. Give it a try. You'll like it.
Well that’s it for this edition. See you out on the water. To follow some of my fishing life check out my Instagram account @timgleasonphotography
Tim Gleason
https://www.timgleasonphotography.com/