Life on the Water with Tim Gleason
Fly casting lessons / video analysis – I always have people asking about learning to fly cast. And 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. Best spot to look is your local fly shop or club.
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 aesthetically pleasing to me.)
Since I have been casting for 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 on your phone. 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 your 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. Can't ask for any better than that. 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 trash can 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. Another thing to practice is 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.
Tarpon Season 2025 – I hate to be the bearer of bad news and be negative but this has been the worst juvenile tarpon season in the 20 years I have been fishing this area. My main haunts are various spots around Matlacha Pass. There are pretty much no juvi tarpon in any of my spots in this area.
The funny thing is (my theory anyway) the water is too nice and clean. This time of year, the Matlacha water is usually off color (yellowy), kinda smelly, and has a lot of floating crud in it. I believe the bait gets caught in that deoxygenated water and becomes easy pickings for the air breathing poons. The water this year is still relatively clear with no floating crud.
The bait is there but no poon. I've never seen anything like this year. It has been so bad, I even pulled my boat off its lift and put it on my trailer. I bought a county pass so I could launch at Lavender's Landing at the north end of Pine Island to cut down on the run in the dark to get over to the Pine Island Sound side of the island. At least there were some fish over there.
I used it about 4 times till the County, in its wisdom, closed the only County ramp on Pine Island for renovations for 9 months. There are some fish in the Sound but it seems only in the off color cruddy water. This morning we drove all around looking at massive schools of bait and white birds picking at the bait from mangrove shorelines but no absolutely fish in the beautiful water. Seeing those white birds down low on the mangrove branches picking bait, until this year anyway, was a dead giveaway that there were tarpon underneath. Not this year. We finally found the fish when we found some yellowy off color water. The bait was there and the tarpon were happily feeding. I miss my Matlacha Pass fish.
Black Flies/Lures - I noticed this time of year, I fish almost exclusively with black flies. If I wanna get crazy, I throw some purple in with the black as well. I know most readers aren't going to be fly fishermen but try throwing some black lures. You will be pleasantly surprised. They will get eaten; especially when the water is dark tannin stained or mudded up with sediment. I think it is the contrast. Black flies and lures are my “go to” in these conditions. Black Flies Matter!
Time of Day Fishing – Well it has been extra HOT and HUMID so far this summer. When you are just standing on your boat, the sun isn't even up and you are sweating buckets, it's Florida in summer. Since I try to stay out of the sun as much as possible, I get out early. Most days it is pitch dark as I am pulling away from my dock. I can get 4 hours fishing in and I am already back at the dock flushing my engine and rinsing the boat before my neighbors are heading out.
I am a firm believer in fish early and fish late this time of year. I even fish in the dark a lot but that is another story.... Not only is it more pleasant being outside when it is 75 degrees versus 92 degrees, it really seems to me the fishing is just better early in the AM and again right before it gets dark. Between lower light conditions and cooler water the fish just seem more active.
Everything always seems a bit dead during the middle of the day. An early start is highly recommended. When we get rain storms in the afternoon and you can slip out afterwards in the evenings, it sometimes turns back on again. I think the rain cools the water down and the fish get more active.
Final Notes: My streak of catching at least a tarpon a month continues at 67 months.
Also, the big news: This is my 60th article. 5 years of writing this column and I am running out of stuff to say so I think it might be time to stop, but you may hear from me occasionally because I love sharing Life on the Water!
Tim Gleason
