Stefan Piccone had a great couple days of back country fly fishing with me in Matlacha Pass this week. 

Stefan is a true magician when it comes to wiggling the fly out mangroves branches and is very good at reading the waters of Charlotte Harbor. Even with a southwest of wind and cloudy water we had two very productive and fun days together. by the way, catching 6-8 pound jack cravalle in 2' of water on a Helios 2 8wt. fly rod is FUN!

Safe travels home Stefan, I hope to see you again the next time you are in SW Florida. 

Stefan Piccone fished Matlacha Pass with me today. He caught snook, mangrove snapper,sea trout and jack crevalle all on his 8wt Orvis Helios 2 fly rod. Great job Stefan! 

Great light tackle and fly fishing for jack crevalle today with John Kern. We had schools of them busting bait in 2 feet of water along back country mangroves of Matlacha Pass. Sure did put John's new 8wt. fly rod to the test. John, we'll get you one of those big snook next time.

We caught ladyfish, spotted sea trout, mangrove snapper, jack crevalle and a puffer fish. The jacks were especially fun, they were busting bait against the mangroves in 2 feet of water!

Keven Stevens and Jason Webber with a nice Matlacha Redfish. Check out the video

Spring is here and the fishing is excellent. Water temps in the high 70s with good water clarity. Snook Reds and trout all eating flies and lures.

Species to fish for this week: Redfish, Spotted Seatrout, Bluefish, Jacks, Ladyfish, Snook, Tarpon

Bait the fish are feeding on: shrimp, crabs, pinfish, ladyfish. Some whitebait in Matlacha Pass and on Bokeelia Shoals.

With the clearer and warmer water tactics change to fishing moving water along the grass flats and sight fishing for reds and snook on the sandbars and oyster beds. The fish will be more aggressive but also a bit spookier. Stay back and make long casts, if you can see the fish – they can see you too.

My fly fishing tip of the week: I get asked about bite tippet a lot – Use a minimum of 20# for smaller fish. 25#-30# for baby tarpon and snook. Always use fluorocarbon. Check the tippet after EVERY catch. Not just by sight, do a pull test.

My spin fishing tip of the week: Same holds true for spinning gear: 20# for the little guys and 25#-30# for biguns. Check the tippet after EVERY catch.

We'll see a cold front pass through the first of the week. Winds should settle down and the fishing will be good through the weekend.

There's been some 10-12 pound jack crevalle cruising the flats - keep a 10 wt rigged with a white bait fly!

Check out the latest videos posts!

Keven Stevens and Jason Webber had a great day of back country fishing with me in Matlacha Pass Wildlife Refuge on the southern reaches of Charlotte Harbor. We were fishing with fly rods and light tackle spinning gear. Check out the nice redfish hooked in 14" of water on a MirroLure Twitchbait then watch a school of 10-12 pound jack cravale smashing bait in 2 feet of water on a grass flat. We also caught sea trout, ladyfish and snook. NICE!

Keven and Jason, it was great getting to know you, safe travels home and hope to fish with you again! Capt. Dave

Conditions: Water temps are in the mid to high 60s and will warm as the week progresses. Lots of fresh water runoff in the lower Harbor and Pine Island Sound right now. Better conditions exist in the upper Charlotte Harbor, the West wall and over toward Placida.

Bait the fish are feeding on: Some whitebait in the upper harbor, pinfish, ladyfish, shrimp, crabs

Species to fish for this week: Snook, Redfish, Seatrout, Jacks, Ladyfish

Fishing Tactics: Mobility is the key right now. There’s lots of good fishing where you find clear water. You may have to run a bit to get away from the stained fresh water but when you do the fish will waiting for you.

My fly fishing tip of the week: Use bright colored bulky flies in stained water and natural colored smaller flies in the clear water. Strip slowly in the mornings, speed up as the water warms up.

My spin fishing tip of the week: Been having good luck with suspended twitch baits in soft rubber and hard plastic. Most of the hits have been during pauses in the retrieve. 

7 day outlook: Seasonal temperatures, with light to moderate winds. Chance of showers Monday night into Tuesday. Morning below average low tides will provide good bar and bank fishing. 

This shrimpy – crabby back country fly pattern is something I developed over the past 8 years. It’s tied whistler style with splayed grizzly hackles, bucktail and some flash. Works great on dark bottom and grass flats. I use bead chain eyes but small dumbbells work well too. Usually tied on #1- 1/0 hooks and always with a weed guard. Redfish and seatrout eat them up. Also have caught mangrove snapper, jacks, and several other species on it. Works best with a short strip and pause. One of my favorite flies in Matlacha Pass and Ding Darling Refuge.

The original Schminnow was created by Norn Zeigler a journalist and fly shop owner on Sanibel Island in 1995. It is a widely used fly throughout Pine Island Sound, Charlotte Harbor and most of Southwest Florida.

My version has a small Estaz body and tail of both bucktail and synthetics. I tie these flies with mono, bead chain or dumbbells eyes to allow them to be fished at varying depth. Hook size ranges from #2 to 1/0. The fly is easy to cast and fishes well at all retrieve rates. Though the Schminnow was designed to catch snook, it will catch seatrout, redfish, jacks, tarpon and even flounder. By the way, Maine striped bass and bluefish eat them too.  

Tarpon Time

Conditions: Water temps are between 81* and 85*. Moderate winds should allow for good sight fishing this week. There is a good chance of showers so keep an eye to the sky.

Bait: threadfin herring, Green back Herring, pinfish, shrimp, crab

Species to target this week: Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Seatrout, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish.

Fishing Tactics: Time to hunt for tarpon. They are starting to show in Pine Island Sound and on the beaches. Look for rolling fish early and then for sub surface pods as soon as the light gets good.

My Fly Fishing Tip of the Week: Tarpon time – rig your 11 or 12wt with a sink tip or use weighted flies if the tarpon are moving fast or deep.

My Spin Fishing Tip of the Week: With backwater temps in the mid eighties, your casts need to be at the drip line or up under the mangroves as the tide rises.

7 day outlook: Moderate winds and 20-50% chance of showers this week. Good morning tides will produce moving water for first part of the week. Neap tides late week morning tides will provide little or no moving water. 

I have a full compliment of Orvis H2 rods on my boat. If you haven't experienced the Helios 2, you are truly missing something. Book you trip today, cath a fish of a lifetime on the worlds best casting fly rod!

Brad Osborn from Falmouth, Maine joined me this past weekend for some productive snook, trout, and jack crevalle action. We fished Pine Island Sound with both fly and spinning gear. Brad brought along one of his favorite New England "Albie" lures and the local fish ate it up! 

From Brad 04-14-15: Thanks Dave! As always, I had a great time. Snook, jacks, ladyfish, trout, thousands of cow nose rays, a manatee at the boat, sight casting to giant snook on the beach. It does not get better than that for a Mainer looking for a break from mud season.

LL Bean Hunt and Fish Dept. Senior Product Developer Jeff Miller and his 14 year old son Jason joined me for a fun filled Saturday morning fly fishing and light tackle spin fishing near Pine Island. We caught mangrove snapper, bar jack, bluefish, jack crevalle, seatrout and snook. Check out the porpoise attack in 18” of water when we released an eight pound jack!

Greg hooked and landed this nice jack on a shrimp pattern in 12” of water on one of my favorite oyster beds in Matlacha National Wild Refuge. We didn’t get the redfish portion of his inshore slam but this bruiser make up for it. Fantastic job Greg!