Night Slamming

rand Slam on Fly – Under the Lights
by Captain Scott Graham
Snook on Fly - Under the LightsLightning slices through another hot summer night on the Intercoastal area near Johns Pass on the west coast of Central Florida. But not to worry this light show is just a distant reminder of the storms that raced through just before nightfall. Just ahead bait fish are scurrying in the glare of one of the numerous "Snook" lights trying to avoid the trademark snap, crackle, pop of feeding snook. I fight off the buck fever as I manage a perfect cast up current of the light ring. My plan is to bring the fly from the darkness into the edge of the light without illuminating my fly line in the process. Everything is going according to plan as several dark objects rise out of the depths to examine my offering. Then to my surprise a flash comes out of nowhere and engulfs the fly. I recover and manage to clear my line without stepping on it just when the quarry makes the first attempt to get under the dock. After a few tense moments and a near stand off this unseen opponent makes a run for deeper water. I can't help but to smile as this old boy is playing on my terms now having left the security of the pilings.

But, something seems different about this snook. Maybe its that he hasn't jumped yet and would rather slug it out in the deep? In any case, this fight is almost over now as I've got him rolled up on his side and ready to be lipped. But wait, something's wrong with this snook. Mmm, a spot on the tail? Yep, my suspicions are confirmed as I lift a 30" redfish in for a better look. No wonder he didn't jump. I knew something was amiss. A redfish on the fly at night.

Redfish on FlyUp to this point, I had guided clients to hundreds of snook in Venice and points south in the 20"-24" range with larger fish a rarity. Also, there is the occasional trout, jack crevalle or ladyfish thrown in for variety. But redfish? That was news to me. So, I just wrote the experience off as a pleasant coincidence. But on successive trips to this area a pattern began to emerge as I continued to catch nice reds on a regular basis. Also while chasing the reds and the snook I discovered certain lights that consistently produced large trout. Until this time, the reds and the trout were just incidental catches while targeting snook. But then I thought, "Mmm, Snook in the 24"- 30" range, Reds 20"- 30" and Speckled Trout from 17"- 22" - all on the fly at night." Now that's a slam! So I began booking trips on that basis, and it seems to be going over well as it adds a whole new dimension to night fly fishing.

So maybe you already know the ropes of fly-snooking the dock lights or maybe all this is new to you, but you would like to get in on the fun. Well, here are a few pointers that can get you started enjoying this very enjoyable form of fly fishing.

First, I would like to discuss where. To those who have never tried this form of fishing I would suggest that you target the Venice area first. Now the reason for this is you have a shot at catching a number of snook there even though they are a little on the small side on average. But repetition is what you need to learn the ropes of fly casting in the dark and the other nuances of hooking and landing snook from around docks before targeting their bigger brothers to the north. Now, if you have any questions about this feel free to contact me, but from here on, we will deal with the task at hand "Night Slammin."

Now the first thing you will notice, and one of the best things about night fishing the Johns Pass area, is that there are hundreds of lights so there's plenty to go around. The bad thing is that there are all these lights and you have to weed through to find out which ones are productive. There are a few things to look for in a light that will clue you in on what it has to offer. When looking for a Snook light, you need to look for good flow of current. That is not to say that a light with poor current will not have snook on it. Often times lights with little current will have snook on them but they tend to be much fewer in number. When there are a lot of snook on a light there seems to be a competition factor between the fish as they often race to the fly like a bunch of sea gulls fighting over a piece of bread. To the contrary a single snook on a light will often sit down deep where you can barely see him and will show little interest in your offerings.
Another thing to look for in a light is what type of light it is and how bright is it. The best situation is to have an incandescent bulb (yellowish in color) directed straight down into the water. These are better than the more numerous and brighter mercury vapor type (bluish color). I will refer to these two types as either yellowish or bluish. Now notice that we have just discussed "Snook Lights" in particular - the type of light that attracts the Trout is different.

A Trout light is typically a very bright blue light that is pretty high off the water maybe 6-8 ft. These lights illuminate a relatively large area of water. For example, a snook light may have a circle of light 3-10 ft. across but a trout light may be 20-60 ft. across. The trout seem to like the bluish lights - the brighter the better. The funny thing that I have learned about the reds is that they seem to intermingle with the snook and the trout under a variety of current and light conditions. I like that aspect because it kind of introduces a wild card - you never know when one will pop up.

All right, you've found a promising light, now what? Well, lets move on to tackle and fly selection. On my night fly fishing charters I have seen Snook landed on everything from a five weight to a twelve weight, but an eight weight with a floating weight forward line will handle most everything you will encounter. There's always a chance of being outgunned by the occasional screamer but the bigger weighted lines land too hard and tend to spook the fish. So, the biggest I would go is maybe a nine weight.

As far as leaders, I prefer a long one as much 12'. The reasoning here is that you can reach farther across the light circle without showing them your fly line. If the water is clear, I will go down to a couple of feet of 20 lb. fluorocarbon shock tippet but if the water is a little on the dirty side I like to step it up to 30 lb. The two most common mistakes concerning leaders is using too short a leader and not checking for damage after landing a fish. Even a small snook can ruin a 30 lb. tippet so check and retie as necessary or you will regret it.

Nice redfish on fly!Next I would like to talk about the downfall of many would-be "light fisherman", and that is fly selection. My best advise is to forget about what works in the day time as you will only be frustrated. The most important thing to remember is that color doesn't matter as long as it is white. And one of the best of all "white" flies for fishing the lights is the crystal shrimp because its effective on all three of our targets. Just note that when the water is clear or the fish are inactive you should go down in size as small as a #6 tie. When the fish are more active I may go as high as a #1. This principle seems to apply to other patterns as well. Also, trout and reds seem to favor larger flies than snook. After you have gotten used to this game and you just have to experiment go ahead and experiment with color, but I'm confident that you will find that white always out produces any other color no matter what the pattern.

Eventually, there will come a time when you will find fish feeding aggressively but you can't buy a hit. This usually means they are gorging on glass minnows. A white glass minnow pattern as small as a #6 is often effective in this situation. So, if you just remember that clear water and slow action means smaller flies and lighter leaders and stick with white patterns you will do well.

Let me mention a few things about tides and times to fish. There are really only two facts you need to know here. First, moving tides mean feeding fish. And second, given you have tide movement the later it gets the more active the feeding - right on up to daybreak. We're talking in relative terms here because often times you can find good action right after nightfall but the fishing will just keep getting better as long as you have current.

Okay, I think I've given you the spark and hopefully enough information to go out and experience the fun of taking all three of these Florida favorites in one night. When it happens, I hope you enjoy "Night Slammin" as much as I do.