Fly Fishing Species 2023

[Ham]

92) Blacktail Shiner

Ive taken swings at catching one of these a few times this year, but I was able to get it done yesterday with @Johnsfolly on the White River. They get much larger and in some places they are the dominate minnow species. 
Happy to add it to the Life List. 

[Ham]

93) Lizardfish desperate times call for desperate measures. We are staying with friends in Destin, Fl and he wanted to hire a guide. Twist my arm.

I talked the guide and made sure that the fly fishing was gonna be ok and gave him a heads up on the quest. He was cool with the concept. 

So, I wanted my Buddy to catch fish first and foremost. He does not fish often and I didn’t want it to be a deal where he paid to watch me fish. So, there was live bait involved at times. We did some fishing and caught a couple. The guide went and checked a spot and decided not to fish there , but then made a short stop in a shallow pocket near the jetties. 
I tied on one of @BilletHead ‘s Clouser minnows that he gifted me with and in a little bit Bang! First Flyfer of the day. I got a photo upgrade this morning. 

[Quillback]

I can see how lizardfish got their name.

[Ham]

94) Pinfish

I tied up some simple flys on a size 12 trout jighead and dropped them down in the same area as the Lizard fish and was quickly rewarded with this guy. these pokey little jerks are hated by millions, but I was super Happy to get this one. 
the other four I caught later that day did not get me near as excited. That’s the essence of being a life lister. 

[Ham]

95) Pigfish

So, after the Pinfish the guide had fired up the outboard, but I made another cast cos I saw more fish and was immediately rewarded with this Happy Accident. 

[Ham]

96) Spanish Mackerel

Several times we saw mixed species of gamefish giving baitfish a really hard time up on the surface. A couple of times we were literally a few seconds too late, but finally I got a decent shot and got takes. I think it took three casts before the hook grabbed one. Dang they are fast when they run stuff. 

[BilletHead]

3 hours ago, Ham said:

96) Spanish Mackerel

Several times we saw mixed species of gamefish giving baitfish a really hard time up on the surface. A couple of times we were literally a few seconds too late, but finally I got a decent shot and got takes. I think it took three casts before the hook grabbed one. Dang they are fast when they run stuff. 

Saweeeet Hamster!  What did you think about that Helios?

[Ham]

That Helios is a Heck of a pole. I’m just too hard on my equipment to buy $1000 fly rods

[BilletHead]

1 minute ago, Ham said:

That Helios is a Heck of a pole. I’m just too hard on my equipment to buy $1000 fly rods

                  Look around I heard sometimes you can find them pretty cheap if you are in the right place at the tight time!

[Ham]

97) Jack Crevelle 

we had worked our way down a beach sight fishing. We saw lots of freaked out Pompano, Jacks, Reds, Mullets, and dolphins. We even saw dolphins playing with Cannonball Jellyfish like they were pool toys, but I missed the only bite we got. The guide had a spot though. A river dumped into the gulf and redfish were stacked on The point. We caught a couple on cigar minnows and my buddy caught his second Blacktip of the day.

I dropped a small tandem fly set up and got a couple of Super Pokey Pinfish and then I for my Lifer/Flyfer Jack Crevelle. I hooked on in a barbless fly and asked for a net. The fish was so small that he used the livewell Net. 😭Lol, I don’t care. It was a Baby Jack.Later I fished in Destin and got a major upgrade that pulled long and hard against an 8 weight. I tail grabbed him.