Swiss guy needs your help --- Marco Island

[adrian313]

Dear friends overseas,
it’s been quite a while since I have been on the forum but now we booked our family vacation in Marco Island FL, so I need some help and advice concerning FLY FISHING on that island.

Besides some guided trips I also want to wet a line on myself while on the island. As I found out on the web there is four possible spots to try.

- Tigertail Beach
- South end of island (Caxambas)
- Just before driving on Jolley Bridge when coming from Naples (west side of road)
- Canal behind our rental house

To this spots I have some questions that I hope someone can give me some advice.

Tigertail Beach:
Is wading and fishing possible in the lagoon, or just at the gulf beach? If possible, what species are in the lagoon? What tides are best to fish there.
Gulf beach: How far is it to walk from the parking? I don’t mind walking at all, but if I only can sneak out 2 hours in the morning, I will not spend 1 hour walking to the spot. Is fishing good on the whole beach or just towards the north end of the Island?

South end (Caxambas):
Is this spot ok for fly fishing? Is the fishing done while standing on the rocks or along the rocks south of the “jettie”? How far is this spot to walk from parking? What kind of species swim there?

Jolley Bridge:
I read on the web that just before driving on the bridge ( coming from Naples) on the west side is a good place to do some wade fishing? True? If yes, how do I approach this water? Just walk in the water and look for signs of fish? Or blindcasting? Is the tide important?

Canal behind house:
As the owner writes in his house description there is jacks and mangrove snappers in the canal behind the house. What flies work best for this species? How deep are this canals? Is a floating line all I need or is an intermediate or sinking line a better choice?

General questions:
What is more important fish during tide movement or fishing early in the morning? I have a basic idea on what flies to use, but I appreciate some tips on patterns that will work. What sizes of flies do work best? 2 – 2/0?

I hope somebody has a little spare time to answer (some) of my questions and I would really appreciate it.

I’d like to say THANK YOU in advance to everybody who can give me some advice on how to catch a fish on my own while staying on Marco Island.

Best regards from cold and snowy Switzerland,
Adrian

[kblue]

Hi Adrian

I have been in Alesund, Norway, winter time so that I know how cold it can get specially as approaching inland.

If your plan is a fly fishing, it would be more recommended to charter a back-country fishing boat or to rent a kayak than wading. Since S FL is flat bottom, I imagine it would be somewhat difficult to do a fly fishing without a boat although i don't know very well those locations you mentioned.

Salt water in S FL is so clear that fish sees everything. Some of fish are very picky.
You will have to use fluorocarbon fishing leader.
You will have to choose your fly carefully specially if you go for any type of snappers. Probably something looking like a shrimp. Best bet is to visit local fly-fishing shop.

In my humble opinion, going for mangrove snapper or jack at canal would be a good choice for fly fishing. Snapper and jack are bottom feeder so that I think you would need sinking line. Watch out for mangrove roots. If you see mangrove snappers but nothing works, then use live shrimp ...

I would say tide is more important in general for salt water fishing.


Good luck

-Kblue

[adrian313]

Thanks kblue for your advice, how deep are the canals?
Especially those on Marco where all the houses are?

[kblue]

I have been in Marco Island. Since boats have to pass around, my rough guess is it would be around 8 ft or deeper depending on tide.