Today I'll talk about what will be one of my main themes, inshore saltwater fly fishing. I try to go fly fishing when I can, which has recently been less due to a sickness I have been struggling with called Acquired RUST Syndrome. I'm hoping to go this coming weekend for a little bit given the game fish currently in season that I'll talk about today. In our area, we have a large variety of "game fish" (fish that are chased for their fight, difficulty to find/lure, size, and generally limited time in the area among many other reasons). Those inshore fish are primarily: Redfish, Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish, and Trout. The Speckled Trout being a game fish is frowned upon by a lot of people, they classify it with yearly fish like Sheepshead. However, in the winter months, the other game fish become lethargic and seek safe and warmer places to live leaving the Speckled Trout to have reign over the inshore waters. Speckled Trout thrive in places that allow them to "pounce" on their prey. Similar to how sharks sit right at a drop off, or on the other side of a sandbar. Both animals seek to be in positions where they are hidden but close, you can't see them but they can see you, and they can strike if they want. The shark obviously being better at this allows for the trout to be found and caught easily. A week ago, I went to Crystal Beach and waded for Trout. It's really the only fish the spot is good for even though I tell myself differently in the Spring/Summer to avoid long drives. The water was at 63 degrees which warranted wearing my wetsuit at my waist, I also brought my sling pack loaded with Clouser minnows, EP mullets, and tarpon roaches (all being names of common saltwater flies), my TFO Axiom II-X 9ft 9wt rod, and my Orvis Hydros IV reel with a 9.5wt/wf line. To decipher this, I brought a 9-foot rod with an "extra fast action" meaning it casts with a much faster movement, the 9wt translating to 9 weight is the weight of the rod, in what I have no idea, but you feel a huge difference in all weights, think of them as sturdiness. For example, a 12wt is very sturdy and is used for offshore fly fishing while a 4wt is used for streams in the rocky mountains. A 9wt is a very middle-ground inshore rod that can be used for all fish, for trout it would have been a much more fun fight to have an 8 or even 7 weight, but rods are expensive. The reel name doesn't mean much, it's just the brand and name of the reel. For the line, it's interesting. Notice how the rod is a 9wt but the line is a 9.5wt. Generally, the line weight should always match the rod weight, but by going up .5, it allows for further and more accurate casting. The line is also classified as WF meaning weight forward. This means the line is tapered and the end of it is heavier/thicker than the rest of the line. This also helps with further/faster/more accurate casting. The fun part about this is fly line is around $100 for one spool (you use an entire spool for one reel), and since it's tapered and specifically weighed, if you cut it, it's ruined. To counteract the guaranteed $100 loss every time you go fishing, we use what's called leader. This is a 6-8ft piece of normal fishing line (monofilament) tied to the end. This makes the line much less visible to the fish (fly line is thick and colored) and allows you to cut the line to change flies or break off fish. For the fly names, they just imitate different fish, bugs, or crustaceans that your target fish will eat, don't worry about that. Once I arrived at Crystal Beach, I put on my wading boots (with stingray guarding), tied on a tarpon roach (a fly meant for tarpon but weirdly works for trout), and headed into the water about an hour before sunset. The water was cold and it was very foggy with a dimly lit orange horizon. I made my way to a knee-deep depth (never go deeper when wading) and began looking for a trout habitat, that being where sand changes into a patch of turtle grass (they hide in the grass and "pounce" out into the sand). I began blindly casting my fly along the border of the grass while stripping in my fly in a slow pattern allowing a lethargic fish plenty of time to react and strike. For about 20 minutes i continued casting while keeping a look out for any signs of fish such as headwake or bait fish panicking, there was nothing. I decided to put in an airpod and just use this time to practice my casting and accuracy. As soon as I diverted my attention from what I was doing to my music and the foggy sunset, I had a hit. I quicly gave my line one big strip and knew the fish was on. Keep in mind, I shave the barbs off all my hooks as it significantly decreases fish mortality rates on catch and release to have them unbarbded (the removal of a barbed hook often leaves fish with huge trauma and often injured/dislocated jaws). Because of this, the fish can come off very easily, requiring me to keep constant tension on the line and read where the fish wants to go. After a quick 2 minute fight, I had a Speckled Trout hanging out next to me with a Tarpon Roach hanging out the corner of its mouth. I quickly got a picture of my first trout of the season and let him go. I had about 30 minutes left before sunset and was excited to continue. Now I remind you Crystal Beach is a popular sunset destination for locals. Behind me I hear splashing and look to what i can only assume to be a shark charging me or a dolphin given the loudest splashing ever, just to realize what I can only describe as a blob of a man who is approaching me with a Shakespeare rod in one hand (the cheapest possible rod that people on vacation flock to for its $35 "saltwater" set), while wearing those shoes with toes and a bathing suit. This immediate shakedown along with no wetsuit leads us to assume he's from up north and cold tolerable. He asked me what i caught and what i was using, i didn't attempt to explain that I'm using flies because i fear the explanation needed wouldve had to have been longer than what i wrote here. He then went on to cast next to me in what I can only imagine to be as an attempt to somehow catch the same fish i had just released. While realizing after this entire loud interaction there likely was no longer a fish within 5 nautical miles of us, I sadly called it the end of my sunset fishing trip. I of course wished him good luck and genuinley hope he got himself that trout. This felt very sporatic but hopefully you get a good idea of what fly fishing for trout means, but i need to go play Rust now. Talk again in 10 days. - Bryce
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