by John Kumiski
Explosions went off continuously in the inches deep water. Redfish, backs out of the water, were blowing up on shrimp, or maybe mullet. It was hard to tell which since there were so many of both.
When their backs weren't out of the water they were hard to see. The water was dirty. Low clouds scudded over us, spitting rain now and again. Conditions couldn't be much worse for sight fishing, but that's what John Bottko and I were trying to do, each of us holding our positions with out feet, kayaks barely floating over the black mud bottom. In spite of the numbers of fish and all the activity, the bites weren't exactly coming fast and furious. I had had at least a half dozen fish swam right up to me. One spooked and slammed right into my boat in its panic. I was beginning to think maybe I'd be better off with a spear than a fly rod, but then I got another strike, and all thoughts of murdering fish evaporated.
What Type of Boat?
Kayaks make wonderful fishing boats. With one you can access waters too shallow, oyster infested, muddy, grassy, or whatever, for any other type of vessel. But in a kayak your range is limited. To go five miles out and five miles back in a single day takes most of the day. You're forced to fish near your put-in.
Skiffs make wonderful fishing boats. If you try a spot and the fishing is poor, you simply turn the key and with the wonders of internal combustion you're at another spot, miles away, in minutes. But, if there are a lot of oysters, very shallow water, or other obstacles, you're locked out. The shallowest draft skiff simply can't go where a kayak will.
Hey! They're easy to combine! You can carry kayaks inside or on top of your skiff, and some kayaks tow very easily too, as long as you don't go too fast. Combining the best features of each like this makes a tremendous amount of good sense.
For the purpose of this article we're going to call this kayak/skiff combination piggybacking. While piggybacking can be done anywhere conditions allow, this particular story focuses on the area around Jacksonville, Florida, a great place to use this approach.
Geography of the Area
From the bridge at J. Turner Butler Boulevard north to the Georgia state line, the Intracoastal Waterway winds its way through an extensive series of salt marshes that features hundreds of salt creeks, thousands of acres of Spartina grass, and tens of thousands of oyster reefs. For the most part the bottom is covered with thick, gloppy black mud, making wading impossible except on the very highest tides, when the marsh floods. Spartina salt marsh is the most productive habitat on the planet in terms of biomass produced per acre, and the amount of shrimp, crabs, and fish that this urbanized area produces is staggering. Although many different species of fish are found here, the species of most interest to the fly angler are spotted seatrout, flounder, and redfish, and of these three the reds provide the best sight fishing opportunities.
John Bottko owns the Salty Feather, a fly shop located in Jacksonville. A licensed captain, he also takes charters out by both skiff and kayak, and during a recent telephone conversation he suggested that we combine the two approaches. "I know where there are a lot of redfish working at low tide," he said. "Their backs are out of the water while they work this flat, you can see their eyeballs sometimes. It's unbelievable. The tides will be perfect tomorrow morning. Can you get up here?" At 6:30 the next morning we were in his Hewes, cruising north along the Intracoastal Waterway, two kayaks sharing the space in the boat with us.
"Backing" Fish and Other Oddities
Fly fishers usually prefer sight fishing to casting blindly. Redfish provide an excellent sight fishing target wherever they live. In clear water they are fairly easy to see. If the water is dirty, they still tail, making them easy to see. In the Jacksonville area they not infrequently "back," cruising slowly through water so shallow that it doesn't cover them. Their backs are out of the water. When they're doing this even Mr. Magoo could see them on most days. This only happens at the bottom of the tide, when the shallow water requisite for backing appears.
Another sight you'll see in this area are free-jumping flounder. That's right, flounder that just jump out of the water. They're not having fun, they're chasing bait. Flounder never provide a good sight fishing target, but when they free jump, you at least know exactly where to direct your casts. Again, this only happens at the bottom of the tide.
A Typical Day?
Anglers in this area live by their tide charts. Every one of them owns a copy of the Coastal Pilot, and by February the book is dog-eared from being referred to so much. The best fishing for backing reds happens when a low tide coincides with the daybreak-early morning period.
The best backing fish fishing occurs in water too shallow for most boats, which is where the kayak comes in. Many of the best spots are not near a put-in, which is where the skiff comes in. If you visit a spot and the fish aren't happening, the skiff allows you to quickly visit another one. The low-tide window is short. With a skiff you can follow the low water for several miles, extending your fishing significantly. But once the water covers the oysters, that type of fishing is done for the day.
At that point four options present themselves. The first is to go do some non-fishing activity. Jacksonville is a large enough town that there are other things to do. The second is to wait for high tide and then start fishing for trout. The third is to go to the beach and look for fish there. See the sidebar on beach fishing. The fourth, only available occasionally, is to wait until the marsh floods and then look for fish in the grass. Again, see the sidebar for details on this.
On the morning described in the opening of this piece, John Bottko and I fished first in one spot, which was fairly small. When we finished there we pulled the kayaks back into the skiff and went to another spot where the action described occurred. If the weather had been nice, afterwards we might have gone out to the beaches along Nassau Sound, but the deluge that opened up on us caused an early and somewhat graceless exit from fishing that particular day.
Tackle, Flies, and the Degree of Difficulty
Most folks use eight-weight tackle for this work. Personally I think this is a bit of overkill, since the fish range from four to ten pounds or so, but an eight-weight is the standard outfit. As mentioned, the water is very shallow, so a floating line fills the bill nicely. Some folks like a ten foot rod for kayak fishing, thinking it helps keep the line off the water while casting, but if you cast reasonably well your standard nine footer will function just fine, thanks. It's not like you'll need to cast very far.
Leaders need to be at least the length of the rod, and my own preference is for a 12 footer. The tippet can be, and should be, reasonably stout, somewhere in the order of 15 to 20 pound fluorocarbon. The oysters have razor sharp edges and there will be plenty of nicking happening to that tippet. A thicker diameter gives you a little more margin for error.
You won't need a wide fly selection for fishing the backing fish. The universal fly here is a black Clouser Minnow, either size 4 or 2. Use the smallest lead eyes that will make the hook point ride up. A weedguard is a wonderful thing, but if you cast the fly into the oysters nothing will get it back, so you'd better have plenty of extras.
Most of us like a backup pattern or two in case the fish wont take our primary offering, so a #2 Seaducer tied with all grizzly hackles is good, as is the Dupre Spoonfly. A fly that garnered a strike on my recent trip with Bottko was a chartreuse Rattle Rouser. And since reds always like crabs, a small Merkin in #4 or 2 is a real confidence builder.
I've fished backing fish in the Jacksonville area many times over the years with many different guides, and I can state unequivocally that even when there are a lot of fish around, it's never easy fishing. First of all, the fish are in water that's only a few inches deep. They're vulnerable and they know it, so they're always real spooky. Secondly, there is always so much bait in the water that the fish don't have to work very hard in order to earn a living. You must make it easy for them to eat. Thirdly, the water tends to be dirty, so precise casting is a must. If the fly lands too close to the fish, they spook. If it lands too far away, they never see it. Finding that precise balance of fly and presentation is what makes this fishing so challenging, so enjoyable, and so rewarding.
Fortunately, the kayaks are so stealthy that if you're quiet you won't have to cast very far. I've already related how the fish, hard to see in the wind and rain, kept swimming right up to me. I had one free-swimming fish thump the boat when it realized I was there (I literally could have touched it) and panicked, and I had a hooked fish slam right into me, too.
A Word on the Other Species
We haven't spent much time discussing trout or flounder, since you can't sight fish them effectively, but let's talk about them a bit. The flounder, as already mentioned, get into very shallow water at low tide to ambush baitfish. They are extremely aggressive! If you see one jumping for bait, cast to it. If they see your fly they almost always take it. Getting them to see it is the problem, and most of the time for fly fishers, flounder are an incidental catch.
The trout will be found in the same creeks as the redfish. They will always be in deeper water, and higher, outgoing tide phases are usually better times to fish them. Fish along the edges of the grass, or places where feeder creeks are dumping water into deeper bodies of water. Brightly colored flies featuring pink, chartreuse, and/or white work well, as do surface flies. According to John Bottko, the "pop and drop," while tough to cast, is a deadly way to catch trout. The popper should be fairly large, and the dropper fly should be an unweighted shrimp pattern such as his Incredible Edible.
Finding the Fish
If you're a do-it-yourself first timer here finding the fish will present a challenge. The area is large, and the fish do not display random distribution. They clump in small spots, which you have to find. These spots, once located, will produce fish on the proper tides year after year if they are not overfished. Your strategy should be to explore likely looking creeks off of either the Intracoastal Waterway of the St. Johns River. Some of the better known creeks off of the St. Johns River include Browns Creek, Clapboard Creek, and Cedar Point Creek. Off of the Intracoastal Waterway north of the St. Johns, Simpson Creek, Jackson Creek, and Alligator Creek produce fish. South of the St. Johns River Pine Island and Hogpen Creek can be good. There's no lack of water to explore, but this short list should get you started.
Wrapping it Up
The Jacksonville area offers fly fishers a large, complex marsh system to explore and fish for redfish, seatrout, and flounder. Kayaks are an excellent way to fish it, but they lack range. Skiff give you range, but can't get into the shallowest water where the most exciting fishing happens. By doin' the Jacksonville Piggyback you can combine the best features of both types of boats and watch your angling pleasure soar.
Other Options- Fishing the Beach
Fishing the beach requires a different approach and tackle than fishing in the marsh. While you can walk to the fishing spot at Nassau Sound from Little Talbot Island State Park, it's a long walk, about two miles. A skiff is the best way to get there. With a skiff you can fish the islands a shore-bound angler can't access.
You'll need a heavier rod (an eight- to ten-weight) and an intermediate line, as well as a stripping basket. Large (size 1/0 to 3/0) minnow patterns like the Sar-Mul-Mac of the Surfin' Wooly are the best flies.
This fishing happens only during the summer. A west wind, an incoming tide, and a sun well up in the sky are the best conditions. A west wind keeps the surf down, incoming water tends to be clean, and you can see better when the sun is well up in the sky. This is very much a sight fishing gig.
Walk along the beach, not in the water, searching for fish. Sometimes they're singles, sometimes they're in a large school. Sometimes they're right by the shoreline, sometimes they're father out. Regardless, the idea is to see them first, then get the fly in front of them.
These fish can run large, to over 20 pounds, and because they're ocean fish they're even stronger than reds normally are, which is saying something. So if you find some reds and manage to hook up, be prepared for a true slugfest.
Reds in the Grass
A few times a year the tides in this area get so high that the Spartina grass gets flooded, presenting fishermen with a unique opportunity to fish in what appears to be a soggy hayfield. Redfish move into the fields searching for fiddler crabs. They wallow like rooting hogs when they do this and are much less cautious than usual. Usually, if they see your fly they'll eat it.
Because of the thick vegetation an eight-weight is very appropriate here, and a floating line is a must. Any fly imitating a minnow or a crab will work, but it must have a weedguard. A fairly stout tippet of at least 15 pound test is recommended.
Redfish don't exhibit a lot of "lateral" movement, so the same areas where you find them at low tide is where you'll find them when the marsh floods. Unlike the rest of the marsh, where the grass is growing the bottom is quite hard, making for excellent wading.
If you get the chance try wading in a wet field for reds in the grass.
Jacksonville Notebook
When: fishing here is a year-round activity.
Where: The St. Johns River, the Intracoastal Waterway, and associated salt marshes in northeast Florida, Duval and Nassau counties.
Headquarters: Jacksonville offers all kinds of lodging, restaurants, etc. The website of the Jacksonville Convention and Visitors Bureau is www.visitjacksonville.com; their phone number is 800.733.2668.
Appropriate Gear: in the marsh, six- to eight-weight rods with floating line. On the beach, eight- to ten-weight rods with intermediate line and a stripping basket. Wading booties.
Useful Fly Patterns: in the marsh, Clouser Minnows, Seaducers, Dupre Spoonflies, Merkin Crab, any kind of popper. On the beach, Surfin' Wooly, Sar-Mul-Mac.
Necessary accessories: in addition to the skiff, kayak, and associated gear, waders in the winter time, polarized sunglasses, rain gear, hat, sunscreen, and booties and a stripping basket if fishing the beach.
Nonresident fishing licenses: a three-day license is $6.50, a seven day license is $16.50, and an annual license is $31.50.
Fly Shops/Guides: The Salty Feather, www.saltyfeather.com, 904-645-8998 or (888) 847-2589. Owner John Bottko guides, and has a stable of other guides as well. Bottko specializes in the kayak fishing. Up north on Amelia Island, Russell Tharin (904.491.4799; www.flyfishingameliaisland.com) provides a similar service, minus the kayaks.
Books/Maps: Flyrodding Florida Salt, by Capt. John Kumiski; Top Spot Fishing Map #N-221, Daytona to Jacksonville, by Pasadena Top Spot Maps; The Florida Atlas by DeLorme Publishing Company.
Sidebar- Fly Recipes for Jacksonville Reds
Below are listed the recipes for some simple and effective patternsfor the Jacksonville area. You can make any of these flies in a variety of sizes and colors.
Clouser Deep Minnow
Materials
-Hook: Mustad 3407, #2
-Eyes: lead dumbbell eyes, 1/50th ounce
-Wing: chartreuse over white bucktail (craft fur or other synthetics also make excellent Clouser minnows).
-Flash: pearl Krystal Flash or Flashabou.
1) Place the hook in the vise point down and start the tying thread. Using a figure eight wrap, attach the lead dumbbell eyes to the top of the hook shank, about 1/4 of the way back from the hook's eye. Hitting the wraps with some cement will help them stay in place.
2) Cut a small clump of white bucktail, no more than the thickness of a pencil lead, from the tail and tie it in behind the lead eye with enough thread wraps to secure it.
3) Remove the hook from the vise and put it back in point up.
4) Cut off six or eight strand of flash and tie them in over the white bucktail.
5) Cut off a small clump of hair from the chartreuse bucktail and tie it in on top of the flash.
6) Use the thread to build up the head a bit. Whip the head and cement.
Homer Rhodes Shrimp Fly (Seaducer)
Materials
-Hook: Mustad 3407, #1
-Tail: two or three pairs of matched grizzly hackles
-Body: grizzly hackle, wrapped Palmer style.
-Eyes: 1/50th or 1/36th ounce lead eyes (optional)
1) Place the hook in the vise. Start the thread. If using lead eyes tie them in a quarter of the way back from the eye of the hook. Wrap the thread to the bend of the hook.
2) Take the hackle feathers (they should be about two and one half times as long as the hook shank) and tie them in at the bend of the hook. They behave better if you wet the butts with saliva first. They can splay out or in as you prefer. Wrap them enough to make a nice, tapered wrap.
3) Take another pair of long, webby hackle feathers and tie the butts in at right angles to the hook, facing away from you.
4) Wrap the thread up to the lead eye, or near the hook eye if not using lead eyes. Then wrap the feathers tied in at step 3 around the shank of the hook to the lead eye or hook eye. This process is called Palmering and will give your fly a very fuzzy body if done correctly. Once you finish wrapping the feathers, tie them off with the thread and trim the ends off.
5) Build up the head a bit, then whip finish and cement.
Squirrel Tail Bendback
Materials-
-Hook: Mustad 3407, #2. Use a pair of pliers to bend the hook shank slightly (five degrees or so, no more) away from the point about one quarter of the way back from the eye.
-Body: white Cactus Chenille
-Wing: brown marabou over squirrel tail
-Flash: Krystal Flash or Flashabou
1) Place the hook in the vise, point up. Start the thread and wind it back to the bend of the hook.
2) Tie in a piece of Cactus Chenille, then wrap the thread forward to about one third of the way behind the hook eye. Wrap the chenille up to this point, then use the thread to tie it off. Cut off the remaining chenille.
3) Cut a small clump of hair (the thickness of a pencil lead) from the squirrel tail. Pull out the short pieces, then tie it in just in front of where the chenille was tied off.
4) Cut six or eight strands of flash and tie them in over the squirrel tail.
5) Take a brown marabou feather and cut the fluff from the shaft. Usually a third of the feather is sufficient. Tie in the butts of this fluff just in front of the flash.
6) Build up the head a bit, then whip finish and cement.
Bunny Booger
Materials
-Hook, Mustad 3407 #2
-Tail: about one inch of bunny strip, color tier's choice
-Body: bunny strip, tied Palmer
-Eyes: 1/50th ounce lead dumbbell eye
1) Place the hook in the vise and start the thread. Tie in the lead eye about 1/4th of the way back from the eye, then wrap the thread to the bend of the hook.
2) Tie in a one inch piece of bunny strip extending back from the hook, fur side down.
3) Take another, longer piece of bunny strip and tie it in at right angles to the hook shank and facing away from you, fur side up.
4) Wrap the thread up to the lead eye, then wrap the bunny strip around the hook shank until you reach the lead eye. Tie it off and cut off the extra.
5) Wrap the thread in front of the lead eye. Build up the head a bit, then whip finish and cement.
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This article was written by John Kumiski of John Kumiski Outdoors and Travel. Contact him at his website www.johnkumiski.com or via email at john@spottedtail.com. Copyright 2008 John Kumiski.
John Kumiski 's most recent fishing guidebooks are How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System (Argonaut Publishing Company), and Fishing Florida's Space Coast (Argonaut Publishing Company).
John Kumiski's newest book is Redfish on the Fly- A Comprehensive Guide.
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