Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Report • September – October 2018 from Captain Russ Shirley.

Saltwater Fly Fishing Guide – Captain Russ Shirley, Tampa Bay. On board the ‘Salty Fly,’ my custom Silver King flats skiff, anglers caught various species on the flats & beaches the past 2 months. With September prolonging the summers heat, just about everything that swims was available, including a few late season Tarpon. Fishing the south side flats from St. Petersburg to Ft. De Soto and beyond, my anglers caught Snook, Tarpon, Spanish Mackerel, Crevalle Jack and Spotted Sea Trout.

Week of September 24, 2018.

I had the pleasure to have aboard a friend, fellow musician and new fly fishing angler John Holt III. Now I’ve fished with John before and we’ve had some great fishing days. The first time I had him share the boat was with a good friend and fellow Captain Dave Dant. We were out for a pre-season Tarpon trip and in between shots at Tarpon, John successfully caught this big Crevalle Jack.

 

After seeing those large Tarpon swimming up to and around my boat, as it does with most people, I think he caught the bug, and on his next trip got to successfully fight and land his first large tarpon on light tackle.

 

 

Well, with trip this September John started his quest and challenge of saltwater fly fishing. Not only is he the fastest learning student I’ve had in my 27 years, but he was successful in catching multiple species his first time out, including this nice Spanish Mackerel on fly and others.

Week of October 15, 2018.

Even though we’re still hearing of red tide occasionally in our area waters, luckily I have not seen much in regards to the actual critter or red tide colored waters that signal it’s location. And this week, even at the boat ramp, I heard it was around and many dead fish were floating around but never saw much, and what we did find was very old and could’ve been drifting the tides and winds in a collective-style event. Bottom line, never had a problem with our fishing areas.

Started the week with a young, Eckerd College student and very accomplished fly fishing angler Sonder Selvig and his mom/photographer Maureen. We started right away on Snook and threw to many on the flats edges. Once we made the move to the beaches we found some happy, hungry fish.

 

 

 

 

 

About the third cast of Sonder’s personally-tied Puglisi fly, he connected with a beautiful, large Snook.

 

 

 

 

 

And about 2 or 3 casts later he then connected with a very feisty, young Tarpon, one of the smallest we’ve ever caught on the beaches.

 

 

 

Besides fly fishing, custom fly tying, and college activities, Sonder is looking forward to his premier bucket list species… large Tarpon on fly.

Great job Sonder and thanks to you and your mom for sharing an awesome day on the water, the fish gods were kind.

®…

 

My Fall Fishing Prediction.

With the (hopefully) low levels of red tide and temperatures dropping from their extreme summer highs, our fishing should really start to get feverish. There are massive amounts of bait on the beaches, inshore flats and bay and the fish will become more active over the next weeks to come. Look for plenty of the pelagic species like Spanish Mackerel, Bonito and the flats species like Snook, Spotted Sea Trout, Redfish and occasional Tarpon. As the water cools a little more look for the larger King Mackerel to make their appearance along the beaches and into the bay.
Tight lines.

Capt. Russ Shirley
Salty Fly Charters
St. Petersburg, Florida
Website:  www.captruss.com
Email:      russ@captruss.com
Phone:     727-459-3896