ST Marks NWR - 29 May 2016

[Terrier]

Fished the refuge Sunday from 8:00AM - 2:30PM. Finally had some decent weather and the water was clear and wind moderate. Activity was steady but not spectacular - ended the day with 6 trout, 1 21" redfish and a 15" spanish. Trout were 21", 20", 19", 2 18"s and a 17". Lost three others (bad knot, poor hook-set and topwater head shake from what looked to be another overslot). Had fun with a large sting ray as well. Most of the fish came on a olive over chartreuse over white or tan clouser on an intermediate line. There were lots of large mullet around and a trio of dolphins showed up to smack them around. Kept a couple of the smaller trout and the Spanish for dinner. Hopefully things will be good next week-end.

[altmizzle]

Some good sized trout.

[dkent53]

Just got my fly rod so new to fly-fishing, what is a clouser? Pic would be nice if you have one to post, not sure at this point if I should be going with a sinking or floating lure, any help would be appreciated, thanks

[Terrier]

Just got my fly rod so new to fly-fishing, what is a clouser? Pic would be nice if you have one to post, not sure at this point if I should be going with a sinking or floating lure, any help would be appreciated, thanks

The flies in the front of this picture are clousers:


Olive over chartreuse over white or tan have worked best for me:



Also, Gartside gurglers (youtube has info on the gartside) are a great topwater fly and are deadly on trout in spring and fall.

Clousers are weighted and they can be a pain to cast when just starting out - literally a pain, since if you're backcast timing is off, you can catch one between the shoulder blades or off the noggin; it's like getting shot with a BB gun. I would start with lightly weighted - 5/32 or 3/16 eyes on a #4 or #2 hook.
I fish clousers on an intermediate line about 80% of the time - this will work the 3' - 6' depth , depending on current strength.

[Gulf Coast]

[silverking]

Those are some good-looking flies, Terrier. The Puglisi pinfish are spot on.

[Terrier]

Those are some good-looking flies, Terrier. The Puglisi pinfish are spot on.

Thanks - they're fun to tie but I don't fish them enough - I need to start using them more.