The skiff sits in a Mangrove-lined cove 35 miles south of Chocoloskee, Kevin Mahailoff is on the poling platform, Roger Hall sits behind me, and I am on the front platform, fly in hand, rod ready. “Here they come,” Kevin whispers, then his voice gets urgent …”I see him. Big Snook. You see him?” “Yep, I got him,” I begin to air out some line. “There he goes! Cast left! More left, More left!” I shoot the line with confidence some 20 feet ahead of the Snook who is pushing a wake ahead of him. “Wait. Let it sink.” Kevin’s always communicating. That’s why he is one of the best guides in the Florida everglades. “Now. Short strip. Short strip. Shor …. Fish On!” The Snook lunges at the little bucktail fly and turns. My line hand pulls back with my rod hand low and hard. I feel a hard pull back against the 50-pound shock tippet. The Snook peels off line, Kevin poles the skiff out away from the Mangroves and I can feel the big Snook surge toward the roots as I apply maximum pressure, just enough to turn him. I tighten down a quarter turn on the Charleton. It takes awhile. A great, strong battle. But when he tires, he really gives it up.The hook pulled free just as Kevin’s hand tightened on the Snook’s mouth. What a great fight. I learn so many new things every time I go out fly fishing with Capt. Kevin. He seems to draw out the best of what ability I might have as a fly caster and angler. There is a pressure factor I used to feel when I first started fly fishing with guides down here. Now I feel more confident and it’s definitely from the variety of experiences I have gained fly fishing with these excellent guides. There are many fly fishers who won’t use a guide out of whatever … some folks are just stubborn and cheap and think they know it all … whatever. But, I think if any fly fisher wants to get to be better, wants to learn more, wants a lifetime experience … well going out with a guide like Kevin is expensive, sure. But I think it is worth much more in terms of improving my fishing and giving me experiences I can build on.
Great read Marshall .. I have been there on the front of Kev’s skiff and I think he said the exact same type of thing to me, “Big Snook .. 11 0’Clock etc..” I’d like to say I was as confident as you have become down there; but to be honest my knees still knock as I have yet to catch a snook that big. Sure, I have caught alot of snook, many with you infact .. but never a really big one like that … I went out with Kevin on a trip with Dave and Kevin put us on the fish .. Dave got it done and got a beautiful big snook … I had my fair shots at some monster snook but messed it all up with bad hook sets and other things that I have been constantly working on since then. I am pretty hard on myself when splitting a guided trip with a friend .. here’s why. Both of us are splitting the cost of the trip and there are only so many good shots at good fish in an outing. So, it’s not fair to my friend if I get up there and blow my shots .. the fairest thing I can do when I don’t “get it done in one” .. is sit down and give my buddy the fly rod. Infact I did that on a tarpon trip with Joe-M one time down there .. The guide would pole us around and work his nuts off poling against wind etc.. to get us on fish. Joe-M would get up there and make his shot count .. I would get up there and cast like a pro WHEN IT DIDN’T MATTER. Then all of a sudden, “Big Tarpon 1 O’Clock” .. and I would be slapping the water … casting into the trees .. fly line tangled around my toes and lining fish. So, in an effort to teach myself the importance of making 1 cast count, I would put myself in “the penalty box” and sit down and give Joe the fly rod. It worked, and whether I am fly fishing down there or at home or anywhere in the world for that matter I try to get better at making 1 good cast and making 1 good shot count. At the end of the day, anyone can cast like “a river runs through it” when it doesn’t really matter or in their back yard … The really good fly fisherman can do it when they only get one shot at a world class fish. I think that will be forever, a work in progress for me; as I am not sure it could ever really truly be “mastered.”
You raise an interesting point about “fly fishers who won’t use a guide or whatever etc…” Here is my new philosophy and it makes perfect sense to me ..
1. Not all guides are the same
2. Not all guiding services are the same
3. If a boat and gas are involved it’s gonna cost more, end of story.
4. If a guide has build a reputation for himself and his customers WANT to pay a gazillion mazillion dollars for a day on the water. God bless him. It’s no difference between buying a concert ticket to see let’s say “Dave Matthews” as compared to “Not Dave Matthews” … like it or not, or whether someone thinks it’s “fair” or not doesn’t really matter. Dave is still gonna sell out the show .. and ultimately, what “you” or “I” think really doesn’t matter. Because, obviously, LOT’S of folks see the VALUE in the what they get for the price of the ticket.
5. Just like music, who the heck ever said that everyone has to be the same? That would be so boring it would be ridiculous! There is room for everyone and every kind of service .. You for example do wading guide trips .. you don’t have a boat, you don’t have a captains license .. but, for a guy like me who wanted to catch his first ever snook or tarpon your services made sense .. And your services were priced according to what I was getting and not getting. You don’t have to pay for a boat, fees, wear and tear on an engine, gas, oil and all that stuff. Hence, your prices are cheaper.
6. Balance is key in everything. If I make a trip to Florida or Timbuktoo .. I only got a certain budget and much like an amusement part and who I am with and their budget .. we will plan or fly fishing days accordingly .. So out of let’s say 5 days .. it might be 3 days on our own two feet eating taco bell and sleaping in the cheapest motels we can find, 1 day with a lower priced guide and 1 day with a higher priced guide .. but, for some reason people seem to forget that if you want to go “deep into the everglades” or out to the marqueses with someone who really knows it and has a captains license and lot’s of costs to cover .. it’s gonna cost ya .. it has to! I mean seriously does anyone really think that you could access those kind of spots, have the guide absorb those kinds of costs and spend 8-10 hours poling you around for “cheap”
Bottom Line: The way I see it, Guides and Guiding services are NOT all of the same .. Just like at an amusement part .. some rides require 2 tickets, others 4, others 9 and others 1 … and it makes sense as to the reasons why .. both at an amusement park and when looking at the landscape of guides and guide services. VARIETY is the spice of life .. I don’t want a “one-size fits all” mold .. that would be TERRIBLE and so boring.
Great work marsh and Kevin! The Tarpon are coming very very soon, hence, I might be too:) !!
Biggest Snook I ever caught was on the front of Kevins boat. Believe me, if my mother gave me a trailor in florida I’d be doing the same thing! Nice fish. Dave has some pictures of the Snook I caught, wich was several, my largest was, OH well, no sense in comparing size.
there are some good buys here in the park where I live. one next door is under contract for less than 50K!
ya .. there is no doubt in my mind that kevin is the man to go to in the florida everglades for snook …. goes the distance too, big time! definately not your average “pole around naples bay” and hope for the best .. kevin knows the everglades and all the crazy ins and outs and ousterbars and nasty snook/tarpon hiding places like the back of his hand .. even amongst all other guides i have met in that area .. it seems to be a common understanding that kevin is in a class of his own when it comes to fly fishing the remote backcountry of the florida everglades .. low key, mellow, loves what he does, not a man of many words …. doesn’t have to be .. his reputation speaks for itself …
Marshall,
Great read. Great fish.
That wouldn’t be bad at all if I could get a bank to lend me money
Hey marshall, great snook! i too can relate being under pressure at the bow of a boat…one has to be dead on accurate to catch awsome game fish like your snook. even though the amount of mistakes people make on the bow translate into a lot of feeling bad for yourself as jeremy mentioned, your article is proof that it can be done under extreme times of pressure! great job!
Wow, nice work. Looks like a lot of fun, and a challenge to boot.
I get the feeling our barramundi behave quite similarly, but I haven’t had the pleasure of catching them over flats just yet. Looking forward to getting a nice, big saltwater one this Winter actually…
Do you prefer to use larger flies for snook, or is that not such an issue?
Thanks for the comps. The flies are always up to the guide. I love to tie them, but Capt. Kevin ties his own….each fly is sized, colored, weighted for the water conditions he encounters…so there’s the way I go ….I go with the guide’s suggestion.
Piscineidiot – I think you were looking for a “general” answer to the “fly” .. in my experience with snook it’s been something like this ..
1. at night under the lights it can be very effective to use very small micro and glass minnows .. small clousers work well too .. especially brown and white .. i could be wrong but they i thinnk the brown and what small clousers look like a shrimp or whatever .. etiher way .. in those night light snook conditions those flies have worked well for me ..
2. in general, when fly fishing the backcountry mangrove shorelines for snook .. the flies are on the bigger side but not huge flies .. you know .. EP type flies and deceiver type patterns and whatnot … i know that the “guides flies” as marshall suggests will very based on the things marshall suggests and that’s true and like anything else the “little” things matter big time … but, for a “simple solution” in terms of an all around fly .. i have caught lots of snook on plain old white decievers, medium sized mullett patterns and medium to bigger sized EP bunker/mullet type patterns in black/purple and chartreuse/white and brown/white ….
How do these flies compare with the flies you fish for the barramundi’s in australia … i would love to fly fishing for those and many other species of fish in australia someday .. that is a beautiful country you live in and in many ways “the last frontier” of saltwater fishing … still a ton of virtually “uncharted” waters and seemingly limitless exotic species … looking forward to the day to get a chance to fly fish in australia salt water! hope all is well .. and the fly fishin’ is treatin’ ya well down under .. see ya.
Thanks Austin, True, it’s the ‘pressure’ we feel maybe anytime we get a shot a a truly huge fish….you know for sure, having caught those huge bones and monster Brookies…you know! I think there’s a moment after we see a huge fish, we have to tell ourselves….”slow down!”
see you on the K this summer!
Ah, thanks MarshallD. Always good to listen to a man of greater experience….
Hey Jeremy, thanks for the tips.
It seems that your fly choices for snook are much the same as ours for barras this way. Interestingly, not too many people fish for them under lights with fly. I do find that they seem to like the 1/0 white clousers quite well though. Wafting a small baitfish profile in the current also works, but maintaining contact and keeping an eye on the fly is difficult from 2 storeys up.
White clousers are also quite popular in the mangrove snags around here, but so too are polar fibre minnows, deceivers in the 3/0-4/0 range and I’d imagine (if they were readily available), EP flies would also be popular. The traditional selection however, would include gold bomber flies (basically a long, flashy, gold and black baitfish profile tied on a 4/0) and also ‘pink things’, or whistler type flies with deceiver style tails. Again, 3/0 – 4/0’s a commonly preferred size. What is essential though, is that the flies push water.
Had a blinder session on some queenfish earlier this year. Unfortunately, we were too busy catching and releasing fish to get photos…More or less a dozen each between my mate and I using 9wts. Most of the fish were over 1m (3’3″) long, none were shorter than about 80cm (2’9″) to the fork of the tail. All that within say, 2 hours or so. We got so tired that I wound up casting a hookless popper just to get some footage of the things blowing up on it. 😉 Great stuff.
see .. just like i thought .. boundless opportunities .. and a pallette of species of fish that could keep ya busy and learning for a few lifetimes .. barramundi, golden travale and now “queenfish” .. what the heck is that? a cool fish i am sure .. too funny .. “such fast action, cut the hooks of the popper flies” .. we do that alot here with a fish called “bluefish” .. they can get so thick in the summer months that you can get really tired of catching them and having to deal with them .. but, its the visual of just seeing ALL THOSE FISH and all that life that is so cool .. so after we catch 20 or so of them and loose a ton of flies we sometimes do that too with creese flies and other type popper flies .. cuz just watching them smash the fly on the surface and get even angrier when they can’t eat it .. is a blast to watch …. man, we are just coming into spring here in usa and just talking about it is getting me psyched up for this season … tell ya one thing, the first couple flies that i throw at the bluefish are definately gonna have hooks on ’em .. sharp ones!
so – the queenfish .. what’s it’s story? .. fast? aggressive? deep water fish or shallow water? pretty? toothy? .. tell me more… i want one of those golden traveles that you posted a few months ago, big time.. that was a beautiful species of fish ..
Queenfish: Sort’ve like a long, skinny jack crevalle…
They’re pure, chrome silver with green backs, no scales, and with five or so large, ‘differently silver’ blotches along the tops of their flanks. Huge mouth, eyes far forward in their heads, great eyesight.
They readily take surface flies, but the easiest way to catch them is with a flashy profile or deceiver etc. They hang about around current lines etc. but do indeed come onto the flats. Easily grow over a metre and fight like absolute firecrackers. Long, strong runs, high leaps, lots of thrashing, but not so long a fight as to be tedious.
Their disposition is generally anything but tentative. I feel sorry for those little flying fish we saw fleeing the area, only to have to turn around when they got blown up on upon landing…
Just google up Queenfish on fly and you’ll find a couple of useful and detailed articles.
We get the smaller cousin to your bluefish further down South. Call them tailor this way, and you’d be lucky to get one over 10lb.
Anyway, I wouldn’t complain too much. I’d happily trade you a golden trevally for a 100lb tarpon.
So Marshall:
Some of us know that you are a guide, yourself: West Coast of Florida in the Winter; and Central Maine in the Summer. I am sure as the kind of afficianado you are with flyfishing, that you must also take great pride in your guiding enterprise. I would be interested to hear from you what you learned about guiding from Kevin and how fishing with Kevin (a guide’s guide) may influence your approach to being a guide.
By the way, I always love to read your fishtales. You are extremely experienced… and yet I sense a child-like excitement when you have a fish on (a feeling that I share).
I also was tickled by Piscinidiot’s homage to you as being of “greater experience.” Where I work, we try to be very politically correct and we refer to women of increasing years as women of “advanced life experience.” So, just what was P’idi’ trying to say?
From an old fart, meaning only the best,
Dave
Dave,
I’m not feeling my age at all, just hanging around with guys in their 30’s makes me feel right at that age too….it’s just when the bones ache and the muscles tire! hee, hee. I am a life-long learner type, having taught school bands for 30 yrs…..I feel, it’s MY time now to go back to school, so that’s the way I feel when I’m being guided. I try to incorporate some of the key phrases the guides use that fit into my guiding regime up north and here on the trail because I am teaching when I have people with me. Most folks I get come to me because they want ‘the experience” of glades fishing or they want ‘to experience’ using all the techniques on Miane Rivers; they maybe never nymphed several ways, or maybe never really fished a streamer fly well, or maybe they never rigged a salt leader before…. I teach and coach. But, I am not the type of guide that gets to run a skiff 25 miles into deep Glades, get up and pole…I row. But the game is the same! Find fish and fish through your client. That’s it. From Kevin, I learned to MOVE more often to find fish. He knows hundreds of spots, shorelines, bars, coves and he will only give blind-casting so much time. I’ve been with Capt John Stark and Capt. Jeff Legutki and they’re Movers too. I’ll incorporate that big item into my reportoire this season. MOVE. Find fish.
Thanks for all your kind words and thought-prevolking writing. I hope we can fish sometime!!
Marshall
***flyanglersguide.com
thats a bomber marshall. Kevin is a good guide, I have been out with him once and he works super hard. Glad your having a good winter down there. I bet you are not missing winter in Maine.
joey,
so when you come down stop by the shop, say hi, maybe do a trail loop? 207-314-1581
Marshall Please contact me About John Howards guide service, Would love to talk with you about Mr Howard !!!!
marsh, great snook man, seriously. i just read your comment about moving to find fish, i sometimes find myself moving to find the fish. during those times i wonder if i made the right choice to move. thanks.
hmmm,
John Howard?
Can’t recall him.