Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
Redfish on Florida's east coast, especially the heavily fished Indian River Lagoon system, are educated by constant boat and fly pressure and will refuse a perfect presentation. Parts of the west coast hold far less pressured redfish that eat readily. The same species demands different fly sizes, leads and retrieves depending on which coast you fish.
Lucas Largel is a Florida fly fishing guide based north of Orlando who runs trips on both the east and west coasts of the state, targeting redfish, snook, tarpon and black drum.
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How does redfish fishing differ between Florida's east and west coasts?
Fishing pressure is the main divider between the two coasts, not the redfish themselves. On the east coast the Indian River Lagoon system runs an estimated 158 miles and includes Mosquito Lagoon, which had its heyday as the country's best-known redfish destination and now carries the traffic that fame brought. Those redfish have seen most flies, lures and skiffs in circulation, and a fish there may turn a full 180 degrees off a well-presented fly. Several west coast areas hold redfish that see almost no pressure and eat willingly, which is why a guide based in central Florida can drive to whichever coast the weather, wind and tide favor that morning.
What is an "honest" redfish and why does the distinction matter?
An honest redfish is a fish in its natural habitat that gets shown a credible interpretation of its food source, moving the way that food source would move, and rewards the angler by eating. An unhonest redfish refuses that same cast: right color, right silhouette, right movement, right scenario, no eat. The distinction matters because anglers who get refused immediately ask what they did wrong, and often the answer is nothing. Knowing the difference keeps a refusal from wrecking the rest of the day's casting.
What size flies do Florida redfish want in winter versus summer?
Winter redfish in clear water on high-pressure days call for small flies, sometimes down to a size 6 or size 4, at or below the size of a typical bonefish fly. The forage in winter is small fiddler crabs, grass shrimp and glass minnows, so shrimp and natural crab patterns are what stays in the box. Summer opens the door to baitfish patterns and larger profiles, particularly around the mullet run that moves along the Florida coast. Redfish also key on a single diet: a fish that has seen mullet for a week will refuse a crab simply because it does not belong there, and an uncertain redfish takes the safe route.
Where should the fly land relative to a cruising redfish?
The target is the redfish's outside eye, meaning the eye facing away from the skiff, so the fish's attention is pulled away from the boat rather than toward it. In an area where redfish are eating freely, two feet in front works. When the fish has to be fed, five to seven feet of lead is the number, because that gives the fly time to reach the bottom and gives the angler time to strip back any excess so only clear fluorocarbon sits in front of the fish. The worst version of this shot is a fly swimming back toward the angler with a redfish chasing it, because the boat is directly behind the fly.
How should the retrieve match a redfish's behavior?
Match the fish's energy. A redfish crashing down a shoreline hitting shrimp and mullet and whacking things with its tail wants a fly that is visibly panicking, because real bait would be. A methodical redfish that is calculating everything in front of it wants a fly that side-eyes and eases away, the way a crab or shrimp buries and hopes to be missed. The retrieve also has to suit the fly: a crab crawls slowly and stops, a shrimp ticks in short bursts, and a baitfish does neither. If a redfish follows and the fly falls dead to the sand and never moves again, the fish loses interest, so give it one more tick before it closes to sniffing range.
How can bottom structure be used to set up a shot at a redfish?
Redfish cross barriers reluctantly. A log lying on the bottom in a cruising fish's path will produce one of two outcomes: the fish hits it, turns 180 degrees and goes back, or it follows the log down, comes around the end and resumes its line. That predictability is an advantage. Rather than racing the redfish to the log, put the fly on the far side and wait, so the fish rounds the structure and finds a shrimp already there. Where there is no structure, distance serves the same purpose, giving time to land the fly, let it sink and settle the line before the fish can see any of it happen.
How should you practice casting before a Florida redfish trip?
The shot that beats most saltwater visitors is not the long one. Anglers who can drop a fly in a hula hoop at 70 or 80 feet often fall apart on a redfish sitting 15 feet off the bow, and short-range shots are a large share of redfish opportunities. Practice by laying a length of PVC at your feet as a reference line and marking distances at ten, one and two o'clock, so clock-and-distance calls translate on the boat. Stand on a cooler or a five gallon bucket rather than solid ground, because a casting platform is only three or four square feet and limits how much power the legs can add. Recording your own clock-and-distance calls on a phone and casting to the playback builds the response speed the real thing requires.
Key takeaways
- An 8-weight covers standard Florida redfish work; a 10-weight on the skiff usually means tarpon, a schooled black drum in the 30 to 50 pound range, or a predator rod for barracuda and sharks.
- In winter, drop redfish flies to size 6 or 4 shrimp and natural crab patterns rather than large flashy baitfish flies.
- Land the fly on the redfish's outside eye and lead a fish that needs to be fed by five to seven feet.
- If a redfish follows the fly and it stops dead on the bottom, the fish will lose interest; give one more strip before it closes to sniffing range.
- Practice from a cooler or five gallon bucket so casting from an elevated three-square-foot platform is not new on day one.
- Keeping the rod tip pointed down in the water in front of a redfish makes it far harder to lift into a trout set.
