Fly Fishing for Redfish in the Everglades

Redfish are known as the “bulldogs” of the everglades and they are a powerful fish that swims in these Everglades waters. The Everglades redfish’s diet consists of mainly the Everglades shrimp and crab. The Everglades redfish likes to hang around the islands and oyster bars of the Everglades waters all year long. I have had many clients over the past 30 years that love to try to catch these Everglades “bulldogs” on a fly rod and reel. The perfect size fly rod typically used for catching the Everglades redfish is an 8 to 9 wt. rod and a good anti-reverse reel. There are a few favorite fly patterns that seem to work real well with these Everglades “bulldogs”. One fly is a small brown shrimp when an Everglades redfish sees this fly come across its path, 9 out of 10 times he going to strike. Another great pattern is a crab pattern. This fly should be stripped slowly across the Everglades bottom to imitate how an Everglades crab moves. One of the most preferred flies to most of the Everglades fishing guides is the Everglades spoon fly. This fly should be stripped on at a medium speed. A favorite color for the Everglades spoon fly is gold or sliver. There are a couple of desired ways of fishing for the Everglades redfish with sight fishing being the most popular. You will need a shallow draft and easy poling Everglades skiff when sight fishing for the Everglades redfish. The best tides for sight fishing are a high out going tide. When sight fishing the first thing you want to do is find an Everglades shoreline that is out of the wind and silently pole your Everglades skiff trying not to make to much noise. When you spot an Everglades redfish you want to present your fly as softly as possibly trying not to slap the Everglades water. This technique is truly very exciting. Another way to fly fish for these Everglades “bulldogs” is on a hide tide. One popular high tide spot is the Everglades beaches. On a hide tide the average depth is about 3 to4 feet and the bottom is made up of white sand and rock that hold a lot of small crabs. If the water is clear this could be great sight fishing, but if murky its best to use a trolling motor and cast a weighted Everglades crab fly. Fly fishing for the Everglades Redfish is truly a challenge and a lot of fun.