Top fly rod fish

Having been fortunate enough to own a fly shop, guide, and travel business I have enjoyed a good number of destinations and caught, or at least tried to, more than just a few different kinds of fish. For my money it is hard to match adult sized tarpon in 3-6 feet of crystal clear water from a poling skiff. They don't have to be monsters. 75 to 120 lbs is plenty. I actually prefer being on the back of the skiff especially with someone who has never had the chance to do it before. The fish are great fun to look for and find in a unique environment. The casting is challenging. Getting them to eat the fly is an intriguing chess game. The take is very visual and the noise they make when hooked erupting out of the ocean gill rakers rattling in defiance is a sound you never forget. I wish I could do it again tomorrow. Always have and always will.
 
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I see a minimum of a dozen on there that I'd swap out for musky....


May seem kinda silly, but there's a giant Pargo that still haunts me from last summer...
 
clarkman said:
I see a minimum of a dozen on there that I'd swap out for musky....


May seem kinda silly, but there's a giant Pargo that still haunts me from last summer...
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I don't need to buy a plane ticket to musky fish tho :).

Cubera snapper at Darien Lodge or Sette Cama, bohar in Sudan, so many nasty snappers out there that I would love to catch. I have caught several species, but all pretty small so far.
 
Salmo_g said:
Oh, they are worth it. Why? Because it's sunny and 82* there when it's 40* and raining here. The bonefish are small, but fun, and after a half dozen you can cross them off your list. Snook and baby tarpon are lots of fun as a novelty. But permit, permit will haunt your soul. First you see the nervous water, then a tailing fin. You guide says your fly is perfect, and you make a perfect cast. Strip. Mr. Permit sees your orangish tan crab pattern and shows his interest by moving toward it. Strip again. Mr. Permit is definitely interested and moves ever closer. Then just as you're sure he's gonna' eat it, he turns away to rejoin his buddies and forget that your presentation ever existed.

I liken permit to steelheading. Just because you do everything right doesn't mean you'll hook up.
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I'll say again, barracuda in Mexico are a blast.
 
Salmo_g said:
I liken permit to steelheading. Just because you do everything right doesn't mean you'll hook up.
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Doesn't that mean you didn't do everything right? for that fish in particular....
 
clarkman said:
Doesn't that mean you didn't do everything right? for that fish in particular....
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I don't think so. Because that same presentation entices enough of them to go ahead and eat the fly. The uncertainty that pays off often enough to make me want to try it again, and then again, and then again . . .
 
Salmo_g said:
I don't think so. Because that same presentation entices enough of them to go ahead and eat the fly. The uncertainty that pays off often enough to make me want to try it again, and then again, and then again . . .
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well, maybe that particular fish wanted the fly to zig instead of zag. Keeps us on our toes....shoot, I can do the exact same thing on 6 muskies and get 6 different reactions (or lack thereof on 3 of them). one might eat on a boatside 8, another might eat long distance and yet another might just follow for a bit and peel off....ergo, it wasn't right for that fish.
 
Cabezon said:
Geez, now I'm getting homework...:LOL: There are 18 species in the genus Caranx which includes jacks, trevallies, blue runners, false scad, and cocinero. The crevalle jack (Caranx hippos) is found in tropical and temperature waters on either side of the Atlantic Ocean; in 2007 a second species, the longfin crevalle jack (C. fischeri) was described as a separate species in the eastern Atlantic Ocean along the African coast from Angola to the Mediterranean. The fish that @CanoeGuy posted is a Pacific crevalle jack (C. caninus). The Pacific crevalle jack inhabits coastal waters and Pacific Islands in the Eastern Pacific from San Diego to Peru. Juvenile Pacific crevalle jacks do have five dark vertical bars along the side, consistent with @CanoeGuy's picture. All three species appear to be closely-related. While there have been some arguments that the crevalle jack and Pacific crevalle jack are the same species, there are differences in fin color and bone growth.
The giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) of the Indo-Pacific is high on my wanted list.
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On a night dive on the Great Barrier Reef, one of those b@st@rds bit my left hand, leaving scratches on the back of my hand and on the base of my thumb.
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So, I'm looking for revenge at some point...
Steve
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I've been bit in the shoulder by one...he did have my spear shaft sticking out of his forehead, so I can understand why he wanted out of the cave I was blocking his exit from...
 
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