I’ve got some friends coming to town to fish this weekend and they would like to see the glades. I’ve fished it twice and only made it as far as mud bay (wind was howling and quickly learned why it’s called whitewater bay). I typically fish Biscayne down to Elliot key and the glades are a beast I have yet to attempt to conquer.
Thinking about doing some exploring in hells bay Saturday and heading towards shark river Sunday.
Any general strategy tips would be greatly appreciated. Excited to contribute to the fishing reports when we get back.
Also, thank you to those who gave some insight about upgrading from my Ankona Native 14 in a previous post. Going to hold onto it for now until I move further north.
You running a chip? Not needed in that area but helpful but you’ll want some form of mapping gps. Never been in hells bay but down around shark/oyster the usual applies. Points and moving water. You can fish the mouths of the rivers as well and the beaches can also hold fish. Cool place down there have fun exploring!
I have only done 3-4 back country trips out of Flamingo. There is just so much there… I did them all self guided and was way out of my comfort zone being from bama. Its a long trailer down there, but I was young and to poor to hire a guide.
I had the best luck getting into some ponds that were tucked away from the main area. Using draft and a narrow width of my boat to get into places that looked like they diddn’t get fished often. Pounding the mangroves with weedless, weightless soft plastics / flies. Texas rigged if your into bass fishing.
Pick an area. Fish it all day, Then repeat somewhere new the next day. If its purely catching you want to do then hire a guide. If its exploring then be content with only a few fish.
If you can get out the mouth of the Shark and the tides are right, poling the north and south Gulf shorelines and casting at down wood for snooks is always a good time. Find a point near the coast with moving water, bring your fly/lure with the current. Like mentioned above, it’s too easy to run around all day while making big moves and not end up fishing much. Dont write off Coot Bay either
Fish all the drains that run into the Shark and Little Shark rivers on the falling tide. Also, to the south of the Shark are several creeks that drain out into the Gulf. If the tide is falling, make sure to work those. The Hell’s Bay area is amazing, but make sure you know where you are and be prepared if you have any problems–it’s very remote. There are a lot of fish back there this time of year, but the water is typically very clear and it’s shallow. Makes for great sight fishing opportunities, but go slow!
