Here is our quick guide to help you prep for your next Caribbean Fly Fishing Adventure! The key to success in the Tropics is the same as it is in Rivers and Lakes: Match the Hatch. When you properly imitate the prey, success follows. So with that in mind, we boiled down the 5 most common prey types that inhabit the Inshore flats, lagoons, and bays of smaller Caribbean islands.
The 5 Most Common Inshore Prey Types On Caribbean Islands:
Sprat: Scaled Sardine, Pilchard, Spanish Sardine
What To Know: Sprat are wider bodied baitfish that are common throughout the Caribbean islands. They are often the main prey of choice for many of the biggest predators. They have a half moon shape, which means they have a wide body profile with silver bellies and green backs.
Flies To Use: There are many options to choose from like EP Minnows, Gamechangers, Deceivers, Wiggle Minnows and Gurglers. The key is to have both low-vis and high-vis colors in your bag. Olive, Chartreuse, White, Silver, and Blurple are the mainstays. Some days color is 90% of the battle so don’t be affraid to keep rotating colors if fish are being picky.
Fry: Glass Minnow, Anchovie, Silverside
What To Know: A very common find in shallow waters, these baitfish are more difficult to mimic as they are often very small profiled and between 1 - 2”. If you see small fry it’s going to be more challenging to match it, but when you find the right fly, it can produce some incredible results!
Flies To Use: Best Fly Imitation: Clousers, Smaller White/Green Deceivers, Flashy silver & green flies. There are many Fry style imitations available and having a few varieties and sizes in your bag is always good.
Shrimp: Red, Ghost, Glass
What To Know: On smaller islands, shrimp are less common than in places like Florida or the Bahamas. Most shrimp here live in specific bays or lagoons and are not necessarily on every beach. One of the most common shrimp Bonefish tail on is the Burrowing Ghost Shrimp. Translucent with a lobster like pink claw, they love sandy and muddy bottoms.
Flies To Use: Shrimp imitations in light pink, purple, orangish red, and white work the best. You will want to have some weighted and some unweighted options as well as smaller and larger varieties. Best used when water is clear or fish are spooky and you need to land casts delicately.
Crabs: Blue, Ghost, Sargasso
What To Know: The two most common crabs we see are the Blue Crab and Ghost Crab, with one exception: Sargassum Season. From June - Nov sargassum plumes will drift onto beaches across the Caribbean, bringing with them the floating red and white Sargasso Crab.
Flies To Use: With so many options to choose from, even we can get caught up in analysis paralysis when it comes to what crab flies work best, especially for Permit. In general we like to have a few green/blue, white, and orange options in the box. You’ll want to have a mix of both weighted and floating styles.
Ballyhoo
What To Know: Ballyhoo are one of the Tarpon and Snook’s favorite snacks. They can be found during certain months on flats and beaches, often hiding close to shore. They will be floating just below the surface in schools of 50+ and are a great sign that larger predators are close by. While similar to needlefish, ballyhoo have a slightly wider profile similar to a flattened cigar.
Flies To Use: Longer flies work great for mimicking these silvery green fish. Deceivers, Long-Tailed EP Minnows, and Gurglers are great, as are the multitude of flies designed to mimic ballyhoo and needlefish. Having both Bright and Dark colors is important as water clarity and sunshine/clouds can require different colors to produce results.
We hope this has given you a quick guide on how to think about prepping for your next Caribbean fly fishing adventure!
Comments