Bait-and-switch to nail that big dolphin on fly.
By Chris Dummit

From the fly bridge, we saw flashes of neon firing off in the ocean's deep blue blanket. Dol-phin were streaking toward the boat. These ravenous dogs had obvi-ously spotted, and quite possibly picked up the scent of our teaser ballyhoo.

"Here they come," I warned Islamor-ada fly fisher Sandy Moret, who was poised at the stern ready to pull the trigger to cast a streamer at the right moment. "They're all small schoolies, though," I added. Just the same, Moret flicked the rod forward and the fly flew from his fingers. One quick backcast then the shoot and the fly sank like a wounded baitfish, at once attracting the pack. Moret barely moved the fly and a dolphin was on. Fly line ripped through the water, cutting a sharp roostertail and the bright schoolie went ballistic, gyrating like mad.

Moret grinned as the scrappy fish broke left then sprinted to the right. Capt. Charlie Scoble kept watch for a bigger bull or cow that can show up during moments like these. He scanned the depths beneath an adjacent weedline as mate Jim Hendrix stood by with handfuls of glass minnows, a spinning rod and a tempting teaser—a hookless ballyhoo.

You'll be in for a long fight if a dolphin rolls and shovels for the depths with that deep forehead.

"We often see big fish chasing schoolies," said Scoble. "The more commotion you create while playing with a school, the better the chance that mom and dad will come by to investigate."

However, veteran bluewater fly fishers will tell you that if you're serious about big dolphin on fly, it's best to pass up the surefire peanut dolphin bite and start looking for signs of big fish.

"The birds will tell you the story 9 times out of 10," Scoble said. "Look for a small group of low-flying birds moving to the southwest. The current off Islamorada runs northeast. The larger fish like to feed into the current when the prevailing east-southeast winds blow. So the fish are swimming to the southwest. The birds track them."

Most of the birds are terns, noddies and shearwaters looking for flyingfish pushed to the surface by the larger dolphin. If the flyingfish are showering beneath such a squadron of birds, you've probably struck paydirt.

Scoble climbed the tower of his boat and searched the depths. If he were piloting a smaller center-console open fisherman, he might drag teasers and hope for the best, running from spot to spot. But with the height advantage afforded by the tower on his boat, How 'Bout It, he can find the fish much more easily, spotting birds at a greater distance, and reading their body language to determine whether they're on big dolphin or not. He also spots weedlines and rips that small boaters may not see.

If Scoble spots sizeable fish in the water, he aligns the boat with their track. His mate, Jim, will prepare to cast and quickly retrieve a bridled ballyhoo to tease the fish on Scoble's order. Other anglers on board may be asked to hook up a smaller cow or cows, which will normally keep the bull close. Before fellow Islamorada angler 16-year-old Nick Stanczyk caught his 511/2-pound bull on a 9-weight rod, anglers aboard the Catch 22 had to hook every cow that accompanied the bull before the bull would eat. And those cows averaged 25 to 35 pounds.

"The big bull didn't want to bite," said Richard Stanczyk, Nick's father and owner of Bud N' Mary's Marina. "Then, when the hooked cows regurgitated what they had been eating, it served to chum him up. It really turned the bull on." Five and a half hours, 15 soundings and lots of sore muscles later, Nick had his fish boatside. The bull established a new Florida record, but was 2 pounds shy of a world record for 16-pound tippet.

Dolphin begin prowIing Keys water in earnest by April, but May through July seem to be better months for numbers of big fish, and they hang around through September. That's not to say that October through March is a wash. In fact, winter months turn up big fish each year for those who put in their time.

Tried-and-true tactics perfected by anglers such as the Stanczyks, Scoble and Moret can help you bag that dream dolphin on fly. The key is to have a captain and a mate who are dialed into the fishery, and what it takes to set up a fly angler. It takes teamwork to pull it off. First the fish must be found. Then the fish must get interested. Then the fish must see the fly.

"Timing is crucial. The initial teasing attempt is everything," Scoble said. "There are times when you can bring a fish back once it loses interest, but that is where your odds are dramatically cut."

Scoble spent much of the morning during our July outing in his boat's tower, peering through binoculars, talking on the radio and watching for fish below the surface. He searched from about 600 feet 12 miles off land, then moved out as far as 24 miles. He searched primarily for small, low-flying flocks of birds that signal big fish, but no weedline or floating debris went unchecked either. He also checked current rips where the Gulf Stream welled up against unseen bottom structure.

Mate Jim Hendrix wired one hookless ballyhoo onto heavy line, using a stiff length of wire where the hook would normally penetrate the bait's body. He fastened a small egg sinker beneath the bait's chin so that it would swim below the surface. That bait was trolled a short distance behind the boat at all times. Hendrix used waxed dental floss to bridle another hookless ballyhoo to a snap swivel which was tied to the line of a spinning rod. He was prepared to cast the bait, to bring roaming fish closer to the boat. Chunks of squid and whole glass minnows would serve as chum to hold the fish at the boat once they responded.

Moret stripped about 50 feet of line off the fly reel of his 10-weight, made a cast to clear it, then stripped it back into a bucket at the port side of the transom. The bucket is filled with about a half-inch of water to help keep the coils of fly line at the bottom, and less apt to tangle. Moret prefers a clear, sinking fly line over a floating line for two reasons. For one, it breaks the surface. A floater simply follows the contours of the surface, where a chop lends unnatural action to the fly. Secondly, the sinking line gets the fly down a bit faster.

Moret keeps his dolphin leader short, particularly when casting sinking lines at teased-up fish. A 2-foot butt section of clear 40-pound monofilament is tied to 18 to 24 inches of 12-pound class tippet. To that, he ties a piece of 60-pound fluorocarbon shock tippet (less than 12 inches long) to finish the leader. Though any generic Deceiver-style streamer or pilchard or ballyhoo pattern will catch fish, he has success with Jose Wejebe's green-and-white Spanish Fly. As a rule of thumb, a 4-inch fly is about right for dolphin on a 9- or 10-weight outfit. A bigger fly can be cast with an 11- or 12-weight rod, but keep in mind that you'll need to choose a fly line with a short head—or you can opt to overline your rod a line size or two—when casting at fish that pop up close to the transom.

From the port corner of the transom, Moret can make his right-hand cast while Hendrix teases the dolphin toward the starboard transom corner with the bridled ballyhoo. When the fish is within 30 feet of the boat, Hendrix yanks the ballyhoo out of the water and Moret places the fly in front of the fish. Speed and accuracy are crucial.

"To make the fish eat, you have to read the situation. If the fish is hot, it can be automatic. Other times, you have to give a reluctant follower a chance to eat," says Moret. "There is no specific mechanical stripping cadence, really, but once the fish hits, keep stripping and strike with the rod at the same time, though don't try to hit a home run."

All but the smallest dolphin head for the horizon once they feel the steel. Clear the fly line from the bucket or from around your feet rather than watching the fish. Be sure your line is clear. Then it's just a matter of maintaining tension on the line during one or two blistering runs.

Moret usually sets his reel drag at about 2 pounds; additional drag is applied by palming the spool. When the fish is far from the boat, the weight of the fly line itself is usually enough to keep the fish hooked, but reel quickly when the fish heads toward you. For offshore fishing such as this, large arbor reels give you the edge to pick up maximum backing with every turn of the reel handle.

Once we found a pod of willing schoolies, Hendrix cast the bridled ballyhoo and reeled it fast toward the boat. As he pulled the bait from the water, Moret was in mid cast. The fly landed right in front of the fish and sank. A few quick strips and the fish was hooked and airborne. Moret found a coil of line with his foot. He hopped and laughed while dancing to keep the snaking fly line from underfoot. Eventually the fish was on the reel. "That's exactly how you do it," he chuckled. "Any way you can."