Two things to point out about those northern guys who really can cast a fly into the teeth of the wind in conditions that would make us south Florida guys want to stay at home...
The first is that although most of the ones I've had on my skiff can really (I mean really lay out the line) getting one to stay absolutely still while casting takes a bit of doing.. On a small skiff in shallow waters any motion your body language imparts to the boat is really noticed by spooky fish... The next thing needed is real accuracy - something that surf casting doesn't teach... That's one of the reasons that all the flies I tie will have a wire weedguard if it's at all possible... That weedguard works well when you toss a fly into the bushes instead of right next to them... The practice routine I recommend is to get good at hitting something as small as your hat with a fly at any comfortable distance you can cast at, then do it with the wind coming from different directions. When you can finally hit the hat without working at it -place that hat next to a chain link fence - then hit the hat without hitting the fence... Not easy at all.... but very necessary when your target is up under a tree or right next to some other kind of structure - and not willing to stray very far from home when going after a fly .....
Lastly, I think every saltwater angler should have a 10wt as well as their standard 7, 8, or 9wt rod... When the wind is too much for your lighter rods that 10wt will come in handy... When you want to toss a much bigger fly than an 8wt can handle - the 10wt will do the job. And although we routinely use 12wts down here for big tarpon, on more than one occasion one of my anglers has taken a solid 80lb fish on - you guessed it... that 10wt rod...