January 2010

It's a New Year! Happy New Year! It hard to believe but 2009 is over and we are headed into 2010 with some serious cold weather for us south Floridians. This first week of Jan. is forecast to be in the 40's which is not normal at all. There is a positive side, it will get everything into a full winter time mode which wasn't really happening before this. We will warm up some and then our Tarpon fishing off of the Miami Beaches will kick into gear. These fish will get into the inlet and feed on the Shrimp runs that take place the next few months, early evening has been the best the last few years but the morning bite can be just as good. Last year they seemed to eat in mid day on more than one occasion. If your interested in the back country we will get some big Tarpon back there as well along with Snook and Redfish. Ill keep my website updated and keep everyone informed. We will also have plenty of fun fishing for little kids and you big kids that just like to bend the rod and here the drag scream. 010210 I am fishing Flamingo with Bernard his son Murray and friend Clarence. It was cold this morning so we started out at 10 am and stayed out until it warmed up @ 4 PM. I ran to some deeper mud bottom in Lake Ingraham, the tide was a negative low and everything was exposed. These are ideal conditions because the Redfish get tightly packed into schools if you catch one he should have plenty of buddies with him. On our first stop we caught the tail end of the outgoing tide and Clarence caught a couple 20 " Redfish, Murray caught a slot size 29"Snook and Bernard caught a couple Trout, Black Drum and Snappers. The tide switched and I thought the bite would get better but it slowed so we moved. The second spot was slow but we moved around and eventually found a school of 18-21 inch Redfish. Bernard caught a 26 "Snook and Murray had a Redfish. It was good bite, for and hour they were doubled up on more than one occasion. They caught Redfish, Trout Snook and Black, Drum. Once we headed back towards Flamingo the winds were more obvious so we made one stop. We caught some Jacks,Trout and Snappers before calling it a day. If you are looking for a day of great fun on the water give me a call, I can accomadate up to 4 adults. 010910 The start of 2010 has been incredibly cold for us, mid 30's in the morning and 40' s in the evening. A big artic cold front moved thru on New years day and its been cold ever since. There are some positives, this will definitly put the fish into their winter mode. The Tarpon made an appearance on the beaches right before the cold snap but I haven't been out due to cold and cancellations. Today is the 10th of January and it's raining and 44 degrees at 3 pm not your typcial South Florida weather. It will warm up soon and the fishing will be awesome, this next full moon could be the best shrimp run we have seen in a while and the Tarpon won't be far behind. The Flamingo area could be taking a beating with this cold weather. One report I got was 51 degree water, the Snook start to float when it gets under 60 degrees and they die. Hopefully they could find some deeper water berfore something bad happened. 011610- The frigid temperatures are hopefully behind us, but left huge casualties in its wake. The water cooled down into the 40's and that was to much for many of the Snook, Tarpon, Goliath Groupers, and Snappers. The report is the same from Sebastian Inlet/Tampa Bay south to the Keys. I figure its natures was off weeding out the week and the spring fishing will be interesting, I'm hoping the Tarpon made their way to deeper water and stayed safe. It's not all bad, I fished Flamingo for the first time since the cold blast 14 days ago, it took a couple spots but we finally found a school of Redfish. I'm with Jim Bullard his wife Dee and son Jeff from Virginia and Dee put on a clinic. I know she was keeping count but after 15 or so Redfish she stopped counting,she just didn't't like rubbing it in to much. Jim and Jeff caught their share of fish too! Jeff caught a couple big Trout Redfish and a big Sheepshead while Jim had his fair share of Reds, Trout and Black Drum. It didn't' matter where Dee stood in the boat she caught fish, it was great day. You have to adjust to the conditions which are deep and slow when its cold and look for muddy bottom. Things should be getting back to normal here this week, and I'm looking for to Tarpon fishing off Miami Beach. The shrimp runs could happen any night and you just need to be there to experience the bite. With the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl coming to Miami in February book your Tarpon dates early it definitely will be worth it. 101910 This afternoon I am fishing with with Dave Fox, his son Mike(11) and father Rick from Ohio off of Miami beach for Tarpon. I had to motor around a bit to find water temps @ 70 degrees, once I noticed it rising I set up my first drift. It only took minutes on our first drift and we had 3 hits, our short bait got cut off, Mike hooked one on a swim bait which he got one jump out of as our long bait was screaming drag. Rick picked up the long rod and the big Tarpon pulled over 150 yard of line then changed directions and did it again. I started wondering if it was a big Sting Ray or Shark and then she jumped and let us know it was definitely a 100 lb Tarpon. Rick fought it for 30 minutes right up up to the boat where the hook fell out. We set up and again it didn't take long this time it was Dave's turn almost the same scenario with the long run but this time the Tarpon jumped earlier in the fight. Dave put pressure and got her up to the boat where again the circle hook fell out. I'm confused at this point and re-rig with a new circle hook. On our 3 Drift I was putting out the live shrimp off the back and Dave hooked up again this time on a swim bait, the big 80 lb Tarpon jumped 6 feet in the air and threw the jig. Mike caught a few Blue Runners while casting at the school of Tarpon rolling around the boat. The long rod went off again and this time the Tarpon threw the hook early on. It slowed down at the slack tide and then as the tide switched to incoming Rick hooked a monster Tarpon on a 12 lb spinning rod. Tonight was the night of super long runs which is great but this Tarpon refused to give up! Rick fought this fish for an hour and a half, the whole time the Tarpon where feeding on the live shrimp moving down the beach. We could here and see the Tarpon exploding on the Shrimp. Rick did a great job and eventually got the big Tarpon next to the boat where we got some photo's and released her. We set up for another drift but they were done so we called it an evening. Rick said he was hoping to catch a Tarpon while he was here and I was glad I could help out. The shrimp could run any night or every night which turns the Tarpon on, this bite should be good right through the Super Bowl weekend in to the spring break. They are also biting early in the day as well, If your interested give me a call at 305 333 8149. 01- 20-10 It was a little rough but the Tarpon bit good and the Shrimp ran on last of out going tide just before dark. 01-21-22-10 I did some bass fishing these last couple afternoons, the fish are active. They are feeding on the surface chasing schools of Shad. I am a fan of catching fish especially when they are feeding on top. There is a big exotic fish kill in the fresh water but we had 30 bass over 2 lbs. in one trip. 102310 I am fishing in the 14th annual Club Sailfish Challenge today, it gives bragging rights to the top club in South Florida. I'm on the baddest open fisherman I've ever been on, the See Vea 39 with IPS drives which is Captained by Art Sapp. My teammates were Eric Castillo, Biscayne rod owner Ed Carman and Joe Fernandez. It didn't take long after lines in and we had our first 2 Sailfish and it continued through out the day, we ended up 9 for 15 and taking Top boat. I have been in the Miami Sportfishing Club since 1986, it has been where I spent every Wednesday night for over 20 years. I have fished with hundreds of guys who live and breath fishing whether its flats or offshore, many do both. We were defending "Champs" and last year we got spanked we vowed revenge this year. There were 13 boats, 70 anglers and a total of 51 sailfish caught and released. Thanks to all the participating clubs which included Miami Beach Rod and Reel, Sportsmen of Broward, Lighthouse Point- Saltwater Sportsman Association. Top Team - Miami Sportfishing Club runner up - Lighthouse Point Top Angler- Dave Vitter with 5 releases Top Boat- Kimbuckto ( ( 9 sailfish) Runner Up - Kamina ( 7 Sailfish ) 012610 I am with Doug, Trevor and Kenny today and we are fishing at Flamingo. A cold front passed thru during the night and although it's not freezing like couple of weeks ago, it is cold. I worked around Snake Bite early thinking the low tide/cold would have the fish stacked up . I found some Redfish on the edge of the flats but they kept spooking out. I decided to run to Lake Ingraham and take my chances. There were some Redfish, Trout and Black Drum but the big freeze we had took its toll on the fishery. The Redfish are stacked up in the holes along with Sheephead and Black drum but not a Snook to be had. Once it warmed up I ran to the grass flats and we caught Trout after Trout for the last 1 1/2 hours. 012710 Today I'm fishing with Trevor and Kenny again, first stop was on some diving Pelicans which had nothing with them. I ran to Lake Ingraham again and set up in an area where the bigger Redfish congregate in the Mullet schools. We drifted until we saw some activity and then Power Poled down. I rigged up a 1 ounce weight so I could cast about 70 yards into the fish without spooking them. There were some big boils and the Mullet were thick, finally the rod doubles and its really pulling some drag. Kenny has his hands full, and I said this is a fish is big! He continued to fight the 25 lb Black Drum just amazed at the size. He finally got it to the boat where we took some photos and released it. It wasn't to long and we caught another which wasn't as big but still put up a good fight. They were interested in seeing more of the park so we ran around and fished a bunch of different areas. Kenny caught a couple small Bonnethead Sharks and then we got a few Mackerel bites. We ended up on the grass flats again to end the day, the Ladyfish Trout and Jacks. The Tarpon bit real good off of Miami beach this evening, I spoke to a friend who had 2 tarpon on his first drift. This is the way to go for now, the bite off of Miami Beach is red hot and will be rood for the next week or so thru the full moon. The morning bite has been good as well. 012910 This morning I am fishing with Stu, his wife Nicky and 5 year old son Nelson from Connecticut. They are staying on Key Biscayne and Nelson wants to catch fish. I really would of liked to take them to Government Cut for Tarpon but it was breezy and they just wanted Nelson to catch fish.We didn't do aything fancy,I just anchored up in the finger channels put out a chum bag and let Nelson wear himself out on fish. Nelson caught a Snapper, Grunt and a Blue Runner on his first 3 cast all by himself which caught me off guard. At 5 yrs old he felt the bite and started winding in his line with out any help, I have had adults that couldn't do that so I was impressed. We bounced around the Stiltsville area and caught plenty of species Mutton, Mangrove and Lane Snappers, Groupers more Grunts.Stu and Nicky got in on the action and caught there fair share of fish as well. Nicky finally looked at me and said he's had enough let's go. 1200 noon, I dropped them off and had a few hours before my afternoon Tarpon trip, I stopped in Government Cut and now I wished I would of come here in the morning. It was a little sporty with the outgoing tide and 15 mph S.E. wind but the fish were biting. I was dropping down with a Gulp Shrimp and bouncing it on the bottom where I was marking big schools of Snappers. I caught a couple Snappers and then a big bight which I missed, I let the bait fall back down and caught a 7 lb Gag Grouper. I released it and then had another couple Groupers and then the Mangrove bite turned on and jumped a Tarpon. I was having a blast the Mangroves were 14 -17 inches, its all about the hit and the Snapper trying to stay in the rocks. I catch plenty of Tarpon while playing with the Snappers. It was time to go I had an hour and a half to go get a bowl of chowder at Shuckers on the Bay and meet Steve for our afternoon trip. It's 4 PM and I picked up Steve Singer from Minnesota and we are headed out onto Miami Beach for Tarpon. I put out my Jumbo shrimp and dragged them into the 1-2 foot waves while I had Steve casting a lure off the bow. On our second drift Steve had back to back Tarpon hits, the first caught him by surprise but on the second one he was waiting. The fish hit hard and made a long run but threw the hook. It hard to explain the look of disappointment on his face! I said it's early we'll get another chance and shortly after we did. This time he stuck the Tarpon good and it was off to the races. Steve help on for a while but the big Tarpon wore thru the 60 lb leader when he jumped. We stayed out for another hour without any bites so we called it a night and Steve will be back tomorrow. 013010 Steve is itching to go he me at called at 830 a.m. wanting to go. The winds were strong and I told him we would be better off in the afternoon when the wind switched to the s.w. plus I had to fix a bilge pump that broke the night before. I met Steve and his buddy Sheldon at 2 PM at Haulover marina and ran down to Government Cut. I rigged up a couple Gulp Shrimp and started bouncing the bottom, it was right at the tide shift to incoming which can be great for Tarpon. There was no boat traffic because it was nasty but we had some protection from the jetty. The Gulp's weren't getting hit so I switched to live Shrimp and on the first drop Sheldon hooked up a nice mangrove. He got hit on the first 4 drops with shrimp finally Steve said give me a Shrimp too! They caught a bunch of Snappers and Sheldon hooked a big Grouper which got a standing ovation from the people on a passing cruise ship which was pretty cool. I said it time to go Tarpon fishing which I know Steve was ready for. I set up for our first drift, I put out the baits and waited while I had them casting lures. Steve got hooked up but it was only a Blue Runner, he was anxious. Steve has fish all over North America and has never caught a Tarpon. As we drifted along I noticed the Shrimp rod dip a bit, Steve started reeling and it was a big Cero Mackerel. The next bite was not a normally Tarpon hit but the fish was up in the and threw the hook before we could react. I told Steve maybe they are turning on ! It was about 5 minutes later and the Shrimp got hit, the fish was running. Steve picked up the rod and started to reel and the Tarpon made a big jump Steve was in heaven. The fish pulled,ran and jumped for the next 15 minutes, Steve fought the 45 lb. Tarpon next to the boat where I lipped it and took some photos. Steve was happy he finally got his Tarpon! That was all he wanted and we called it a night. The moon was just starting to rise and there was a possibility of more but they had to meet there wives for dinner. It will be good this week with the full moon and a little front pushing thru. The shrimp could run and the Tarpon will feast when that happens We have the full moon this Saturday the 30th, the afternoon Tarpon should be really good a couple days before and after. This will be perfect timing for people coming to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl games. This will be a great game with the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colt. If your interested in some giant Tarpon give me a call and ask for the special super bowl rate. Its Tarpon time on the beach, give me a call and let's get hooked up! The Super Bowl is near and I will have a special deal on Tarpon trips, call me at 305 333 8149 and get all the details. Capt. Jimbo Select another page || Go to Home Page

Caught Lookin Charters 7900 NW 174 Tr. | Miami, FL 33015 Ph: 305-362-6460 | Email: info@caughtlookincharters.com Built with PageCreator provided by charternet.com © 2003 charternet.com. All Rights Reserved.