February 2010

Tarpon on Miami Beach 020210- I am Tarpon fishing with Paul tonight, a cold front is passing thru and we dodged a big storm on our way out. On our first drift we marked some fish and caught some Bluefish and Jacks. It was getting flat calm and we do need some wind for this type of fishing otherwise the baits sink to the bottom and you catch Bluefish and Jacks. We moved down the coast until we found some wind, it didn't take long we had a 30 lb Tarpon hooked up and in the boat taking his picture. We set up and made another dirft and had a greeat hit. The line was peeling off the reel and the 60 lb Tarpon jumped off in the distance. Paul fought the Tarpon for 15 minutes before landing it and getting somemore pictures. We made another drift but the bite was over and we headed in. 020410 This afternoon I am with John, Mike and Joe of Anheiser Busch. They are here for the Super Bowl and are enjoying everything that goes along with it, fishing golfing and the parties. Tonight we are after Tarpon we set up for our first drift off of Fischer Island, We had one Tarpon eat a shrimp as I was letting out and but we missed it. we made several drifts thru rolling Tarpon but they were not eating. I attempted to get over on to the south Beach side but the 25 mph east wind and outgoing tide didn't permit it. I worked us up inside Government Cut and it didn't take long and John was hooked up to a high flying Tarpon, we got one Jump out of him before throwing the hook. The wind continued to pick up and the cut was rolling at about 3-5 feet so we moved inside the bay. We stopped at a bridge and watch fish bust shrimp on the surface joe had a hook up but missed it. It was fun but these guys had to get to the Bud Light hotel for a party. 020510 I am with Rick, Rich, Mike and and Ron todqy and we fished Whitewater Bay down at Flamingo. This is my first trip back there since the major freeze in January. We started out quickly on some small Redfish we caught 3 on live shrimp and had few others hit and come off of our lures. The next spot produced a lot of Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish. I am doing 2 things today, first- I am trying to catch these guys as many fish as possible and second see if I can find Snook on any of my Snook spots. The freeze and subsequent fish kill did a number on thousands of Snook and Tarpon so I went out not expecting to catch any. I fished the back country as I always do and caught plenty of fish, we ended up with at least 100 fish on the day. The majority were Trout up to 2 1/2 lbs, Snappers up 14 inches, Redfish 16 inches and a lot of Jacks and Ladyfish. We tried for Gags and Goliaths but had no luck, loosing one Goliath. I did talk to a couple guys at the ramp that caught a couple small Snook which is great to here. Initially we all worried everything was killed but I did see some Tarpon today, in their winter time spots. The winds was 20-25 mph making for tough conditions but hopefully the big Tarpon will show up inthe next couple weeks. 021210 I am fishing with Jeff and Heather today at Flamingo, we have some friends in common so I really wanted to get them on fish. Jeff said they wanted to learn how to catch Redfish, so off we went. It was cool morning and we had a super negative low tide which is great for finding schooled up Redfish in the holes. I ran by a lot of spots that could of possibly held fish but I went to my honey hole. We got there and the tide was low and starting to move in which is usually the what I want . We fished for a half hour and I was getting ready to leave when Jeff hooked a Redfish, I thought it was going to turn on but it didn't. I ran to a spot that is good on low incoming water but all we caught were Trout. Heather didn't mind but I did! The weather forecast was for the winds to pick up to almost 40 knots this afternoon so I needed to get on some fish before that happened. I hit my Goliath and Gag Grouper spots and could not get a bite, it was really getting windy. I tried to stay in the deepest back country and out of the wind, but there was a minimal bite of Snappers, Jacks, Ladyfish and Trout. I hit all my top spots and the Redfish weren't biting or there. Jeff didn't leave empty handed, I marked his chart with some of my favorite spots. 021510 I'm out this afternoon south of Haulover looking for Tarpon with Joe and his son Lucas from Boston, the winds were 15 out of the south making a pretty good drift. Five minutes into our first drift the drag started screaming, I handed it to Lucas while the Tarpon was pulling drag. The 50 lb Tarpon finally came up and jumped off in the distance. Lucas was new to this so I tried to instruct him through it, he did a good job but 20 minutes into it the Tarpon came loose. We set up again and had 2 other strikes but no real hook ups. We had a couple Ladyfish and a Snapper towards the end of the trip, they had plans and had to get going so we headed in. Its possible the fish turned on shortly after dark and the tide started to move a little bit. 022010 This early part of the year has been tough on everybody, including the fish! If you can't adapt your in trouble. The water temps have stayed in low 60's in Floridy Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and all its tributaries and the fishing is sluggish at best. The east coast didn't really get beat up so bad because the fish had access to deeper water. The death toll on the east coast was very little compared to the Gulf Coast. This is the time of year our beach and inlet Tarpon stack up, if we get winds out of the western quadrant, it's really fishable for the smaller boats. There are more than just Tarpon, chum blocks, live and dead baits and shrimp will keep the rods bent. 021910 Im fishing Government Cut today with Cole Connell, initially we were going to fish south Biscayne Bay but the weather conditions weren't right. He said he wanted to catch fish and bend the rod more than chase Tarpon. I asked if he would like to chase after some Tarpon and catch Grouper, Snappers and who knows what else in the process, he agreed and this is how the day went. We arrive in the cut about 7 am with a stiff North wind, but not to rough. I motored around looking for the schools of Tarpon before they started to roll on the surface. Once they made an appearance we dropped on top of them but had no bites, during the course of 8 hours I only saw 2 Tarpon hooked up. I moved around a bit and went to my "honey hole" and Cole started to pull in 3 to 4 lb. Red Groupers. He caught about 8 or so and I asked if he wanted to try something else and he agreed. I put out an X- Rap and trolled it down the jetty looking for Jacks, Snook, Mackerel or Barracudas. The Cuda's tore us up as soon as the plug got moving, he caught 3 up to 12 lbs and moved on. We ran out to some deeper water and hit a Grouper spot, Cole ended up catching 20 or so Red Groupers up to 4 lbs. I told Cole we need to get back inside because the tide was going to change and I wanted to get the first push of outgoing tide. The Tarpon were going nuts rolling on the surface so we continued to drop deep and try for one, but the other fish wouldn't let the Tarpon get to the bait. The jumbo Mangroves and big Gags Groupers were turned on. We caught fish for the first 90 minutes of the falling tide, the best fish being a 12 lb Gag Grouper on a live Pilchard. Cole caught several other Gags and more Red Groupers. The biggest Mangrove was 2 1/2 lbs, which also ate a live Pilchard. Cole caught every kind of Grunt, Margate, Chub, Blue Runners, and Triggerfish, this is just a typical day of fishing in Government Cut. The Tarpon are the main specie we chase but we can get plenty of action from the supporting cast 022510 I am fishing with Jim, Karl and Bill tonight. We started around 3 PM and fished in and around Government Cut. Karl started it off with a nice 22 inch Red Grouper, Jim followed it up with a pretty good sized Mutton Snapper. They traded off catching fish while Bill quietly stayed in the back off the boat holding on to his rod. Bill started squirming and the fish was running and staying deep, at first I thought it was a big Grouper until I saw the line coming to the surface. I said it's a Tarpon and that's when it jumped and we saw the 55 lb fish. Bill fought the Tarpon boat side in about 20 minutes, we got some photos and got back to fishing. It was getting cold and the Tarpon seem to turn off so we called it a night. 022610 I am with Eric and Ryan from California this morning and they are glad to be here, they sat in a Dallas airport for 5 hours trying to get here. we got out around 7 am and it started out slow but eventually we got the rods bent. The Tarpon were everywhere but we were catching Red Groupers,big Mangrove Snappers, Blue Runners, Mackerels, Jacks, Grunts and other fish too, but no Tarpon. We fished hard and they caught 30 or so Groupers at the end of the day, that's all they wanted to bend rods! 022610 I am Tarpon fishing with Jeff Vladka tonight in Government Cut, we Got back to the cut and the Tarpon were there as they have been. The moon was full and the tide was switching which should of turned them on. Jeff caught a bunch of Groupers and Mackerels and had a couple good cut offs in a bait school that's was getting beat up on the beach. Se sat out in front of South Beach until he had to leave around 8 o'clock. the next day I heard the fish turned on @ 9 PM and one boat had 15 hook ups. Just need to be in the right place at the right TIDE on the full moons. 022710 I am fishing with Dan, Bruce and Keith we were supposed to fish south Biscayne Bay but the weather conditions were bad so I suggested Government Cut. It didn't take long and Dan had a Grouper and then another. We caught a lot of Groupers again today while the Tarpon rolled and jumped all around us, there were a bunch of boats out and no one else hooked up at Tarpon either.Its been a late night bite and they aren't playing in the daytime. Once we get off the full moon this week they should go back to a day time feeding pattern. The weather was bad today but we stuck it out and eventually made our way into the bay and caught a lot of Trout. BANANA'S came into play again today, its a superstition I believe in. I proved to the guys today when you get rid off the banana's the fish will bite, they didn't want to throw them away but when they did the fish turn on. I am a believer! Tarpon will be here thru Jume in good numbers, if that make you breathe hard give me a call at 305 333 8149. I'll do my best to get you hooked up to one. Select another page || Go to Home Page

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