March fishing report

Spring training Team Man-o-war / Macdonald’s I along with my partner Captain Tim Shabareck just returned from the first tournament of the year on the Redfish Tour, the tournament was held in Lafitte, Louisiana. Our goals are to compete for the team of the year title this year after finishing in 51 place last year. We arrived in Lafitte and had 5 days to pre-fish its supposed to be work but Louisana is an incredible fishery. The 5 days of pre fishing were in less than desirable conditions,20 m.p.h. plus everyday and overcast. During the pre-fish days we averaged about 20 Redfish, Sheepheads and some really nice Black Drum. Day one of the tournament, the weather is not cooperating. The wind is howling at around 25 m.p.h.peaking at 40 m.p.h., no different than practice right. We felt confident we could catch two 8 pound fish. It was a long day and we only weighed in 14.05, very disappointing, we were in a good area but didn’t get the bites we expected. Day two started out a little different, rain and no wind early in the morning. We had not had any conditions with less than 20 knots so we were anxious. By 7 a.m. we had 14 lbs in the boat so for the rest of the day all we had to do was up grade. The sky cleared and the wind was calm; so calm those Louisiana knats came out of the grass. These are like giant no see-ums. This was going to be the day we waited for sight fishing in the ponds for quality Redfish. Our practice days paid off because one of the areas was loaded with 8 pounds reds. We caught 2 reds over 8lbs and had about 17 pounds in the live well for the weigh in, we were happy and decided to head in. We left at 1230 and had to be in by 2 p.m. it was about 30 miles to the weigh in at c-way marina. On the way in we had about 40 minutes to kill, we stopped in an area we had never been to; mostly to put on our team shirts. While working down the shoreline we saw 2 very big fish, we cast at both hooking one. My partner Timmy is yelling it’s big, as I ‘m scrambling for the net. I’m thinking it could be too big! We netted the Redfish and measured him on the official Redfish Tour board. It’s very close. Do you let go a for sure 8 1/2lbRedfish? You bet we did. We let him go for one that weighed 9.2lbs. We were really stoked, we put our team Man-o-war / McDonalds shirts on and made it to the dock with 2 minutes to spare. We finished in 30th place, weighing in 17.98 lbs. Taking into consideration we are in another state and fishing against a lot of local and out of state talent we were satisfied. We were .49 ounces from getting the 25 pl. check and 5 pounds of the lead. Did I mention we caught 60 fish this day; how could we be disappointed! We started out with a pretty good started at the first tournament of the season and are in the running. Thanks to all the sponsors who make it happen. Man-o-war Boat works, McDonalds, Biscayne Rods, Mercury, D.O.A., Lowrance and Ocean Waves. Miami area The fishing has been pretty good in Miami, Tarpon, Snook and big Jacks in the inlets and on the beach shorelines. I along with my customers have had some incredible nights when the shrimp runs occur. On a cold blustery night, with north winds at 20-25, the tide switched to outgoing. This turned on the Shrimp, which in turn turned on the Tarpon bite. We had been marking the Tarpon on the Lowrance recorder at the tip of the jetty most of the evening. The tide switched and the Tarpon started popping the Shrimp. I told my angler Stirling to reel in and cast at the next pop. A Tarpon popped a Shrimp, Stirling cast to the area and was rewarded with a 60 lb Tarpon that was jumping out of control, Stirling was excited; although his fish threw the hook. The Tarpon were destroying the Shrimp so I picked up a second rod made a cast and hooked up. I passed of the rod to Stirling, the 90-pound fish jumped and fought in and out of the inlet for 1 hour and 30 minutes. The Tarpon pulled us out to sea about a mile were we got the release on him but never boated him. This is the way it has been for the last 2 months; the Tarpon will stay very active on the Inlet and Beaches until the end of May. Flamingo The Tarpon fishing here is also excellent, when its warm enough for them to stay around. The week cold fronts that come through make the water temps drop below 70 degrees for several days. The Tarpon have to leave the area where they have been eating and fattening up for the spawn and wait for the water to rise above 70 again. The backcountry Tarpon usually peak around the 3 week of March, this is when the water temp reaches the 70 degrees better. This is when all the top anglers and guides drop everything else to be there. The Snook fishing has been consistent but the Snook have been on the smaller side as of late. The past week I was way up in the backcountry where we caught some Snook Fly-Fishing and a few on Bang-o-lures. The Trout bite was good also we fished a D.O.A Glow Shrimp on a Cajun thunder and caught as many Trout as we wanted. The D.O.A Glow Shrimp catches fish for the seasoned angler who might be sight casting at a number of species or the novice anglers as well as kids. The key here is to pop the cork loudly and get attention .The Trout aren’t the only specie that responds Tarpon, Redfish, Snook, Jacks, Snappers and Ladyfish eat it like it’s a live Shrimp. The Tarpon are biting, if your goal is to catch one we can do it on artificial lures, fly rod or bait. Spring is here; all the species will be taking up residence back on the flats full time, which allows us to sight fish. Artificial lures and sight fishing is the most Satisfying feeling you can achieve while fishing in shallow water. If this appeals to you give me a call at (305) 333-8149 and “lets go catchen” Capt Jimbo Select another page || Go to Home Page

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