January 2007

Happy New Year I am hoping to have another adventurous year; I hope your plans include a little adventure as well, if it does let me help you catch the fish of your dream's. Here's to a safe and Happy New Year. 010107 The Tarpon are in! The big ones are in the back country of Everglades National Park down at Flamingo These fish eat Flies lures and live bait. Closer to Miami Beach the Tarpon are already stacked up around Government Cut and on the shores of South Beach. There are a few to the north end of the county at Haulover Inlet as well. The January 3rd full moon should spark a great shrimp run causing the Tarpon to feed. There are plenty of species around this month but the Tarpon is the "best bet". The beginning of the year is windy! I have been working around the wind getting on the lee side of islands, which helps battle, the winds in excess of 20 mph. the warmer than normal temperatures have the fish spread out not our normal January type of pattern. The warmer water has moved the back country Tarpon into Whitewater Bay and they are eating lures and flies. This fishery will get better in upcoming weeks. The Tarpon are on Miami Beach and Government Cut and again with time it will get more consistent. The evenings have been producing Tarpon, Jacks and Permit. 010507 William and Autumn were in town for the Orange Bowl Game; William is a avid angler and hunter wanted to sight fish at Flamingo. We started out on some small Tarpon and only managed a few Trout. The day started out with some squall’s then the wind kicked up making this day extremely tough. The wind was 20-30 mph but we continued to pole and search for fish on the edge of the very shallow flats. William did hook a really big Snook that exploded on a Twitchin Rap. The Full Moon seemed to have an effect on fishing the last couple of days, the by catch of Ladyfish,Trout, Jacks and Snappers have not been there. I poled the boat really shallow and found some big Lemon Sharks. William wanted to catch one so I rigged up a top-water plug for two reasons, 1 is distance and the other is to work it in front of the Sharks face. This normally results in a hook up and a very long run. This is how tough the day was we were all set up and the Sharks disappeared. The weather was just terrible, we stuck it out but this was the toughest day I have had in a long time. 010607 I set up a trip for Dennis Straily and his sales associates, he needed 3 boats, so I along with two other captains took them out and tried to have a better day than the day before. Today I decided to go for the back country Tarpon with Danny, a couple of other guys didn't want to make the trip so he had the boat to himself. The winds were up again, but the Tarpon were there so we started casting plugs at them. I had a buddy out there and he said only 1 Tarpon had been jumped so far. I needed to produce to just for my own sanity, so I told Danny lets go catch some Ladyfish for bait. We hooked a couple Ladyfish reel quick and ran back to the Tarpon grounds. I rigged a Ladyfish and put it out on a 20 lb. outfit, the bait wasn't in the water 3 minutes when we heard an explosion. The rod doubled over and the fight was on the fish never jumped and kept peeling line off the reel. I told Danny that’s going to be a nice Shark, 20 minutes later we landed the 40 lb Bull Shark. We continued this pattern for 4 hours while casting at the Tarpon, Danny had 2 Tarpon strike his lure. These strikes bring a smile to any grown mans face; they are incredible. Danny ended up catching 4 Sharks up to 70 lbs and a couple cut offs. We tried to catch a Redfish or Snook on the way in Danny had one bite but it let go. Danny, Dennis, Billy and the rest of the group were very happy about their respective days. 010807 My anglers today are Gene, Vinny and Chris we started out with the Tarpon in Whitewater Bay. It wasn't long after we arrived in the area the show started when I heard a loud explosion; Vinny was yelling that's incredible, a very large Tarpon had just broke the surface by about 6 feet. I was in the process of explaining what to look for when this Tarpon showed them what I meant! I gave a quick casting lesson and we got to work, the Tarpon were rolling all around us so everyone was filled with anticipation. Vinny was throwing a Pink Bomber and had a follow up, the Tarpon just ran out of space. He tried to eat the lure as Vinny was pulling it out of the water. I explained to them there's a lot of casting involved, i said just keep casting! Chris had a similar follow up and then Gene hooked up; this fish was screaming line of the reel but would not jump, after about 20 minutes we go the fish boat side and it was a 60 lb Bull Shark. The Bull Shark ate his Bomber plug, Gene was excited this was his first fish ever. We took some photos and let it go. The winds picked up and the Tarpon laid down so off to another area but the approaching cold front had the winds cranking. It was time to just catch some fish, we went to the Shark River area where the guys had a blast. The list of fish caught includes Mackerel to 5 lbs. , Black Grouper, Gag Grouper, Goliath Grouper, Jacks, Trout and Ladyfish. We kept some of the small Ladyfish and went Shark fishing, we ended up with 3 more Bull Sharks up to 70 lbs. It was time to go and the guys were worn out, that's how I like to end the days! 011507 Rob, Casey and Kurt wanted to catch Tarpon they had been to Flamingo a few times on there on and only managed to catch some Trout. The last week had been warm and windy but this morning was unusually cool and it worried me on the ride to the Tarpon spot. The water was calm but the Tarpon were not around we spent an hour and a half blind casting for them and never saw one. I asked if anyone was interested in catching Snook,everyone agreed Snook it is! It didn't take long and Rob caught a small one then it was Kurt turn, mean while Casey couldn't get a bite. There were some Tarpon in the area but we couldn't get them to bite, we got back to catching Snook. Rob seemed to have the hot hand catching 4 or 5 small to medium Snook then Kurt Hooked a nice 31 inch Snook which put up a great fight. Kurt then hooked a 20 inch Redfish, right about then the tide started coming in and the bite slowed down. I decide it was time to try another area we ran to the mouth of the Harney River but conditions were not good, we spotted some bait schools and I netted about 50 Threadfin Herring. I knew exactly where I needed to go and ran to Middle Cape Canal. I think we had a bite within the first couple baits cast, Kurt caught another keeper size Snook around 28 inches. Casey was feeling left out but she finally got a nice one about 27 inches, and then with two baits left Rob caught a respectable size Snook of about 26 inches. The weather was really getting bad and we headed for the dock. Although we started out for Tarpon we adjusted and had a great day. 011607 This was the day of 2 Bills, both guys were named Bill. The winds finally came down enough that we can fish off of South Beach. The Tarpon are definitely there but we only managed to get one bite this morning about a 90 lb jumper. The fish ate a Blue Crab drifted behind the boat. We had 2 nice runs then a jump and then did what Tarpon do; shook his head and threw the circle hook. We drifted shrimp and crabs and cast plugs at them, these Tarpon had lockjaw. The rest of the day I tried every possible area and technique I know to catch them with no luck at all. The 2 Bills caught some Snappers, Jacks, Blue Runners and Trout. I'm Tarpon fishing the rest of the week hopefully tomorrow will produce a few Tarpon. 011707 This evenings anglers are Irwin and Ken, Tarpon is the Specie we are looking for. We started tonight out just south off of Haulover Inlet. There was a big weather system to the north so we kept an eye on it. We started out with 2 rods with jumbo live Shrimp. The small Mackerels were stealing the shrimp so I rigged up 1 Crab rod. The Crab was hit very hard but the fish missed the hook somehow. We continued to watch the storm move out and south when I heard some whistling noises from behind our boat; I looked up and saw a huge water spout coming at us. I told the guys hold on we have to get out of here, I fired up the engine and with lines in the water sped away. I ran down to the inlet and we sat and watched the funnel. The wind seemed to kick up right after that so we ran inside the bay. we tried a few spots but the Tarpon had no intentions of eating. It was getting cold and we called it a night. 011807 Today's trip is a group charter 12 boats in all, as the group arrived I saw 2 guys with a 12 pack of Corona. I walked up and said lets go your with me, knowing they were just looking for a fun day on the water. On our first stop the Tarpon were rolling and we tried a few different baits and techniques; we managed a few nice Jacks, Blue Runners, Snappers and Cudas. The weather today was high 80's and really hot. This was a short trip they drank all their beer and were happy with the results. 011807 I'm fishing with Bill Johnson again its his last night in town, we fished on Tuesday with one nice Tarpon hook up. He has his work buddy Jamie out tonight. I was hoping for a banner night, but it started out slow on the shores of South Beach. The fish were not active so this had me worried, sometimes seeing them and knowing they are there gives you the confidence to stick it out. Saying that I along with another Captain moved to the south side of the inlet where he hooked up right away, this is what brings confidence. We heard over the VHF radio the bite was good up at Haulover Inlet from another captain;so I knew it was a matter of time. We were drifting and talking when the drag started to scream, this is what we had been waiting for. The Tarpon pulled 30 yards and then made a complete somersault 6 feet in the air. Jamie was going nuts (screaming) as Bill grabbed the rod, we cleared the other rod and got situated to fight the fish. The Tarpon made a second jump and started running towards the inlet we followed him closely but he managed to cut across the rocks on the tip of the jetty and cut us off. The Tarpon's first jump will leave a lasting impression in all of our memory banks for a long time, it' an awesome sight to see 150 lbs make a jump like that. The had to be at the airport early so we called it a night. 011907 Today's trip back to the shores of South Beach for more tries at the "Almighty Tarpon". Gene, Vladimir and another guys name I cant pronounce. A cold front came through over night and sometimes that will spark up the bite. We started out on our first drift and put out the jumbo shrimp. The only problem today is the surface action, Mackerels and Blue runners are chasing Pilchard schools with the birds dive bombing on them. This made it hard because they kept eating our Tarpon baits. The Tarpon were rolling everywhere around us; so I rigged up some jig and Gulp Shrimp for the guys. It didn't take long and they caught a bunch of nice Mackerels, Blue runners, Jacks, and Snappers. I decided to try the south side of the inlet but it was quiet as well. These guys were good anglers so I took them inside the inlet to see if we could jig up some action. It didn't take long and gene was hooked up and it was really pulling, the suspense was great! gene finally got the fish up and it was a 20 inch 3 lb red Grouper. This fish on fairly light tackle was a fight, next it was Vladimir's turn another Red Grouper a little smaller but a great fight. It wasn't over yet; the third guy was hooked up and he had the biggest one of the morning, 23 1/2 inches and 6 lbs. The amazing thing is we were using Gulp Shrimp, not bait! The Groupers snappers and Goliath Grouper love the scent of the Gulp Baits. The reason I like using them is the small fish will steal your Shrimp quickly, but not the Gulp! In turn the more bottom time for the bait results in more fish hooked up, this is just common sense! We ended the day early and will meet tomorrow morning at Flamingo. 012007 We got a late start today around 8:35 am. The weather today is absolutely beautiful and the place is packed! I started Gene and Vlad in a great little spot the Snook we there but no takers. We worked it hard and did not produce a bite. Today is one of those day's, we fished good spots but the fish didn't respond. we caught some bait and went to East Cape Canal this is a high catch percentage place. We put out the baits and waited for the tide to switch, nothing happened for us or the other boats there. We finally had a big bite on a heavy out fit which straightened out Mustad hook. My thought it was a goliath Grouper the way is fighting back and forth but not really running very far. A short time later we ran to another creek, as I anchored up I noticed a bunch of Snook lying in the top of a fallen tree. Gene pitched a bait into the tree and had a big hit, the fish hit it so hard the hook fouled in the bait. Later Vlad caught a pretty nice Trout 23 inches. The day wasn't without it share of problems Genes glasses blew off as we were running and made him visibly upset. I understand having had that happen on more than one occasion. We called it a day.012407 This afternoon I am fishing with Steve and Vicky. They wanted to bend a rod and do littler sight seeing. The conditions were breezy so we stayed inside the bay. We caught some small Trout by the monument and then ran to the north end of Biscayne bay looking for a few more species. They caught some more Trout Steve had one nice Mackerel hit a peel of some line. we ended up by the "old stilt pilings" where they ended up with a few nice keeper Trout. 012607 I'm with bob,Tommy and Mike today, we had a cold front come thru over night and it was 53 degrees when I left my house. I along with other guides like these conditions because it stacks the fish up in deeper holes. Before our first stop they got the bets and the rules for the day straight, 5-5-5 for big fish, most fish, and most species. It didn't take long and Bob had the first Redfish; let the smack talking begin! Tommy was next with a Redfish and he started ,Mike was on the receiving end. Bob caught another Redfish no he's the leader and let's them know. this battle was all day after every fish. We moved to a small tidal creek casting Berkley Gulp Shrimp. Mike had several bites and we switched out to a live jumbo shrimp it produced almost immediately. Mike is finally on the board as Tommy hooks another Red. The "smack talk" of who is the best is "on". Mike is hooked up again and this time it's a Snook, Bob caught a Snook almost as soon as we released Mike's. The battle is on but we have to move because the tide is falling and we don't want to get stuck. We made a run to another creek which had a shallow entry as well but we got in, Bob caught 2 Goliath Groupers on this spot. We ran around to the open gulf looking for some current the tide had gone slack. Bob was at it again with another Redfish, he was starting to count his money! The tide started to move, we headed to East Cape Canal this is the spot in cold weather! Bob hooks another Snook, but I noticed another boat was getting some bites so I repositioned the boat. It wasn't long after Bob has a big fish and it is peeling line; the fish swam into a bush we started to pull the anchor. The big Snook swam out and came to the surface showing herself to us. Bob fought the fish perfectly and we landed the Snook which was 32 inches and 9 lbs. Have I mentioned anything about "Smack Talk" yet! Bob was really a head now on all the bets, but it's Mikes turn he's hooked up now and it another great fight after 5 minutes a back and forth Mikes hauls in a 8 lb Black Drum. The Drum was not long enough the over take Bob's Snook! It was getting late the guys were beat and we called it a day, a great day, it was truly an enjoyable trip for all. 012707 Tony flew in today and we met at the dock around 1 p.m.. We were going to try for Bonefish, the water temps are cold and I wasn't sure if they would be around. We poled around the flats, nothing but Sharks up there, so we took advantage and made some cast at them. I explained to Tony most people wouldn't believe a Shark would refuse to eat like they did but the water temps make them lethargic. Tony cast a one Black Tip Shark 10 times and he looked for it and tried to get excited but refused to eat it. Tony cast at 10 Sharks all had the same response not interested. We ran around tried some other spots but no luck. I told Tony let's go to the back of the marina I have a couple spots that will produce plus the basin it always full of Ladyfish. As we were working our way to the back Tony hooked a 3 lb. Ladyfish on a X Rap and it was fighting pretty good, it took about 5 minutes to land the fish. As I was reaching for the fish something big came up and tried to hit it and it took off, Tony tried to lift the Ladyfish into the boat and this monster Snook came up and ate it, remember the fish ate the X Rap. Now the snook has everything in his mouth and made this awesome run under the boat then to the rear, then around it jumping once she bolts for the mangroves. The Snook is under the branch thrashing on the other side of it, this is usually the end in most Snook fights. The fish was so big she broke the branch and took off again, now floating on the surface from exhaustion! I had the Boga grip and I was getting ready to grab the Monster Snook, the biggest ever hooked on my boat when the plug fell out. I can tell you I was satisfied and I really think Tony was too. We would of liked to get a picture of that monster but we will always have in our memory banks. Just for info a 3 lb Ladyfish is about 26 inches long! 01300 This afternoon I fished with Fred and Dave, this was a middle of the day trip so we just went out and tried to bend the rods until it was time to fish for Tarpon. We fished Government Cut from the inside all the way out to the range markers. I had the pair of anglers fish Gulp Shrimp on 1 once jigs, you get a lot more bites using live shrimp but you catch more fish using Gulps! Fred caught a Trumpet fish, this has to be the most unusual fish ever caught on my boat on a Gulp. We spent the afternoon bouncing the jigs off the bottom here's a list of the species hey caught Kingfish, Lane Snapper 2 lbs, Yellow Tail, and Blue Runners. The air was getting colder and the sun was setting so we set up our first drift for Tarpon. 013007 The first drift was in front of South Beach the Super Bowl Parties are just kicking off for the night, loud music and big crowds are on the beach as we try for Tarpon. Our first drift cover a lot of water and no fish caught or scene. I moved to the south side of the inlet and started our second drift, the fish showed up around 6 p.m.. We made on more drift thru the Tarpon with no bites, the tide was just starting to fall out and conditions looked to be getting right. The only problem with this is Fred and Dave had a business meeting and had to leave, I dropped them of at Smith and Walinsk'y which is on the inlet. I bet they told some stories at dinner about how they had been fishing right across from there all afternoon. This weeks Full Moon and cold front should spark a Shrimp run which in turn should turn on the Tarpon. Super Bowl XLI is here this week, I still have a couple days and evenings open. If catching something big is your wish give me a call at 305-333-8149 This is a great time for Tarpon, if this is an obsession like it is with me or you would just like to see what its like to fight giant a giant pre-historic fish me give me a call on my cell 305-333-8149. Let's go Catch' em, Thanks, Capt.Jimbo www.CaughtLookinCharters.com 305 333 8149 Select another page || Go to Home Page

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