February 2007

Almost a winter 020107 I fished with Glen from Toronto today. We woke up to some strong winds today; but with the incoming tide I knew we could fish Government cut until the tide switched to outgoing. It was a little sporty but Glen fishes the big water up north and has his sea legs.The shrimp had ran pretty good during the night a good sign of that was the Tarpon were making there way out of the bay and back to the inlet and onto beach. We stayed on them dropping a jig and 4 inch Gulp Shrimp all the way to the tip of the jetty. Glen had 1 big hook up which ran across the ledge and broke us off, we could only guess to what is was. Glen just wanted to time outdoors since it was 20 degrees in Toronto were he would by this evening. We gad a nice day he caught Barracuda's and Trout in 25 to 30 mph winds while never complaining about the wind. 020207 Today we are doing a large corporate group of 6 boat down at Flamingo, before we left the dock they all got their box lunches. Why is this important, here's why! The weather was great, the water, air and tides were all perfect, so what the point right. No fish! We continued fishing and all we could come up with is a couple Ladyfish, which we thru in the well for bait. We made our way to East Cape Canal where the fish are usually cooperate. There was a boat in front of us in the group catching a few fish yet we couldn't get a bite, that's when I started looking around the boat we had 7 box lunches and inside "7 BANANAS". 1 banana is bad luck 7 is the kiss of death! I tossed them out and as proven time and time again the fish started to bite. Ian hooked up a giant Goliath Grouper on a live Ladyfish, he fought it for about 5 minutes and then the fish didn't want to play no more and broke him of. I decided to try something else we moved in to a creek that had some water moving in., we used live shrimp on the bottom here we caught 4 Redfish and 2 Snook and then we hooked a large Shark. The day was short and sweet once we got rid of the "Bananas". 020307 I met Bill, his grandson Reed, Chris and his son Jordan at Flamingo this morning. This is a day none of us will ever forget! Today's weather is beautiful, the sun is out and clear skies, which allowed us to see some dorsal fins on the surface a couple hundred yards away. I thought at first they were Tarpon, as we got closer it was obvious it was a big Shark. I rigged a swim bait lure up and gave it to Chris, we followed the Shark around on the flat we were in 1 foot of water. The Shark was awesome it was cruising but I couldn't figure out what type of Shark it was. It had a blunt dorsal and a very large tail, finally the shark swam next to the boat it was a "Tiger Shark". This is not a common site on the flats of Flamingo it's only the second one ever I've seen. Chris is ready with his lure and as the Tiger Shark approached he made his cast, he turn and hit the lure as quickly as anything I have ever seen cutting it in half. I rigged a second rod with a 8 inch Chartreuse Bomber plug, the big shark was still prowling the flat not bother by us. we followed this monster for 25 minutes. Chris cast the plug in front I told him to let it sit in his path, the Shark approached I told him twitch it. "FISH ON" this was coolest sight casting I have ever been involved with. The Shark made a short run in front of the boat that's when we noticed the plug was in his dorsal, he turned and hit it so hard it must of went by him into the dorsal. Either way are hooked up to 9 feet of Tiger Shark, Chris fought it for about and 1 1/2 hours getting it to the boat twice. This is where quality tackle came into play a Biscayne Rod, Okuma Reel with 20 lb Fireline Crystal. I only got 1 photo I hope Bill's turned out. The shark pulled us out to the basin into deeper water , I told Chris he was going to have to put as much pressure as possible other wise we would be here all day, because of the way he was hooked. the Shark finally hit the line with his tail breaking us of. The rest of the day would seem mild compare to the Tiger Shark, Reed caught a 28 inch Snook, Jordan, Bill and Chris caught numerous Reds and smaller Snook. Reed and Jordan fought several Sharks taking turns catching a Bull, Black tip and a few that broke off after the initial run. This trip wasn't over I stumbled across an area loaded with rolling Tarpon, the guys cast and cast catching 50 ladyfish while the Tarpon refused there lures. Chris finally had one come up and follow his lure until it picked up some grass. I said this was a truly memorable day, I know it was for all of us. 020407 I'm at Flamingo with Bob from Chicago today it is raining, windy and just miserable a great day to fish. Today is why Flamingo is a great place to fish, there always somewhere to hide out of the wind. Bob cast Gulps catching some Redfish, Trout, Jack and Ladyfish, I had some live Shrimp and we Power poled down and started catching fish. I stayed basically in the same bay moving from point to point for 8 hours. Bob caught 10 Redfish, 25 Trout, Jacks to 3 lbs, a 150 lbs Bull Shark, a small Spinner Shark, a Black Tip he had a Tarpon hooked up and had a nice Snook. It was none stop almost all day. The back country Tarpon are almost in, a couple days yes and then they disappear until it warms up enough. the winds have been brutal on the Tarpon fishing so far. 020607 This morning I woke up to cold, wind and rain; not a great combination for comfort. I arrived at Flamingo with fellow captain Raul Montoro for a 2 boat trip, the parking lots were empty. The only cars and boats were ours, I told Raul we have the place all to ourselves. We both had fished similar weather on Sunday and had good results. The guys arrived and we got going, I had Jeff and Gary. They come from Boston and are Striper anglers. I stopped in a spot protected from the wind, the Redfish were on the edge of the mud/grass flat edge. The Redfish were obvious but not willing to bite luckily the trout responded well.The strong N.E. wind blew the water off the flats before the actual tide time listing so it was dry longer than normal causing a longer than normal period of slack tide with no current. We need current to catch most fish at Flamingo, Jeff ended up with a really big trout which ate a Gulp Shrimp in a pot hole. Gary managed a few keeper Trout as well. All in all it was a very tough day on the water but we managed to have fun and produce some fish in the worst possible conditions. 020807 I'm with Eddy and Felix for the next 2 days, today we fished Flamingo. Both are serious anglers Eddy being a guide in Connecticut, we started out with a very low incoming tide; so I went in search of Redfish. We got up on Snake Bight and immediately started seeing some movement most of it Sharks. I continued poling my HPX in the very shallow water, the key here is once a fish spooks stop and make some long cast. The fish were blowing out of the potholes like torpedo's this normally means Snook, but could be large Trout as well. We finally got a look and they were definitely Snook, but not interested at all. I kept poling and finally we pushed up a very large heard of Redfish. A few hundred fish Eddy and Felix both hooked up and we caught 2 nice Reds of 28 and 26 inches. The school split up into a bunch of smaller schools and really started moving we followed them around and repeated the process a few more times. We stayed shallow all day finding big fish in most of the areas we fished. I spotted a big Snook lying in a pothole, Felix cast his Gulp Shrimp at him; the Snook swam away but Felix was hooked up! The fish was Shaking his head and made a decent run it looked like it could be a Snook, It was a 24 inch Trout, this is a big fish coming out of 10 inches of water. Eddy had the same experience catching a 22 inch Trout and a couple more Reds. We needed to catch a Snook for the Back country Slam, so we moved to a spot which I know had current running thru it. I staked the boat out and Eddy and Felix cast Gulps at a point, they caught a couple more Redfish and then Felix hooked up. I couldn't see but I heard the splash and I that's a Snook. Felix landed his Snook and had his slam. The tide was about done and so we the guys we'll be back for more tomorrow. 020907 The weather was perfect no wind and clear skies and a little bit on the cool side, we decided we were going to Biscayne Bay for Bonefish. The tide was extremely low and that's what I like, but I was unsure because of the cooler water temperature. I arrived at the flat and it was exposed the way I like it, I explained how the Bonefish would be moving and let's just sit here a minute to see if the bump up. They bumped up alright, right next to the boat, a large Bonefish tailed with in 30 feet. This was unfair the guys were not expecting that and scrambled to make the cast, the Bonefish slowly swam away. I poled after them, but as bonefish do they disappeared into deeper water. We continued on the path they travel, the schools kept coming one after another. Eddy made a great cast at the schools lead fish, the Bonefish swam around it for a while and moved on. This scenario was played out a dozen times with no hook ups. Eddy did catch a really nice Bar Jack which screamed of a bunch of line. It was a short day, Felix wanted Eddy to experience the thrill of Bonefishing. Eddy was thrilled at the amount of fish we saw and understood sometimes the react like that. 021207 Today I am at Flamingo, my anglers are Jimmy and Greg, they are part of a 5 boat company trip. The weather was windy and raining steady. We got up on top of the flats and started poling looking for Redfish. It didn't take long and there was a big tail waiving at us. I held the boat steady into the wind as the guys made their cast, these are tough conditions when you have never done it before. They cast several times each, Greg's line straightened out and I told him just start winding he ate you Gulp! The Redfish fought really hard, when we got him next to the boat we realized why. It was big, the fish measured about 32 inches and was around 9 1/2 lbs. We continued this sight fishing until the tide made us move. The next spot produced again, this time we were casting Gulps at the mud's on the flats. These mud's are caused by Redfish eating on the bottom. Jimmy hooked another big one over 30 inches and then Greg had a couple small ones, the action continued for about an hour. There were 3 boats line across catching decent Reds. This was all done in a driving downpour and plenty of wind. As we were drifting off the flat Greg and Jimmy were freezing but kept casting . Everyone else headed to the Ramp we stayed out about an hour more. It was worth it non stop action with Trout, Bluefish, Ladyfish, Jacks and then Jimmy hooked a Tarpon; this really made the day. 021307 I'm with Jimmy again today, he has the boat all to himself. We started out on the Redfish again this morning. The tide was low and the fish were cruising and tailing pretty good. Jimmy had a couple shots right off the bat but the cast were of a bit, I think the fish was actually taunting him to make a good cast. The big Red would move just as he would cast this went on for 20 minutes, it actually got funny. The skies were black with rain but no wind when all of a sudden there was a crack of lightning, it was very close. It got our attention as well as all the other boats. I told him lets time the lightning flash to the thunder and it will let us know how far away it is. Poling a boat with 22 feet of graphite in your hands is not the smartest thing to do in the lightning, but there were tailing fish. The bigger schools were ahead of us and I attempted to catch them before we died! The lightning cracked again and then thundered right behind it, the flash was within a mile. It was time to go and I wasn't the only one there was a race to the marina. We sat there for 3 hours, the storm finally passed and the sun came out. Jimmy wanted to see some sun while he was in Florida and at least have a little sunburn to show for his days here. He got his wish the sun shined like it's supposed to and he got his sunburn. He managed to hook a really nice Snook on a twitch n rap, we did see plenty of fish but the were shut down. He was sun burned and happy. 021407 Today's trip was of different, 3 boats and the people had no interest in fishing after about a hour. We had a language barrier they spoke only French and we did not. I had Maxim and his wife and 2 daughters, we anchored up and caught a bunch of Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish. After an hour of fishing they asked if we could take them to a beach so they could eat lunch. We did they sat around drank a couple bottles of wine some beers and took a short "Siesta". We took them sight seeing and looking at Porpoises and they called it a day. The Miami Boat Show is here next weekend I don't have any day trips available, but there are a few evenings available for Tarpon. Give me a call at 305 333 8149 if I can be any help. 021607 This morning I am fishing at Flamingo with Stan and Mike from Houston and again the weather is miserable! The conditions are rainy, windy and cold we have had to much of that lately. We have a second boat with there buddies as well. Both anglers fish the Texas coast for regularly for Reds and Trout so we were looking for Snook and Tarpon. The first thing I needed to do was find a protected area and get out of the wind, once there we did have some really nice Tarpon rolling in the area. It wasn't long after we got there Mike was hooked up with a fish screaming drag, the fish pulled drag and then let go. The Tarpon teased us with out ever hitting a lure but continued to roll letting us think they might play. We moved around from one protected spot to another with little results a few Trout, Jack and plenty of Ladyfish. The conditions were right for finding Redfish on the incoming tide, they were there as expected. The fish were actively feeding and mudding; Mike had another big fish hit and peel off drag but after a few minutes the same results, it came off. We ended up with a nice Redfish and a decent size Jack but the others weren't interested. These were very tough conditions, most guys would have left early but they stuck it out. and had a ok day. 021707 This morning I am fishing with Rich, he is an engineer from Yamaha Marine, I along with Capt. Allen Sherman have Yamaha reps on our boats. A cold front came thru over night, it cold; the air is 40 degree's and winds NW at 25-30 mph. Rich is here for the Miami boat show and we were going to try for Tarpon. The water temps on the beach were around 72 degrees which are really tolerable for Tarpon but I think the pressure may have had moved them, either into the inlet or deeper. We gave it a try for 2 hours without seeing a Tarpon, normally I would move into Government Cut but due to boat show traffic doing test runs it was really busy. We ran south to Key Biscayne Looking for Barracudas, Pompano and whatever would bite in these conditions. Rich caught an assortment of Jacks, Cuda's, Mackerel, and Trout not bad on the conditions we had. Feb 19-23-07 This week I am pre-fishing for the FLW Redfish series up in Clearwater. I just cant get away from the cold and wind, it's ice cold and really windy still. The weeks weather did get better and we did catch some Redfish. Day 1 we were on them really good but they would not eat, the tide switched and we caught 2 for 6.13 lbs. we had five other fish but this was our weight. Day 1, we were in good shape 65 teams didn't catch fish so our 6.13 has us in 36 place. Day 2- We decided to got to the same spot, but today they had lock jaw. We stayed there until 11:00 and waited for the tide to come in but it didn't help. We decided to leave and check out a couple docks we found in practice, the one dock had 6 fish and they were perfect. They were not there on day 1 but were there on day 2. I really thought we were going to get lucky, but the wouldn't eat either. We ran to an common area a lot of teams were fishing just trying to get a couple small Redfish for points. The goal is to make the championship as well as win the tournament so catching a fish today would really help us. We found a giant area full of mullet this is were the Redfish travel, we saw a handful and my partner Timmy caught a small one. The fish was a hair short! I kept poling after the mullet school and he kept casting. I saw something move in the school and I cast, I caught a 18 inch fish. I placed him in the live-well and we got back to work we had an hour left. We ran over to a dock where we caught 5 Reds the day before, with 2 being very close to 18 inches, we also spooked out a bunch of better ones. There were 4 or 5 other boats in the area, the docks had been hit hard already. We caught 3 small ones and headed in to the weigh-in. The conditions were tough and we were content with our small fish, we finished 53 rd out of a 125 teams. Last year we got back late on day one and were disqualified and the second day we got skunked. Our results this year will keep us on track for making the championship.This year we are being sponsored by Pelagic, look for the wrapped boats they are really sharp. I am back to fishing here this week, I am waiting for the big Tarpon to show up in the back country of Flamingo any day now. The Tarpon on Miami Beach have finally got on track, the evening bite has been consistent. If your interested in catching Tarpon our just want to enjoy a day on the water catching anything that swims give me a call 305 333 8149. Capt. Jimbo Let's go catch'em Capt. Jimbo www.CaughtLookinCharters.com Cell 305 333 8149 Thanks, Captain Jimbo Select another page || Go to Home Page

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