May 2007

Things are getting Hot! May 2007 Miami Beach The weather pattern is starting to get very stable the winds are generally staying out of an eastern quadrant, this in turn make the fishing more predictable. This season has been a little bit late but for the most part we have fish in all the areas I fish! The late afternoon Tarpon fishing out of Government Cut has been “red hot” with some Permit thrown in as well. Once the sun goes down the Snook bite in the Cut turns on too! Biscayne Bay The Bonefish and Permit down in south Biscayne Bay has been very good with plenty of fish on the flats, the water temperatures are cool enough still to stay out all day and find fish. I‘ve already heard of some early season Tarpon moving south on the outside of the ocean side flats. Flamingo The Snook fishing has been fantastic, there have been plenty of Snook in the 25 to 28 inch category, I have my clients throwing Twitch n Raps for them. This lure works really good in water from ½ to 2 feet water and everything eats it. I can’t tell you how many “slams” we get using that lure, its my go to lure. The summer time Snook will get out on the coast chasing minnows and pilchards, this is when you get into the big numbers of released Snook. While out there several other things can happen, the Tarpon will be free jumping and it is very hard not to go try for one “I dare you”. One of the most fun and challenging fish are the Triple Tails on the Crab buoys, they will eat but its up to the angler to make the proper cast. Sometimes you only have a matter of inches between the buoy and the fish and it takes a couple tries. Once your hooked up the fun begins the fish make incredible runs and jump as well, and the best part they eat great! I don’t want to leave out the Redfish up on the shallow flats; the Reds don’t mind the warm water of the afternoons and will lay up in water less than a foot deep. I have always maintained the best months for Flamingo are May thru October; this is agreat time for small Tarpon and I check on them every trip. I never met anyone who didn’t like to catch a Tarpon. 050507 Today, I am in Government Cut and the Tarpon are everywhere! As most Tarpon anglers know that don’t really mean anything. I have Pete and his son Pete and I’m sorry but forgot the third persons name. The busy sat morning cut traffic makes it tough but we managed some good drifts with no bites. After an hour and the boat traffic getting worse we ran inside and went Trout fishing. The bite was good the trio manage around 30 Trout up to a really big 5 lb Trout with plenty of 2 1/2 to 3lb fish in the mix. They also had a decent size Jacks and Mangrove Snapper. They had to be back at the dock early because they were going to have what I call the “Ultimate Male Day” fish, golf and maybe a few cocktails at the end. That’s what living in South Florida is about. 050707 This big low off off Georgia has stirred things up a bit the last few days and not really in a good way. The winds Monday night were around 25-35 knots and it was not possible to fish in that so i had to cancel my Tarpon trip, the mouth of Government cut was 10 - 12 feet that's not much fun. 050907 Today I am fishing with Chris, Mike and Dan all play for the Miami Dolphins we are fishing at Flamingo. I knew the conditions were going to get worse in the afternoon so we tried to take advantage early while it wasn't to windy. The first spot we pulled up to was very promising; we saw rolling Tarpon and there were some pops on the shore line. The tide was incoming very hard with a s.w. wind pushing in a little extra water, this enable me top get the Pathfinder 22 into an shallow area I normally can't get into. I had them throwing Twitch n Raps and Gulp jerk baits my favorite lures right now with all that was going on no bites after an hour, time to move on. The next spot wasn't much better! I can only guess the falling barometer and the hard s.w. winds shut them down, but we kept fishing. The guys were relentless they cast and cast with very little to show for it, I finally decide to just go cast Trout, Jacks and Lady fish for some action. I know its a long drive not to get some bites, everyone always filled with anticipation of a big bite. Perseverance is the key to fishing on a tough day, don't quite keep fishing! Chris said to me "it's time to think out of the box". This is what we did tried a couple places I hadn't been to in a while but were protected from the west wind. I have a lot of confidence in the Twitch n Rap. I always think someone should be casting one it draws a reaction bite which is what happened to Mike. He was casting to the pot holes on the channel edge and all of a sudden his drag is screaming and he has about a 10-12 lb. Snook in the air. The fish eventually threw the hook but perseverance paid off. The trout ad lady fish responded well in that spot with a couple nice Jacks thrown in. We did fish some mudding rays, but as the day went they had nothing on there backs. The guys fished hard and were tired but said this was definitely better than a day of training camp.051107 The conditions have been tough this week, west winds caused by the sub-tropical low off the coast off Georgia have not made it easy. The fires north and west of us has brought in a haze that has mad sight fishing very tough to do, with that being said we have managed a couple fish. Today I am fishing with Carlos, he bought a Pathfinder 22 and wanted to learn how to fish south Biscayne Bay. We started out on the west side with a big Cuda eating his lure, it was a great hit with a couple long runs but we were actually fishing for Snook and looking for Bonefish. We did see one individual tail and then a big school but no takers! It was dark all morning no visibility at all we ran out to Ceasars Bank and fished some light bottom. It didn't take long and we had a Permit cruising on the back of a Eagle Ray. Carlos cast the Crab in front of the Ray and the Permit bolted off the Ray and hit it. Carlos made the mistake of setting the hook and pulling the bait away from the Permit but the Permit wanted it bad; it chased it hitting it again. The line came tight and Carlos did his big Bass hook set and pulled the hook after the permit crushed the crab and started taking line. This is a no-no. just start winding the fish is going to run hard and fast enough to set the hook. We were having a really hard time seeing and the fish would just pop up on us. Carlos made some cast at some big lemon Sharks that just refused to play. I showed him a couple other ways to save the day and he ended up catching some Mutton Snappers, Jacks, Ladyfish and Cuda's. I know he dropped me off and went back out trying for a Snook. 051207 I'm fishing with Rick and Kathy from San Diego today and tomorrow, today we are at Flamingo. The wind is down, I told them we really need to take advantage of the early calm. The first spot we went to was very active, fish were busting baits, tarpon were rolling and there were wakes on the surface. I don't know what more to ask for! I rigged Twitch n Raps and explained how we were going to work the area. The tide was just starting come in and the baits were getting beat up. It didn't take long and Kathy was hooked up she had a nice Snook peeling some line off the reel and then making a jump. Kathy brought the 26 3/4" Snook boat side where I landed it, we snapped a couple photos of her first Snook and released it. Rick answered back with a couple Redfish and then Kathy was at it again; this fish it zippin line of the reel but ran to open water. That's not really how Snook do it. I thought it was a big Redfish as it made its third long run. The fish finally decided to show itself with a jump, it was a very nice Snook! Kathy got it along side the boat where I lipped it with the Boga-grip and brought it aboard. Kathy was excited and so was Rick this is what they had came for. They do a lot of freshwater fishing at home but wanted to try our back country fishing. The tide came in and the west winds kicked up, this caused the water to muddy up and get rough where we were at. The rest of the day we just targeted everything we could Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Catfish and spent the rest of the day Shark fishing. 051307 This morning I'm with Rick and Kathy again, we are fishing the south side of Government Cut. The wind is down, its calm and the Tarpon are rolling everywhere! I rigged a couple Crabs and started our first drift. I gave them both a Twitch n Rap to cast while we were drifting, there were 5 other boats out and no one hooked up, this means they just are eating. I told them persistence will pay off all the other boats left and they kept casting. Kathy say she's hooked up the fish is staying down and pulling hard, her fish ate the Twitch n Rap. This lure is supposed to be for shallow water were are in 20 feet. The fish ran and will not come up Kathy put the heat to it for 20 minutes and finally had to let Rick take over, now he's in the hot seat. The fish finally came up and let us know he in fact was "the silver king". The Tarpon made his way to the inlet and did the "down and dirty" Rick fought the fish keeping pressure on it. Here's were it went bad; a freighter was in bound into the inlet and it was moving pretty fast. As the freighter was next to us the Tarpon made this incredible run and leep in to the wake that was coming off the bow of the ship. There was nothing we could do but watch in amazement, we had no room to work and the Tarpon knew it. That is a tough way to lose a fish after 45 minutes but it was so cool. We went back and tried to for another Tarpon but they were shut down so we made our way down to south Biscayne bay. Sundays on Biscayne Bay are ridiculous, the boat traffic and lack of courtesy is incredible. This made for a tough the rest of day. A parade of big boats running by us on the edge of a flat actually knocked Rick into the water. We hooked a Shark and saw a Bonefish but the tide was low we tried several things but there wasn't a lot going on. I ran back to Government Cut area but it was just to busy. We ended up in the bay Trout fishing until it was time to go. 051307 I dropped off Rick and Kathy and my evening guys were there early. Gary and Brian jumped in and we were back to Government Cut. I told them because it was still early and with the boat traffic it might take a while for the Tarpon to feed. I was wrong! On our second drift right around 5 o'clock Gary's reel was screaming and at the end was a 120 lbs of jumping Tarpon. The Tarpon landed on the line breaking it. We set up again and made another drift, at 551 pm the line started peeling off again. Gary picks up the rod and the fish is staying down, this normally means "BIG", after 25 minutes the Tarpon showed itself as it was trying to make its way to the inlet. The Tarpon half way rolled so we could only guess how big it was. The Tarpon finally made its way into the inlet and this time a cruise ship was on it way out, not a problem! The Tarpon pulled and swam across the current to the north side, we attempted to force him up over the ledge until the ship passed. This didn't happen the cruise ship was only about a 100 yards inside of us and the Tarpon ran straight across and back to the south side. The Tarpon leaped showing us how far away it was. I told Gory to hold on and start cranking as I ran in front of the cruise ship than was kicking up a 3 foot wave. I could only imagine was the people on the deck were thinking as I cut across the cut within 50 yards of his bow, this was not very smart. The Tarpon jumped in front of all the people on the cruise ship letting them know why we did what we did. This Tarpon made one last attempt to go under the ship as it made it way past us. I held the boat in reverse as Gary pulled as hard as he could to the cheers of hundreds on the deck of the ship. The Tarpon didn't make it under and we are back at it. It's about 45 minutes in to the fight and the Tarpon has made it's way into the cut along the north jetty. There was about 15 guys fishing on the rocks watching us fight this fish. The Tarpon finally made a jump where we got a good look at it. Gary has done a lot of fishing in his day and I have seen quite a few Tarpon and we agreed this was a very large Tarpon, over 160 lbs. There was a crowd gathering a police boat, tow boat, tug boat and the pilot boat were all watching. Gary was intent on landing this Tarpon and kept the pressure on. The Tarpon made one last jump before running down the ledge and cutting us off. I didn't see who yelled it but someone said that Tarpon looked like 180 lbs. I agreed this the second biggest Tarpon ever hooked on my boat. The weather changed and the winds switched and the bite shut off. We gave it another hour with no more bites so we called it a night. 051907 Today could of been one of my best days ever at Flamingo, I'm fishing with Randy and Melissa Morton from Dallas. We started out fishing some flats that were loaded with Finger mullet, for the most part they just moved into the area in big numbers. The predators weren't far behind the mullet, they were lying in ambush in the potholes as the tide fell of the flats. Randy caught his first Snook, then Melissa caught a 24 inch Redfish. This was one of those days that every cast produced a fish. Randy had a nice hit and it flopped around a little different than anything we had been catching. The fish finally showed itself and it was a nice Tripletail around 5 lbs. the Trout were big and we caught plenty of them, but the interesting thing was we caught 6 Trout between 4 and 5 1/2 lbs. This is not a normal trout bite but the big ones were in the finger mullet schools like every thing else. The Tarpon would roll in the area once in a while and we would cast but no takers. I looked at my clock and it said 1230 pm man time flew by! Randy already a slam Trout, Redfish and Snook. I said lets go find a Tarpon! I ran to an area that's a good summer time Spot for Snook and Tarpon. When we arrived the water was really clear and I almost left until we saw a big Snook smash a bait school. Randy eventually caught that Snook. I kept poling down the edge and the water turned a little bit dirtier. There was a stretch where the Snook, Redfish, Trout and Tarpon where stacked up. This is no B.S. between 2 pm and 430 pm a fish was hooked or caught on every cast. Melissa made 7 cast in a row where she caught fish, a 5-Snook a 24-inch Trout and a 27 inch Redfish which is a slam. To top it off she caught 4 more Snook after that, she missed one her next cast then had 5 more fish in 5 cast. That's phenomenal! Randy is Busy catching his Tarpon at this point and accomplishing his "Grand Slam". There weren't to many cast in the 2 1/2 hrs that we didn't get hit, I think we had 40 Snook a few Redfish and couple monster Trout. Here's the way we decided to leave, I suggested the first time all 3 of us cast and don't get hit we would leave. The amazing thing today was; they only cast Twitch and raps, 10 species on 1 lure. We finally had to leave otherwise we might still be there! This was a special day with great people. 052107 Sometimes having great day fishing leaves you with high expectations for the next trip, I was really hoping for half the day I had on Saturday. Today I’m with Tommy and his buddy was a no show so he had the boat to himself. I started out fishing a bank with some really nice potholes that were loaded with finger Mullet working up to the shoreline .We were casting the famous Twitch n rap that I’m so very big on. Tommy likes to change his lures a lot and he went to a top water plug, which got hammered by a big Snook some how it missed the hooks. I convinced him to go back to the Twitch and rap and the catching wasn’t far behind. A nice 30 lb Tarpon ate it, Tommy fought the fish around the boat and as I was getting ready to net it threw the plug. It didn’t take long and Tommy had another Tarpon on the end of his line peeling drag, jumping Tarpon do like to throw the plug. Tommy wasn’t done he had another Tarpon hook up with the fish finally next to the boat and again the plug came loose; for the third time. The wind had picked up pretty good and the tide dropped making the fish move farther of the bank where we could target the potholes a little better. Tommy finally had some luck; he caught 5 Snook a Redfish and a Trout. I said let’s go back and work the area again, he caught a small Snook and then had the hit of the day. We never saw the fish but between the hit and the run we knew it was very big and again the plug came loose. The wind really got bad and the bite slowed although we did see some really big Snook lying in the potholes as we poled over them. It was late and we called it a day. 052707- I am fishing Flamingo today with Kevin, Melissa and Sal. The conditions this morning are nice not to windy yet, so I told them we had to take advantage of it. I ran to the same area I have been fishing that's been holding the schools of finger mullet, plus it is blocked from a east wind. The tide was low and conditions were right for fishing the potholes but we had very few bites. Kevin and Sal threw a top water plug at a few Sharks that's were cruising the shallows but the Sharks were spooky. Kevin caught a Trout on the Twitch n Rap, if they are not eating that lure they are not eating! We made our way to a deep pothole, I explained the lay out of the area. Kevin made a long cast with the Twitch n Rap and got slammed, but the fish didn't come up. He kept the pressure on the fish and a big Mangrove Snapper finally appeared. They trio of anglers caught 14 Snappers and a couple nice Barracuda's out of that hole all the fish came on the Twitch n Rap. The largest Snapper was close to 16 inches. The fun part was on hit we didn't know if it was a Snook or Snapper that how violent the strikes were. Melissa had a big bite on a Gulp jerk bait the fish ran long and often, it was a lot of fun for her. The fish finally let go of the bait, she may have given it a little to much slack. Melissa is new to fishing and it something she probably will remember. Kevin had a couple real nice strikes, but by now the wind was solid 20-30 mph really gusting and was putting a big bow in the line making it hard to get tight on the fish. the day was beautiful but the wind made it really difficult to find fish even the Sharks didn't want to play. 053107 The wind is tough again today, so I'll do as I have done a lot lately find a lee side and work the potholes,troughs and the edges of the flats. I am fishing with Alexis and Paul from Russia and they just want the rods to bend. It don't really matter whats on the end of the line as long as it fights. Alexis caught a small Snook fairly quick and then we had a double which both somehow came off. These guys are impatient if there not catching let's move! We ran to Cape Sable and worked the beaches 1 Snook and a bunch of Jack Crevalles and a small Shark. I put the Jacks in the live well and went offshore with Paul; leaving Alexis fishing on the beach. Paul wanted a big Shark and it didn't take long. I had butterflied the Jack and floated him off in the current the wind was blowing 20-30 mph and was against the tide. These were not calm conditions but it was a blast fighting these 100-150lb Sharks with the elements against us. We would jig up some Jacks while drifting and then use them for bait "recycling". The ride back was nasty Im really glad I was in the Pathfinder 22. This was one of those days where the pressure was dropping because of a Tropical storm Barry, everyone at the dock seemed to catch If I can help with your fishing dreams give me call at 305 333-8149, there are some great options this month and plenty of fish to be caught. Let’s go Catch’em Capt. Jimbo Select another page || Go to Home Page

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