September 2008

Bait run in full swing Sept. 08 This has been a tough September, for the most part we have been threatened with some kind of Tropical system for the better part of 3 weeks and as Im writing the winds are blowing 20-35 mph from Hurricane Ike. This is a transitional time of year, the water will gradually start to cool and fish get comfortable until the first cold front. Add the bait runs on both coast and things get interesting. The baits started moving into the Ft. Laud/Miami inlets with a little help from Hurricane Hanna. The Mullet schools will pour thru for the next few weeks usually during a Noreaster which brings heavy winds from the Northeast and theres plenty of predators following them. The Tarpon Snook, Jacks, Cuda's, and Sharks will be on a search and destroy mission. This past weekend was my first trip out to fish the bait run and it was fun and entertaining. Flamingo This is the time of year that all the species play Snook,Tarpon and Redfish are the main but there will be Sharks,Tripletails,Goliath Groupers and big Mangrove Snappers. The bait school will be around and this will cause a great feed. 090807 I fished with Read Fasse in North Biscayne Bay, there was bait schools every where Minnows, Pilchards and Mullet. It didn't take long and we were on Tarpon, we jumped 8 and just couldn't keep them hooked up. The Jacks were chasing bait too, there were schools and they were big! We managed to hook a bunch of fish and a couple we couldn't stop. There were Trout, Cudas and Snappers that ate our lures. 091208 I am down in Key Largo for the Herman Lucerne Memorial Tournament, I arrived early in the day and checked out a couple spots that had the mullet pouring thru just for fun. I got into a big school of Jacks terrorizing the mullet in the Adams Waterway, after playing with them and visiting friends I made my way to the captains meeting at Sundowners. I learned my team did not show up and I would be used as the camera boat for the filming of Rick Murphy's Sportsman Adventures. Being on the boat and watching one of the best in the business work was not a bad deal! 091308 We left the dock at 630 am and ran to Flamingo where Rick put his anglers on fish, after about 2 hours of watching his anglers catch fish, Mike his producer /cameraman wanted to catch a few himself. I pulled out a rod and put it in the rod holder, Mike took advantage as he caught 20 or so Snook while they were on a break. Ricks anglers had 51 Snook and a Redfish by 930 am. I couldn't get my 22 Pathfinder into an area where he was going for Tarpon so I waited and made a few cast myself in 45 minutes I had 22 Snook and 1 for 3 on Tarpon. This might have been the best 45 minutes I have ever experienced. We fished around for the other species and although we were filming, Mike caught a lot of fish. Not all was great, on the way back I spun a hub. Being prepared saved the day, I swapped out the hub fitting and we were back on our way. Rick's team was second overall on day 1 with 126 inches. 091408 This morning we ran to the same area early on to upgrade a couple species, The bite was good the finger mullet schools were pouring down the flat and the Snook were absolutely busting them clear out of the water. Rick's anglers had 100 Snook plus Trout ,Reds and 15 Tarpon by 1030 am and improved there Tarpon by 6 inches. Mike said he had enough footage for a whole season and put his camera away and started catching Snook. He got a hit on every cast from either a Snook, Redfish, Trout or Tarpon, the bite was incredible. I tried out a new bait from Berkley called the Hollow Belly swim bait and it got blasted pretty hard by a big Tarpon. I made a few more cast and had a hit on every cast and put it a way. Mike on the other hand was in heaven, he caught his Slam, a Redfish, Snook and Trout and just missed out on a Grand Slam. Mike couldn't keep the Tarpon hooked up but managed to catch 25 Snook. The wind was blowing from the N.E. and blowing the water out so we had to get out. Rick and his anglers went on to look for the remaing species they needed, Mike said he was done take him home. I don't know the results but I'm sure Rick's anglers were close to the top, as for me I watched and learned from the best. 091508 There has been a Northeasterly breeze for the last couple days, that drives in the Mullet school from the north of us and usually the Tarpon, Snook and big Jacks aren't far behind. Monday evening I fished with Paul and in the North Bay and was hoping to catch the falling water somewhere around 930 PM. The water was really high, the wind was blowing and there was a lot of cloud cover. On the full moon you don't want cloud cover the fish don't eat the same. The water level made it tough to get our artificial baits where they need to be, we hit all the spot i like but the water was high and still ripping in. there was not really a good bight so we called it early. 091798 I am fishing with Joel and his dad Savy at Flamingo, We started out with a couple nice Snook just short of being a keepers. There was some surface action which had us hopeful, Joel landed a big Lemon Shark. There has been a good Tarpon/Snook bight to the west of Flamingo so we headed west. The wind picked up at the cape and the water was really stained and dirty, instead of running further north I headed back east. The rest of the day we caught fish but Savy's big Redish at the end of the day was his prize, he had never even seen one. The last bait in the live well was eaten by a huge Bull Shark and Joel pulled on him for 45 minutes before we broke it off boat side. It was hot and Savy said he had enough so we headed in. 091808 I am fishing with John this morning in Key Largo, we started out early and headed to Blackwater Pass. It was supposed to be a 5-10 mph day but it was ell into the 20 mph range. The Snook were there as they popped the mullet schools passing by, we position the boat using the Power Pole. I rigged a couple of lures a Skitter Walk and a Twitch n Rap It took John a few cast to get used to how far braided line cast. It took a while but John got a monster hook up on a twictch n rap and wasn't fast enough to keep the big Snook out of the trees. We got into the Mangroves and lifted, pulled and maneuvered to get this big fish out but as we were pulling on him the line rubbed the roots and broke off. We landed some big Jacks up to 8 lbs and several cuda's as well. We cast at rolling tarpon but couldn't get them to eat. The wind was blowing so we called it at half a day. 091908 I am with Doug and his son Andy today, I netted some finger mullet and figured we were on our way to success, typically when I get the finger mullets like this it spectacular. We started out with a couple missed Snook bites, we had serious falling water plus the wind was driving it out and not letting it come back in. I hit all my falling water spots and it was slow, I was looking for big Snook because that's what Doug wanted. The wind picked up and was blowing hard, again the forecast was for light winds and I did my best to get out of it. I am not really sure of what we caught on this day but at the end of the day we had a giant Tarpon roll on an edge of the flat. I was excited! I grabbed a finger mullet and Andy pitched it out there in its path. Andy is a novice to fishing but got it in front of the Tarpon. The Tarpon was excited as well, chasing the mullet and knocking him out of the water. The mullet got eaten but we weren't hooked up! I pitched another and this was an awesome bite. The Tarpon ate it as it hit the water stripping off 30 yards of line and greyhounding 6 feet into the air, spectacular! We were using a circle hook and the fish tarpon was pulling drag great position to be in, until he jumps again and throws the hook. Andy and Doug were both excited, shortly after that we were hooked up again and Doug had a big Lemon just pulling al kinds of drag. Doug passed the rod to and after a while and Andy continued the fight until we popped him off. We called it off and will be back tomorrow. 092008 I decide to go into Whitewater Bay to only because I have some small Tarpon and Snook spots that could produce in the windy conditions. We got back there and it was absolutely calm and Tarpon were rolling all around us. The lure of choice Powerbait Hollow Belly and the Twitch n Rap. both worked although we landed no fish. Andy managed a few Mangrove snappers in the 12-14 in range while fishing a big fish point. The next spot was our lucky spot finally, Andy hooked up a 20 lb Snook which made an incredible run and jump before jumping in a tree and breaking us off. We worked around to another point and caught several nice Redfish up 24 inches. We kept hitting the points and passes, I had some jumbo live Shrimp in the well which had already produced the Reds and decided It might work for the Snook. I have a little spot between 2 islands which the currents smokes thru. This spot usually hold good numbers of small Snook, just as I said that Doug was hooked up to a very big over sized Snook. I lifted the Power Pole to get between the islands and Doug was sitting there with no fish. The numbers weren't here today but anytime you get two 40 inch fish hooked up its not a bad thing. We were fishing a short day so we headed in. 092108 This morning I am fishing with Steve out of Haulover Marina in North Miami Beach, we are going to chase the Mullet schools and see if when can get hooked up. It didn't take long and we found the Mullet getting busted up by Tarpon and big Jacks. The Jacks hit the top water plugs but we weren't getting hooked up. I ended up netting a handful of Mullet and putting them to work. It didn't take long and a Tarpon was hitting the Mullet like a Seal with a beach ball, the Mullet was in trouble. The Tarpon inhaled him doubled the rod ove and then let him go, couldn't quite figure that one out. I pulled it in and it was scaled a sign he was actually in the Tarpon 's mouth. I rigged anther and it didn't long again the rod doubles over and a fish jump off in the distance, but all we saw was the entry no fish. Steve fought the fish for 20 minutes and finally got him boatside. I wasn't disappointed but kind of in awe, it was a 60 lb Shark. I know they are around but we just don't see many in north Biscayne Bay. we went and played around for some Trout, Jack and Snappers. We dd have a huge school of 20 lb Jacks around the boat. Steve had to catch a plane so we headed in. 092608 I am pre fishing Everglades City for the Romp in the Swamp Tournament tomorrow with friend Capt. Bruce Carlton. The tournament is for the biggest Redfish/Snook in the slot. We started out with a couple quick doubles hook ups on small Snook, this spot is a favorite of mine when the bait is thick. The Reds and Snook both get up around the Oyster Bar in good numbers. Today was no different, the Oyster Bar was out of the water and the tide was starting to flood. The fish were on the sides and behind it all we had to do was throw our Twitch n Raps. We ended up with 20 or so Snook off that bar and I had 3 decent Reds come up on the lure but miss it. This was ok because it possible they will be here tomorrow. We decide to move on, at the next spot we were pleasently suprised with a couple hundred pound Tarpon busting up finger Mullet and throw in some keeper snook that were in on the action. We caught several good Snook and then netted a bunch of those finger mullet for future use. We moved around a little bit then we found the right island that was holding some real good Reds. I pitched a Mullet into a tree that I noticed some big Sheepheads in, Redfish hold with them. I got thumped but missed the fish, I pitched out again and got thumped again. This time it was a 24 inch Redfish, then Bruce had one come up and eat his bait. This was a good fish a 30 inch Redfish around 10 1/2 lbs. We continued to pitch the mullet and catch plenty of fish Snapper,Groupers and more Snook. We felt pretty good about abut our chances tomorrow. We spent the next hour casting at Tarpon that were busting up the Mullet schools before calling it a day. The captains meeting was held at Stan's, it's a Goodland landmark. 092708 It's dark and there are 51 teams ready to get going, I'm with Capt. Bruce and Mitch from Biscayne rods today. We checked out at first light and headed west to the Marco River stopping at some darks that were still lit up. We worked a run off just past the docks and I got blasted but the fish missed it somehow. On the ride there we had a big no wake zone thru the bridge, I had Mitch put out a plug and it didn't take long and he was hooked up. It was great hit which got us excited but it ended up being a 10 lb Jack. We arrived to our spot, as we power poled down there were 2 explosions under the docks and on the seawall. They were here all we had to do is catch one good one! My goal was to get a 10 lb fish from these docks, I have been fishing this spot for 20 years and have caught plenty of big Snook that would work for our tournament needs. We started out with Chartreuse Jerk baits and a Twitch n Rap, Mitch was on fire, he kept getting the hits but we couldn't stay hooked up. We only had a dozen live mullet left, all our bait died in a bait cage over night. We pitched a live one out and it got crushed, but it was another Jack. We fished there for 3 hours and couldn't manage a Snook although we had a few Jacks that made us think we did, Mitch had a 20 lb Jack that did a head shake which kind of fooled us for a while. We decided they weren't going to bite we had a front move in and even the Jacks shut down, so we made a 30 mile run to the area we fished the day before. It paid off on the first cast, I hooked a Snook on the first cast but it jumped off, I got another mullet and got the big thump. I said it a big Red get the net, it was the perfect tournament Red! We landed the fish and it measured a perfect 27 inches and weighed 7-05 now all we needed is a 9 lb Snook. We ran out of Mullet which I think cost us because the bite was slow for about 2 hours, then I decided we need to go where we caught all the Snook the day before. We made the 20 minute run only to find the water was really way to high. We made our way to the Oyster bar and set up in front of it, the fish were popping behind it. We worked really hard and we caught everything but a Snook. We caught Redfish, Jacks, Snappers, Ladyfish, Catfish and a Flounder. We could here a few Snook pop way back in the Mangroves but we couldn't reach them. We fished the last 30 minutes in a rain storm that had us standing ankle deep in water, it was really coming down. We didn't stop to put a rain coat on, we didn't have enough time to spare. Cast, cast, cast until it was time to go, I appreciated the effort of Mitch and Bruce! We made our way back to Goodland and it seems like we weren't the only ones to struggle, only six teams out of 51 caught both fish which shows something was up. The winners had a great catch of 16-24 lbs, great tournament ill be back next year. 093008 The weather is very iffy but the winds are dead and the Mullet have been pouring thru the inlet, the Tarpon, Snook, Bluefish and Jacks are hot on their trail. Today myself and Capt.Raul Montoro went out for a little afternoon fun and we got it. The Mullet were thick enough to walk on in the inlet and the Tarpon were right in there busting them up. The Snook were busting them doing somersaults out of the water, it was a great visual but we needed a hook up. There were hundreds of people on the seawall fishing and throwing there cast nets for Mullet as the fish were popping just out of range for them. One of our Mullet was being chased by a Tarpon and got hit, but somehow escaped. The mullet started working there way out of the inlet and as we followed them Lightning and a serious rain storm moved in. We made our way to the marina and waited it out for an hour, then ran back out. That's when the real show began, the showering of bait was awesome! Snook and Tarpon on a feeding binge only scene when the Mullet schools arrive. We tried X Raps which only snagged the Mullet, that's how thick they were. Top water was ignored but a mullet with a 3/4 ounce twist on weight was the answer. It wasn't long after I pitched the bait out it got hit,it was just after dark so when the fish jumped we saw the size but couldn't make out the specie. The fish pulled like a freight train but never came up, eventually we got her in the boat and it was a 20 plus lb. Snook. The feed was just starting The Tarpon where doing cartwheels just outside the inlet and the Bluefish were making the surface foamy white. Capt. Raul had a hit on a finger mullet and take off we, I gave chase but the fish was running, Raul Says its going to spool me go faster, the fish still spooled him. I had just spooled it before we left and it had over 200 yards of 30 lb Fireline Braid that I fish on 12 lb. Biscayne rod. It was constant blowing up for a couple hours, it was about 10 o'clock and the action seem to slow down so we called it a night We are lucky the Hurricanes haven't hit us directly so we can take advantage of what they conditions they bring . Give me a call at 305 333 8149 if this interest you and I"ll put you on them. Check out www.insiderfishing.com, I do a daily report on what happening on the water. Let's go Catch'em Capt Jimbo Select another page || Go to Home Page

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