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Biscayne nights -tarpon on fire, 7 June
Capt. Bob LeMay
June 7, 2016
Biscayne Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Worked my first summer night-time charter this past Saturday night and it was pretty good... (would have been better if the darned fish didn't keep tearing up our gear....).
I met up with my anglers, Neil Franklin and his partner Jean Stefan, at a Miami Beach boat ramp an hour after the sun went down and we headed out to hit a few docklights and some bridge shadows. Neil, as usual with fly gear -Jean Stefan with spinning gear set up with DOA shrimp... Our first hour was a bit slow since we worked docklights and it was a bit early for them to turn on. We did get a few shots at small to medium sized snook and did find one docklight that had hundreds of mangrove snapper, going after anything that came near them. Although we could see fish in the 20" + range the smaller fish were first to the plastic shrimp every time.... We left the docklights, planning to return later on that night (but the tarpon got in the way....). Our first bridge (and the first cast) and it was on.... The bridge we hit had fish on every piling and all the spaces in-between. The tarpon ranged from around 30 all the way to over 80lbs and they hit everything we tossed at them.... and just took us to school... Jean Stefan's DOA's, Neil's Night flies it didn't seem to matter as far as the fish were concerned....
Now for the bad news... they just beat us up, breaking off, jumping off - and occasionally just tearing up our gear. I quit counting when we'd jumped more than a dozen fish -the final count was probably closer to 15... and we never got one to the boat... Along the way Jean Stefan got spooled (200yards of 30lb braid -just gone...). Neil lost a fly line and half his backing on a 9wt.. The fish were just on fire (and a strong wind from the SE with the tide flowing strong against it didn't help matters since I found my skiff trapped up against pilings on more than one occasion - while the fish was taking every advantage of our immobility... All of the action occurred in just four hours - and we had the bridge to ourselves. I thought about moving to another bridge but the hot action kept us right where we were that night. Things were so hectic that I never took a single photo...
The summer scene will go on every night but only ten days a month (two five day periods) will the falling tide start in the early evening. Not many anglers want to sign on for trips that need to start at midnight or 2Am... While the nights will be good all summer long the Everglades during the daytime will have its share of hot action. This is the best time of year to tangle with most of the fish there - if you can stand the heat, and other conditions...
Be a hero! Take a kid fishing!
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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