Just bending the rods!
Capt. Jim Hobales
February 20, 2010
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
This early part of the year has been tough on everybody, including the fish! If you can't adapt your in trouble. The water temps have stayed in low 60's in Floridy Bay and the Gulf of Mexico and all its tributaries and the fishing is sluggish at best. The east coast didn't really get beat up so bad because the fish had access to deeper water. The death toll on the east coast was very little compared to the Gulf Coast. This is the time of year our beach and inlet Tarpon stack up, if we get winds out of the western quadrant, it's really fishable for the smaller boats. There are more than just Tarpon, chum blocks, live and dead baits and shrimp will keep the rods bent.
021910
Im fishing Government Cut today with Cole Connell, initially we were going to fish south Biscayne Bay but the weather conditions weren't right. He said he wanted to catch fish and bend the rod more than chase Tarpon. I asked if he would like to chase after some Tarpon and catch Grouper, Snappers and who knows what else in the process, he agreed and this is how the day went. We arrive in the cut about 7 am with a stiff North wind, but not to rough. I motored around looking for the schools of Tarpon before they started to roll on the surface. Once they made an appearance we dropped on top of them but had no bites, during the course of 8 hours I only saw 2 Tarpon hooked up. I moved around a bit and went to my "honey hole" and Cole started to pull in 3 to 4 lb. Red Groupers. He caught about 8 or so and I asked if he wanted to try something else and he agreed. I put out an X- Rap and trolled it down the jetty looking for Jacks, Snook, Mackerel or Barracudas. The Cuda's tore us up as soon as the plug got moving, he caught 3 up to 12 lbs and moved on. We ran out to some deeper water and hit a Grouper spot, Cole ended up catching 20 or so Red Groupers up to 4 lbs.
I told Cole we need to get back inside because the tide was going to change and I wanted to get the first push of outgoing tide. The Tarpon were going nuts rolling on the surface so we continued to drop deep and try for one, but the other fish wouldn't let the Tarpon get to the bait. The jumbo Mangroves and big Gags Groupers were turned on. We caught fish for the first 90 minutes of the falling tide, the best fish being a 12 lb Gag Grouper on a live Pilchard. Cole caught several other Gags and more Red Groupers. The biggest Mangrove was 2 1/2 lbs, which also ate a live Pilchard. Cole caught every kind of Grunt, Margate, Chub, Blue Runners, and Triggerfish, this is just a typical day of fishing in Government Cut. The Tarpon are the main specie we chase but we can get plenty of action from the supporting cast
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Shrimp have been running which cause Tarpon/Snook to eat in the inlet and on the beaches. Warmer conditions this week will make it much more fun.
Target Species:
Tarpon, Grouper, Snappers
More Fishing Reports:
