No Bugs in backcountry!
Capt. Jim Hobales
July 15, 2013
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
It was interesting but there were no mosquitos in the back country, dont know how long it will last but it was nice.
My buddy Babb called a couple weeks ago and said his friend was coming in and wanted to show him the Everglades. Phil is an avid outdoors man and Babb wanted him to catch some fish.
We had a tropical system go by the east coast on Friday but we were on. The conditions were overcast and breezy so I went into the back country. This time of year Fl. Bay is
where I like to fish but the winds were straight out of the south and was going to be bumpy all day. We started out the day on some Tarpon catching 10 or so with twice that many hooked and about the same amount of Snook.
They caught Ladyfish and some 12-14 inch Mangrove Snappers.
The bite slowed down @ 9 am so I said lets go. I worked my way thru Whitewater Bay towards Ponce Bay on the way we caught Trout up to 20 inches and a few more Mangrove Snappers Jacks and Ladyfish. The winds were blowing really hard and straight into Ponce Bay and we never found the Tarpon. The great thing about it was the Sharks wanted to play and Phil was hooked up to a big Lemon Shark. Phil fought it for at 30 minutes and it pulled us accross the bay. Phil got sick as he was fighting the big Shark and never missed a beat.
We got it up next to the boat and took some up close photos of the teeth. I rigged a another rod and had a Spinner Shark eat the live Ladyfish. These Sharks jump and spin and this one put on a show for us, Babb go it close and again we got some great photos.
We need to catch a couple Redfish to complete their "Grand Slams". I ran to a spot that usually produces them and today was no different, Babb was hooked up and had a nice Red bending his rod pretty good. We landed the Red and then had a guest swim up on us. I was almost in Shark River and had a Alligator pop up, it was very aggresive. We tried to fish around it but it kept chasing our lures and hissing at us. We move on down the shore line and it stayed on the point like it was protecting a nest. I have been fishing that spot since 1985 and never seen a gator there. It was getting late and Phil was not feeling so hot so we headed in. It was a good day Babb Got a "Grand Slam" and Phil had a "Slam".
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