Everglades backcountry - Flamingo, 21 August 2015
Capt. Bob LeMay
August 21, 2015
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
I've only had two days on the water this week, both with the same two anglers, Robert Abramitis and his nephew Will. That first day it seemed as if variety was what we'd find -I just didn't realize how much variety would be involved. By the end of Wednesday we'd caught and released speckled trout, snook, flounder, triple tail (a small one), cobia (small enough that I took him for a remora...), snapper, and probably a few other species as well. All were on very light gear with small artificials, leadheads or bucktails. Most were on the small side with a keeper here or there but nothing to brag about. We did get Robert hooked up on what I suspect was a big gag grouper and fought him back and forth in a river for a few minutes before that big aggressive grouper finally broke free and took my bucktail home with him.... The last two hours of the day we made a switch going to bait instead of lures... That's when things got interesting... Will got a very nice snook about ten pounds and just inside the slot limit (September is getting near, and that's when snook season opens...). We jumped off another big snook, then hooked up on what I took to be a medium sized shark in around ten feet of water. After about five minutes of hard pulling Will brought a sawfish up, about seven feet in length, carefully released by hand (no pics.. I was tied up...). We're seeing more and more of them now - and in places where you'd never expect them... All of this was just on the first day.... Here's a few pics from that day....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20first%20snook_zpspppep4rj.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20first%20snook_zpspppep4rj.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Will's first snook on a lure -we caught and released three of them at one spot
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/AbramitisRobert%20flounder_zpsjnd1vbks.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/AbramitisRobert%20flounder_zpsjnd1vbks.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
While Will was getting on top of the snook, Robert got this nice flounder - and it got invited for dinner...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/Abramitis%20triple%20tail_zpsaq2sdf8j.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/Abramitis%20triple%20tail_zpsaq2sdf8j.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
We only found one small tripletail and quickly released it...
[img][img]URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20big%20snook_zpsiwynkimh.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20big%20snook_zpsiwynkimh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
This nice snook was carefully released towards the end of the day - on the 1st of September those snook had better go hide....
On the second day I was determined to work different areas... but still on the west coast of the 'Glades instead of Florida Bay. It paid off with this nice small goliath grouper (jewfish for the politically in-correct...)
that was carefully caught and released...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20goliath_zpssyo0ajqu.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/AbramitisWill%20goliath_zpssyo0ajqu.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Two things to mention about these guys... they're in every river in great numbers now and hungry wherever you find them. They're also very, very strong and pull as hard as fish twice their size. It took Will almost thirty minutes to beat this one since it would get in every hole on the bottom and we had to wait it out at least four or five times after the initial hookup... The jewfish is just a treat wherever you find them -they're tough as an old boot, never give up, and will bite lures, bait, flies wherever they are....
We spent some time that day looking for tarpon as well (the same thing we did the day before with no results) and I'd begun to give up on them. We finally headed to a spot I know where there might have been one or two - although none were showing to give us the slightest encouragement... All of that changed when Will had a live ladyfish taken by a big fish that only took two jumps to come loose.. it looked to be nearly 150lbs with a big, broad belly... Since we only one live bait left (a very small catfish with the spines removed) we pitched it out, hoping for the best. It lasted about half a minute before getting eaten - then it was off to the races. Robert was the angler for that fish and it took him to school -showing it all, but not jumping much, conserving energy. When we finally got the fish close enough for me to grab the leader a few times that fish suddenly bolted and again took half a spool of 15lb line... Robert did everything right and a few minutes later we were once again in touch with the fish... It was a great release and the largest Robert has encountered. I estimated it at between 80 and 90lbs... A perfect end to the day.... even if I was too busy to do much picture taking... By the way that day Will also caught and released four different lemon sharks here and there... most in the six to seven foot range...
Things will continue like this for the next few weeks with big snook and big tarpon on the coast and grouper in the rivers.....
"Be a hero, take a kid fishing!"
Tight lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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