Everglades backcountry report, 6 January 2020
Capt. Bob LeMay
January 6, 2020
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Once again it's been a while since my last report but I've actually been on the water quite a bit since Christmas, fishing both out of Chokoloskee and Flamingo into the backcountry of the 'glades...
As inside and Gulf coast waters finally begin to cool (it's been a warm fall and early winter so far) we're finally beginning to find a variety of fish inshore as well as up inside interior bays.. In many of the places we've fished there have been small snook everywhere (mostly yearlings and smaller but so many that some stretches of shoreline it's a tiny snook with every cast using flies and small leadheads with Gulp tails. Big tripletail are still being found in much shallower waters than most expect (more about that in a moment). We're also beginning to find a lot more speckled trout - and each day that passes the their average size is getting a bit bigger (but still at the lower end of the slot...).
Now for a few pics and a bit of the story to go with them....
I had young nine year old Rowan on the skiff a few days after Christmas (his uncle John Cannon wanted him to have a chance to catch a few with his new fishing rod...). We obliged using an Equalizer cork with a 2/0 circle hook and a few live shrimp. Everything in the shallows ate his shrimp on sight. Here are pics of his first speckled trout and his first slot redfish...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/9L7eLXz.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/3ewpEhx.jpg[/img]
Young Rowan also hooked up with a shark or two and quickly learned that there were fish in the 'glades that were just a little too big... I hope to see him and his uncle again some day...
A day or two later, just after New Year I had local angler Mike Cole on the skiff and we tossed small leadheads at a variety of fish with great success - but most were on the small side. He had mentioned that he always wanted to get a look at a sawfish in the backcountry so that's what we did towards the end of the day -poling back into a very shallow mud bottomed area that sawfish favor.... The one we found was a bit bigger than I expected in less than two feet of water. It easily made ten feet long and actually came up to our skiff twice to check us out... A few minutes later, and about 100 yards from the saw... Mike tossed his small leadhead towards a very shallow shoreline looking for a nice sized redfish -- but hooked up instead with a big snook in very, very shallow waters that just tore it up... jumping and running here and there around the skiff... Mike did a great job and finally made an outstanding catch and release on a 10lb snook that measured 31" before being allowed to swim away in good condition... Here's the pic...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/CWDt9iL.jpg[/img]
An outstanding catch on the lightest rod we had that day... As we move into colder weather more and more big snook will be found way up inside the backcountry along shallow shorelines and coves where we'll be sight-fishing them daily....
My last day on the water was Saturday with father and son Paul and Jerry Tuzi aboard from Canada. We were specifically looking for tarpon that day and found them in several locations - but not one of them had any interest in the plugs and other lures we tossed at them... Striking out on the tarpon they agreed to look for other opportunities in the time we had left. They caught and released a variety of fish before we finally found a spot that was holding some big fish... Paul hooked up with a very nice tripletail along a shallow shoreline that really took him to school while at the same moment Jerry was hooked up on something that was just screaming away on our heaviest rod...then broke him off. Here's a pic of the first tripletail... It weighed in at 8lbs on the Boga Grip....
[img]https://i.imgur.com/HpPpmJL.jpg[/img]
that fish and another were invited home for the table...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/NTGVswG.jpg[/img]
this second one was bit smaller at six pounds... Both hooked up in less than three feet of water along a gulf coast shoreline...
Lots of openings in the weeks to come as we move into our winter season. If anyone reading this is planning on coming down for the Super Bowl - make a point of booking early to get the guide you want, since those days (just before and just after the big game) will go quickly...
Be a hero.. take a kid fishing!
Tight lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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