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Everglades -Flamingo, 15 June
Capt. Bob LeMay
June 15, 2016
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
I did two days down at Flamingo this past week and we found good numbers of fish, in spite of the west winds that lasted all week long. There are good numbers of mangrove snapper now in every river, snook biting small jigs both inside and outside as well as a variety of other opportunities, including tarpon up to about fifty pounds at dawn each day along the west coast north and south of the Shark river area...
Returning angler Al Mazur from Connecticut and his partner George got an early start the day we fished - we left the ramp before sunup and were almost across Whitewater Bay before a hint of dawn. At our first spot we were tossing small lures in a shallow area filled with small whitebait trying to add a ladyfish or two for the livewell when George hooked up on a small tarpon of about thirty pounds... Of course it was on the lightest rod on the skiff with 10lb braid and only a 30lb leader. That fish cleaned off every bit of braid and was into the mono backing when one last jump allowed it to toss the jig. We never saw a hint that any tarpon were nearby and that fish hit less than 20 feet from the skiff - that's Whitewater for you... A few minutes later, still at the same spot Al hooked up a nice snook on the same kind of gear. It was touch and go for a moment or two before he landed and carefully released the fish.. Here's a picture...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/MazurAl%20snook%20at%20dawn_zpsayfhzww0.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/MazurAl%20snook%20at%20dawn_zpsayfhzww0.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
it was less than three feet of water at that spot....
Later that morning it was speckled trout and mangrove snapper - still using those same small lead heads with Gulp tails... Al lost one mangrove at the boat that was at least three pounds - might have been four but it slipped the hook before I could reach it... We ended up that day with another few snook.. . Here's a pic of George's first one.... another careful release....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/MazurAl%20George%20first%20snook_zpsdk4qzxcj.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/MazurAl%20George%20first%20snook_zpsdk4qzxcj.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
My last day on the water was fishing with local angler Marcos Beaton and family on their big Pathfinder... We struggled a bit finding fishing a bit slow so we retreated back into one of the many rivers that drain into the Little Shark along the Gulf coast for some vertical jigging. With every river loaded with snapper now it was the right move. For those who've never tried it all you need is light to medium gear and bucktail jigs (or the leadheads with Gulp tails we were using) in the 1/4 oz size... The trick is not to anchor up but to drift with the current while bouncing the jigs straight up and down off the bottom - trying always to keep the lure within three feet of the bottom... What action! it was double hookup after double hook up and kids with big smiles on every drop (we also tried using live shrimp but the lures actually worked better...). I think we left more than 100 snapper with sore lips, released to fight another day -only keeping four for the table. This sort of stuff will go on all summer long if you want to try it...
It's no secret that my bookings in the Everglades slow down in summer - so we're also doing night charters in Biscayne Bay as well as quite a bit of shopwork... This photo is of a small batch of those very same leadheads I already mentioned. They're just finished baking to harden the finish and they're ready for packaging....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/leadheads%20baked%20and%20ready_zps4ubfezhg.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/leadheads%20baked%20and%20ready_zps4ubfezhg.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Be a hero! Take a kid fishing....
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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