Everglades report, 9 - 19 March 2012
Capt. Bob LeMay
March 19, 2012
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Most guides are very busy now everywhere in south Florida and the Keys and I'm no exception. Even in less than perfect weather the fish are biting wherever you find them (but tarpon are still tough to feed..). Going continuously doesn't leave much time for fishing reports so I'll just let the pictures cover most of the story....
Here's a pic of a nice Whitewater redfish on a day when Jack Gleason was with me...
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The next day (Saturday) I had Capt Jan Lemieux and his son Declan aboard. Here's young Declan's best trout to date...
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Yep, that's him under all that gear.... We went on to find giant tarpon floating in less than four feet of water in a protected bay in Whitewater - but spooked almost every one that Jan got a lure next to... By the way, as skilled as young Declan is now with lures, I'm betting he'll be a contender (as a peewee, then a junior, all the way up the age brackets) in any fishing tournament he enters.
The next day it was all fly fishing with visiting angler Glenn Elia from Connecticut. Again we found giant tarpon that wouldn't eat.... Fortunately everything else was.... Here's two pics
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Note that both fish ate the same pattern, a Whitewater Clouser in size 2/0... By adding a small snook to the action, he managed a backcountry slam that day...
A day or two later I was back over on the Ten Thousand Islands side of the Park out of Everglades City with Ron and Brad Ellis. We lost two very nice reds at boatside that day but did find some of those large river trout that are around this time of year. When Ron caught the first one I thought it was pretty big, then his son Brad got one even bigger....
[img][img][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/c35613b3.jpg[/IMG]
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both fish took leadheads with Gulp tails bumped slowly across the river we were fishing... and were carefully released to fight another day.
A day or two later I was back over on the Flamingo side with Ed and Kevin Lyons hunting tarpon on fly. The big fish are in lots of places now in the interior. We jumped three, the largest at a solid 80lbs in a small river. Keeping them attached to the hooks was the problem.... The fish ate flies, lures, and live bait that day. The next day the same areas held few fish but Ed did manage a small goliath grouper (jewfish for the politically incorrect... and all you old timers) on the lightest spinning rod on the skiff. Here's a pic-
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My last day on the water was with Brian Cottle and Brett, folks I see every few years. That day it was all about variety since we caught and released redfish, trout, gag grouper, goliath grouper, mackeral, and a very hungry bluefish.... here's a pic
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The tarpon are present now in good numbers but with high winds it's been tough to find them and they seem to be just tolerating conditions until the wind finally gives us (and them) a break. All that's needed is a bit of good weather and the Park will be showing it's best side.....
Tight Lines
Capt Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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