Fall mullet run
Capt. Jim Hobales
October 25, 2009
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
October has been an interesting month it went from 95 degrees to 52 degrees in a matter of days and then back into the 80's. This first real kick of cool weather moves the fish quickly of the flats and into the channels which is what happened this past week down at Flamingo, after a few days they all move back to there comfort zones weather on the flats, edges or potholes.
Off of Miami- keep an eye out for the mullet schools coming from the north.
101109
Today I was with Al and Jim and we fished Whitewater Bay. The day was filled with 22-26 inch Snook which they were thrilled with. I moved out to Ponce Bay where we we hooked handful of Tarpon on Twitch n Raps and caught plenty of Jacks, Trout and Ladyfish. I kept a handful of Jack and stopped at a Goliath Grouper spot. It didn't take long and we hooked a few of those big monsters.
101509
I am pre fishing for a tournament out of Goodland and got onto the Tarpon today. I was alone and had one of those days that people dream of. The Tarpon and Snook ate the Twitch n Rap this morning and it was plenty of fun, I had over 30 Tarpon hooked up and released about 6 or 7. Then I went looking for Snook I caught a dozen of them and missed a couple big ones on top water.
101609
I am dock fishing today out of Marco Island, pitching some live baits and lures . The live bait get killed an the lures caught there share of Snook. At first light we got into a school of bait that were getting blasted by fish and diving birds on top of a flat. We cast topwater at them and had Tarpon, Jacks and Snook blast them.
101709
Today is the Backwater Series Championship and of course the first cold front of the year is coming thru. I am with My buddies Mitch and Paul. We had a couple good bites early right as the front started moving in, I caught a 27 inch Snook and then Paul had a few on topwater but they just would stay hooked up. This happened all day and it started to get frustrating, we had a few opportunities that would of put in the money but the bigger fish came off. I can tell you we didn't miss a small one!
We had live bait but the Twitch n rap and Topwater lures seem to get all the bites early, Later we switched to Ladyfish steaks fished on the bottom. we hooked a lot of good fish this way. The weather changed from ok early on to rainy, cold and windy.
101909
I am fishing Miami Beach today part of a 5 boat trip, I have Ronin and John on the boat. The conditions are tough, cold N. winds up to 30 mph and bumpy. I decided to fish in Government Cut and
use the jetties for protection. I started out on the south side and caught a nice 20 inch Red Grouper, then a Barracuda. The wind continued to pick up and I tried to make the guys a little more comfortable by moving inside the cut. We got a few more good bites but moved into the bay for some Trout and started live chumming with all my pilchards on some docks. The chum turned on the Jacks which were busting them out of the water.
102309
I fished this morning out of Haulover with Joe Mccann, its breezy and the conditions are tough. We started out trolling around the inlet for a Snook and looking for some mullet schools pushing thru. I didn't see the mullet so headed south netted a ton of big pilchards and went fishing. The jacks were everywhere today, they ate his lures and baits all day. I went looking for Tarpon but couldn't find them . I went back into the canals and started throwing out live chum for Snook but only the Jacks played today. We hit a couple of grass flats and caught Trout, Snappers and Cuda's. I made my way back to the inlet and dropped some bait down into the hard frowing tide. The new bulk head on the Haulover bridge gives a little protection from current. Joe dropped down and got hit on first drop but missed the fish. The next 3 drops he caught a 26 and 29 inch Snook and big Mangrove Snapper.
102309
I had and afternoon trip today and I decide to change it up from the morning. I was with Tom and Pete which was part of a 10 boat trip. i went north in to Dumbfoundling Bay hoping to find the Tarpon in the deeper water. I had netted some mullet and put them to work, it didn't take long and the rod was doubled over. Twenty minutes later we had a 60 lb. Bull Shark next to the boat, we took some pictures and let it go. We set up another drift and Pete caught another Bull Shark on a much lighter spinning rod. We had a big Tarpon eat our live mullet but just let it go. I took all my pilchards and started to dump them in the water turning on the Jacks between 5 and 7 lbs. It's always nice when the customer looks at you and says he had enough and he's tired!
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