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Fishing report, Everglades backcountry
Capt. Bob LeMay
March 31, 2008
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week's fishing started off with red-hot giant tarpon action that got broken off by a late season cold front, leaving us scratching for fish when the winds died down enough to get back on the water.... Just before the front I fished the Lopez brothers, Gabriel and Diego with a family member J.J. and we found great snook action with artificials both inside and out along the Gulf coast. We didn't land the biggest fish which looked to be well over 15lbs since it wore through the leader during the fight. The fish we did land and release were all nice slot to upper slot sized fish. Every snook we found were in groups of fish, more than a few times we hooked two or three at each spot. That should be a sign of things to come once the cold fronts give us a break as we move into April... Along the way we caught lots of speckled trout, and other species, while still looking for tarpon. When we found them holding in a small river the fishing was just off the hook.... Late in the afternoon one spot showed just one or two fish, and my expectations were a bit low. Our first bite, though, was a big fish which promptly jumped off. We went on to hook four more, everyone a big fish, before one finally stayed on the hook. Gabriel Lopez, from San Francisco, did a great job with his first big tarpon on relatively light 15# line and we were able to release the fish in good condition. That one spot must have been holding large numbers of fish, although we never saw more than one or two show at the surface...
A day later, all the big fish were gone as a hard cold front dramatically lowered the water temperatures.
Once the front passed I was back on the water with long time anglers John and Tucker Kern from Colorado. Since the big tarpon were long gone back out into the Gulf we went after everything else including gag grouper, jewfish, speckled trout, etc. With water temperatures of 66 degrees along the coast and still very strong winds my hopes weren't very high, but that Tuesday we hit a miracle fish... Tucker, who's in his last year of high school cast a light spinning rod with a bucktail at a small tarpon that had rolled near us in a river mouth and got a bite. The hooked fish came to the boat slowly and deep enough that I couldn't see it before turning near the boat and making a long run straight away from us. By the time I could get everything squared away and the motor running the fish had almost spooled Tucker. He only had eight or nine wraps of line remaining before we were able to really get after the fish... Tucker did an outstanding job using a light rod with only 10# line. Thirty minutes later we finally got a look at the fish - it was a very large permit, the last thing I expected in the cold water conditions. Ten minutes later that fish bottomed out my 30lb Boga Grip the moment I tried to weigh it. I'd estimate the fish to be nearly 35lbs, an outstanding catch on light line anywhere. It really made the trip for him and his Dad. The remainder of the week we found lots of fish but the water only warmed up toward the end of the week enough for the big tarpon. They should be back now since it's stayed warm enough.
At the end of the week Ron Abrant from Chicago fished with me, his best catch was 12lb jewfish on that same light spinning rod. The fish was actually laid up in a very shallow snook spot next to a log where we could sight fish it with a small lure. There are so many jewfish now in the 'Glades that we're finding them regularly in less than 2' of water in places where snook usually wait in ambush. It's just one more sign that the population has come back strongly enough to warrant a review of their status as "endangered"...
Tight lines,
Bob LeMay
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