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Flamingo report, 13 September
Capt. Bob LeMay
September 16, 2015
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week we've had lots of rain but the fish are biting and if you don't like the weather.... just wait a few minutes.... Those same conditions will apply for the rest of this month on into October....
It would be easier to list what we didn't catch in my last two outings but here goes a partial list of what my anglers found - snook, redfish, black drum, speckled trout, spanish mackeral, goliath grouper, sawfish, sharks, snapper and lots of additional species - all on small lures mostly.... My first day on the water I had local angler Raj and his friend aboard for the run out to the coast north of the Shark river. At our first spot Raj caught his first sawfish on a bait meant for a snook . At around seven to eight feet long we only knew what was on when the fish stuck its bill up and surprised us right at the boat. Raj did a great job and the fish was carefully released un-harmed. The sawfish population must be surging locally since we seem to encounter them every other trip - never in the places I normally see them.... Pretty good news for a fish on the endangered specie list...
A few miles north we found lots of fish breaking the surface about 300 yards off a wild beach - but just as we started targeting the tarpon mixed in with baitfish, big ladyfish, and jacks of every size a rain squall blew in and shut us down.... After more than an hour dodging rain, wind and lightning strikes we found ourselves back in business in one of the many Harney river entrances where Raj's guest hooked two very nice small black drum in quick order. Each was around 6lbs and kept for the table... Here's a pic of the first one...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/Harney%20river%20black%20drum%20RAJ_zpspv6mv8t7.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/Harney%20river%20black%20drum%20RAJ_zpspv6mv8t7.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Next it was Raj's turn again with a nice small snook, just under the slot size so it was released to grow up a bit....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/RAJ%20snook_zpskr9cnbbt.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/RAJ%20snook_zpskr9cnbbt.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Towards the end of the day we again encountered schools of fish blowing up everything in sight - this time up inside the Shark river. It was jacks, big ladyfish, and underneath all of them some very nice spanish mackeral. Both anglers were hooked up continuously for a few minutes -one working a small jig on spinning gear - the other using a light fly rod. That fly rod was just deadly, hooking fish after fish until the fly was almost down to a bare hook.... Here's a pic of one of those nice mackeral (this is just a hint of the mackeral we'll have in a few weeks....) taken on a Whitewater Clouser (size 2/0)....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/RAJ%20fall%20river%20mackeral%20on%20fly_zpsb2x6fivg.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/RAJ%20fall%20river%20mackeral%20on%20fly_zpsb2x6fivg.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
This time of year an 8 or 9wt fly rod is just the ticket for working fish feeding hard on tiny baits right at the surface.... for the tarpon, though, you'll want a bit heavier rod (understatement....).
My last day on the water was a half day donated for veterans in conjunction with the various 9-11 events going on for them and free for those that participated. I had Kevin and Nate aboard -both combat vets with Purple Hearts, Nate with the Army, Kevin with the Marines... It was a pleasure to have them aboard (as a Vietnam vet myself, I can tell you that things were a lot different when servicemen returned to the states way back then....). We found the same mixed bag fishing described above, but all our snook and tarpon bites were misses... The sharks were hungry though and several really took us over the hurdles. Our last fish that half day was something big that pulled really hard.... Nate was on the rod and it was all he could do to turn the fish out of some downed trees. That fish pulled so hard that it pulled our anchor (we were staked out with my pushpole...) before Nate finally wrestled it to the skiff. It was a good sized goliath grouper (another fish that no longer needs any protection whatsoever....) that looked to weigh around fifty pounds... I consider any goliath under fifty pounds to be a "baby" since they get to be the size of a small car as adults... At any rate we took a quick photo so that Nate would have something to show for all that effort - then the fish was carefully released to swim away in good shape....
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/fishpics/vets%20day%20jewfish_zpsixql7lvy.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/fishpics/vets%20day%20jewfish_zpsixql7lvy.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
It was Nate's biggest fish ever and an outstanding catch on relatively light gear....
I'll be back on the water tomorrow expecting more of the same....
"Be a hero... take a kid fishing"
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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