Fun tournament = great catches!
Capt. Jim Hobales
August 24, 2014
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
082314
I am down at the Pace Spartans annual fishing tournament at La Siesta Resort in Islamorada. My team consists of my son James which graduated from Pace and friend Mitch Martinez. We had a great time at the Captains meeting, thanks to Carmen and Nelson for the great drinks. We sat around with a bunch of other captains and top anglers discussing tackle, boats, motors and bad alcohol. Since we already checked in we were able to get a early start in the morning. We left the dock at 6:25and made it across to Flamingo about 7:15 , my plan was to throw top water for Snook but my spot was loaded with floating grass. We went to soft jerk baits, spoons and tried relentless with top water. I finally said it time to use bait and got one out hoping a Snook or Redfish would eat. It didn't take long and the Sharks found the bait which was ok because they counted and we ended up with 10 Lemon Sharks from 30 to 50 lbs.. We had several that I hand to cup the spool because we weren't going to waste the time.
Mitch's bait was eaten and we had our first Redfish! We continued with our plan and James hooked 27 1/2 " Snook, then a 25 " Snook. The Sharks were everywhere and that's when a school of Reds popped up, unfortunately Mitch's cast was eaten by a Shark and the Red's vanished. We caught a Trout, Jack and a bunch of Snappers fishing Gulp Shrimp jig, it was time to make a move. I needed some high water to get into my second spot and it paid off quickly with 2 Redfish up to 24 1/2 inches. There was some action around us but it died off pretty quick by know it was 11:00 O:clock and I ran to a place where I caught a ton of Trout a couple days before. The Snappers were there and a few more Jacks but the Trout weren't, it was getting late and we had to get back by 2 so we called it a day with 90 points. The winners had 150 so we could of done much better although my team was wiped out.
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