Lots of possibilities
Capt. Jim Hobales
October 15, 2008
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
101008
Today I am fishing with Danny, we are both members of the Miami Sport fishing Club and I asked if he would like to go scouting N. Biscayne Bay with me. We had a big flooding rain the day before and I wanted to make sure all the fish I had been on were still in the same area. We got out early in the dark a.m. and checked a couple spots before the sun came up. Danny had a giant blow up on one of his cast under a bridge but the fish missed the lure. The Mullet were pouring thru but we could only manage some Jacks. We moved on to a spot that's holding Tarpon and some 20 lb plus Jacks as we trolling motored into the area I saw a couple big wakes with some of the fish floating on the surface. I made a long cast and hooked and caught a 10 lb Jack, not long after I hooked a Tarpon. The Tarpon thru the Twitch n Rap and we kept casting but it was calm and clear and the fish wouldn't' eat. The tide switched and the Tarpon really got active rolling and popping on the surface. Danny cast at a rolling Tarpon and got hit the fish didn't really run at first it just shook it's head then took a big run. We got the fish next to the boat and realized it was a Permit, we landed the fish and took several pictures. The fish weighed 5 pounds, it was possible it could be a large Pompano or a small Permit. The only way to know for sure is to count the soft dorsal/anal rays. This fish had 17 anal rays which makes it a Permit. We ran around looking for the mullet school and they had all moved south of 79 St, probably because of the fresh water that had flooded the bay the day before.
101108
Today I am at Flamingo with Mike from Virginia, he wants to catch a Tarpon. We started out on a flat that was loaded with Mullet that were pouring off the flat with the outgoing tide. There were Tarpon rolling around, as we
made our way to them a group of 4 big Tarpon popped up. I told Mike where to cast and he made a perfect cast, his Twitch n Rap got crushed by the giant Tarpon. Mike attempted to set the hook and pulled the lure of the Tarpon Mouth. This happens when using braid, I use braid for several reasons, the main ones being distance and sensitivity. The only problem is there is no stretch which guys who use mono need to get used to. The tide fell out and we moved on, as we were running out to the Gulf of Mexico the surface erupted.The bait schools were getting busted by Tarpon Jacks, Ladyfish, Sharks and Trout. Mike was excited he was throwing a Skitterwalk and getting hit on every cast. Mike did this for an hour hoping for a Tarpon but there were to many fish getting to the lure before them. We moved on and got into more Tarpon they were in the Mullet schools, about every 30 seconds one would bust a pod of Mullet. I had baits in the middle of the schools and Mike was throwing a plug but the Sharks were out of control, e went thru about 30 mullet and not one was eaten by a Tarpon. We stuck it out until the tide switcted and they turned off. I ran around looking to get him a Tarpon but it just didn't happen. He cast at Tarpon all day and only had 1 Tarpon hook up but caught plenty of other species. It was late and we called it a day.
101208
I am fishing N. Biscayne Bay with Phil and his wife Lisa today, Lisa purchased this fishing trip for Phil's 50th birthday. We got an early start there was some wind and cloud cover which I thought might help the Tarpon bite.
As we made our first pass thru the area I told Phil to watch the edge of the flat, they should be there! The Tarpon were right on cue, as they rolled Phil made his cast. The Tarpon rolled and missed it and then Phil was hooked up. The Tarpon made a great first run, several jumps and we were still hooked up. Phil did a great job fighting the 45 lb. Tarpon, it took him about 40 minutes on 10 lb test. He was enjoying it and wanted this fish very badly, he came here from Cincinnati just for a Tarpon and did a good job landing the fish. We brought the fish boat side for a few pictures and released it in good shape. Phil was excited and exhausted but we got back to fishing. The wind picked up and the Tarpon were not rolling like early in the day. Phil and Lisa caught a bunch of Trout to 22 inches a big Jack and a Mangrove Snapper. We went just south of 79 St and got into some more Tarpon, Lisa hooked a nice one on a Twitch n Rap. They disappeared on us so we went to Shucker's for lunch just as a big rain storm covered the bay, after it cleared we went back out. We put out a live Mullet, it didn't take long before a Tarpon was knocking it out of the water and chasing it. This same scenario happened a few times but for some reason the Tarpon where not getting hooked up. They chased, hit and knocked them out of the water but the circle hook never stuck. We made our way back to Haulover marina passing the party on the sandbar.
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Everything is on track for the mullet run to continue the next few days with this ne wind flow.
Target Species:
Tarpon-Snook-Sharks-Big Jacks
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