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Flamingo - Everglades National Park
Capt. Ariel Cabrera
April 10, 2002
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Flamingo Spring Fling
Fishing during spring break was nothing less than phenomenal. Friday, March 29, was a half-day of fishing that produced trout, sharks, jacks, and ladyfish. Following mid-morning the wind picked up and churned up waters real bad. The trout came out of a narrow channel adjacent to clean water.
Tuesday of the following week had tarpon of all sizes feeding around the boat but we were unable to get a hook set. We ended up catching trout and jack crevalle, and ladyfish. The ladyfish or "poor man's tarpon" adage was lived out because we came nowhere near saluting the silver kings. In fact, we sacrificed a pole to the mighty tarpon as one of my fishing rods slid from my gunwale and into the water. Albert Perez, a Key Largo homeowner joined me on this adventure.
On Wednesday, Bob Maucher, southern director of Outdoor Florida Magazine landed a 27" six pound Flamingo gator trout. A three-pound trout and at least six others all weighing in at over two pounds joined this fish. We ended up catching a slam with snook, trout, and a redfish. Even two four pound jacks were landed all on the same lure. The culprit or scapegoat is definitely Bass Pro Shops XPS twin tail shad. Gator trout, like the one Bob caught fall victim to stealthy large baits like the XPS soft baits. A full-featured article with photos will be available in May's issue of Outdoor Florida.
Thursday found me tarpon fishing in Biscayne Bay during the evening hours. Eric T. and Joe E. tied their luck for the silver king by trying to "tango" the tarpon but they refused to dance. Joe had one fish on but it subdued us by rubbing against the bottom. A fat 14" mangrove managed to intercept a jig and landed in the fish box. The rest of the evening we spent trying to fool one of the many feeding tarpon all around the boat. It was tough even after trying a different beat. We tried fly, live bait, jigs but there was plainly too much shrimp and shrimpers around.
A few hours later that night I was at Flamingo guiding Robert R. who wanted to visit a fabled place in the Everglades backcountry. It was here where we crossed paths with two American bald eagles. What a sight! Robert connected with snapper that hit a plug intended for snook and tarpon. I saw hordes of these mangrove snapper but we spent more time looking for the glamorous backcountry gold - the coveted snook. We found about a half-dozen snook basking on a shallow bar near a tidal river but they also saw us. The good news is that Robert managed to land and photograph one before the day ended.
Fred Dileo of Georgia fished with me on Saturday, April 6 and came close to catching a slam. Fred caught an above average pompano, four huge seatrout, and a redfish. He fished mostly with artificial and fly. We blew out a large trout and had six to eight chances with Mr. Snook on the flats. These snook were tough because they were in skinny water (around 10") and blending with the surroundings. Fred pulled out a "sleeper" redfish from the same depth but gin-clear water. I think this was a well-hidden resident fish because the schools that migrate from the Gulf have yet to move in. It was an action-packed day!
The last trip was to an Everglades freshwater region for black bass during the afternoon. Two anglers using artificial lures caught a total of 46 black bass. Some bowfin and warmouth honed in as well but most were small fish. The largest bass weighed two and a half pounds. This spring will continue to provide fishing action from fresh to saltwater.
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