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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
January 2, 2002
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
A quick thank you to all the folks that have fished with me this past year. It's been a good one!
This past week at Flamingo we fished on Thursday and Friday and found it a bit slow. We caught a variety on both conventional and fly fishing tackle but found that the sudden temperature drop shut down the giant tarpon in the interior areas they are holding in. We found a few of them but always just a brief glimpse with no real shots. After the weather patterns hold steady for a few days the inside should improve.
The best fishing of the week was during the weekend both day and night in Biscayne Bay. The baby tarpon are in the urban portions of the Bay at night and dock lights have good numbers of snook. The only conditions needed for a good bite are for a few shrimp to show up on the tide. On Saturday night it was a bit slow with no shrimp moving. The situation reversed on Sunday night when we caught and released 3 snook and 2 tarpon up to 35lbs. The tides should be right again for the night fishing next week.
We also fished Saturday and Monday out of Key Biscayne during the day and found the best fishing all week. The finger channels south of Key Biscayne are hot right now with ladyfish in large schools that are in the 3 to 5lb range (that's about as big as you'll find them here). The ladyfish are mixed in with bluefish that are the best I've seen in years during the winter. The biggest we caught and released were close to 5lbs. Add in the occasional spanish mackeral and the action is non-stop when you find them. The key is to check channels moving south until you hit the first fish then hang on. On Monday my anglers had between 10 and 15 double hook-ups in less than four hours on jigs and surface plugs. For fly fishers, Clousers fished deep and small to medium poppers should get hammered. Along with the schooled fish we also found small grouper and mutton snapper in the same locations. On nearby flats its large 'cudas, our largest was about 20lbs, and big winter bonefish that respond very well to chumming. As bad as the weather was on Monday my anglers weren't complaining except when one or another fish managed to get free without being released. I haven't seen action like this in the finger channels for a few years. I hope it continues....
Tight Lines
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