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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
January 2, 2003
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
After a week's break it was back to Flamingo this week for a couple of days. Lots of folks there for the holidays. I can't remember seeing as many rental canoes in Buttonwood canal. The canoe access area to Hell's Bay also had lots of parked vehicles on both sides of the road.
Water temps were quite low, but with my temperature guage not working, I'm not certain just how low. Our giant tarpon have yet to make an appearance in any of the interior areas that we checked and probably won't until we get a bit better weather. With high winds and off and on clouds the shallow areas never warmed up much during the day. The good news is that speckled trout are back from Whitewater Bay all the way out to the river mouths at the Gulf. On our first day we quit counting when my anglers had caught and released more than 60, many of them keeper sized. That will be good news for tackle shops and anyone wanting to bring home a few since the season opened with the New Year. We also caught and released spanish mackeral in both ends of Oyster Bay. Although we didn't target them, if there are a few in the interior there must be good numbers along the coast waiting for someone to set up a chumline...
This is the best time for anyone wanting to tangle with gag grouper in the rivers. Our best in two days was only 8lbs, we lost a few that may have been bigger. Typical hungry aggressive grouper. One moment a bait is untouched then a violent strike and a determined run to structure and safety. The best bites are when the angler is eating or drinking... Every now and then the grouper are replaced by a jewfish (I'm supposed to call them "goliath grouper") which usually cleans the anglers clock in short order. They like the same sharp drop offs with a current break nearby.
For those who only occasionally fish Flamingo a word of caution. Recently I've seen some very under-sized fish at the cutting table. Please get a copy of the rules at the front gate and follow them.
Tight Lines
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