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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
October 13, 2004
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Well it's finally happened. The water has cleared up along the coast, the baitfish are everywhere along the shorelines, and the big fish are feeding!
Seriously, in the last 10 days water temperatures have dropped from around 80 degrees to 74 as of yesterday. We've been catching lots of redfish around structure and river mouths almost every day. The snook are biting lures and bait in the same areas. Giant tarpon are following schools of black mullet in 7 to 12 feet of water along with the usual assortment of sharks. You can see them doing end over end explosions from a distance as they feed on the mullet. These next few weeks will be as good as it gets along the coast from Cape Sable all the way up to Lostman's River. Most days we've begun by netting bait and filling the baitwell with pilchards and small herring. A little live-chumming at any spot will reveal whether the spot is holding reds, snook, or trout. Some spots hold all three but most will be favored by one or the other. You can either fish live bait or work a lure or fly where the fish are showing. My biggest snook on fly, a 21lb fish on 12# tippet was taken this time of year while we were chumming... This is a good time of year to move around and check out lots of different spots. We'll be outside on the incoming tide and just inside rivers, creeks and small bays on the falling tide each day. The giant tarpon will disappear when the first strong cold front passes through. The baitfish will be around until well into November along with all the action that generates.
Whitewater Bay is now beginning to be of interest. The first small speckled trout are in great numbers on the west side of the bay. The one day we tried them it was around 20 caught and released in less than 15 minutes on lures. In short order the bigger fish will begin to make an appearance if we don't get any heavy rains and should be well estabished after that first cold front passes through. We found the first pod of big snook along a shallow shoreline in Whitewater a few days ago. They were typical for this time of year, between 8 and 15lbs, and very spooky. Inside snook and redfish will increase in numbers as the water temperatures drop. The only way to fish them is very quietly with a pushpole and a careful approach. They're a great challenge on fly or with lures that land softly.
Tight Iines,
Captain Bob LeMay
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