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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
October 18, 2006
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Flamingo interior and Gulf coast
This past weekend we hardly saw any other boats... Don't know where the crowds were but we seemed to have Whitewater Bay and the Gulf coast to ourselves until we ran into boats coming from Chokoloskee just south of Lostman's River. I'll be there again tomorrow...
Ross Martin from Ft. Myers had the hot hand. His first big fish of the morning was a real surprise since we were catching and releasing a few trout to start things off in Whitewater. He hooked a solid 60lb tarpon on 10# spinning gear and an artificial with only a 30lb leader. Twenty minutes later he'd fought the fish to a standstill next to the boat. It was an outstanding catch on a light gear and he handled it like a pro... From that point on Ross had the hot hand, adding snook, redfish, and more trout to his score - a backcountry grand slam! Later that day we added goliath grouper to the total with three on jigs up to 8lbs along one small stretch of river bank. This is the time of year when slams and grand slams are a daily possibility in the backcountry. It will stay this way until that first cold night chases the tarpon offshore.
Last night I was able to attend the first workshop the Park held to start the planning process to re-build Flamingo after last Fall's hurricanes. Although most facilities are up and running there, the Lodge and restaurant are still out of commission and will be for some time to come. The reality is that they'll be seeking input until the middle of November then things will be reviewed and finally a decision on what to do will be made in August of next year... After that will come all of the work to obtain funding, support, etc. It looks to me as though we'll be lucky to have a Lodge or restaurant in the next four years.... Among the many possibilities discussed was a mixture of public and private funding, a "joint venture" of some kind. Clearly all of us that want to see Flamingo re-born will need to convince the folks in Washington that this is important. Local fishing clubs and conservation organizations will be sorely needed in what will be a lobbying process. I'll be working on that myself...
Until the Lodge and restaurant are re-built most of my anglers from out of town will be staying in the Florida City or Homestead area. I'll be able to provide a list of places to stay along with phone numbers, etc. Even though we've got a lot of places to fish year round locally, Flamingo is still my first choice!
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
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