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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
November 24, 2006
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week we finally got our first cold front that actually dropped water temperature dramatically. The coldest that I showed on my machine was only 52 degrees running across Whitewater Bay at dawn... which is pretty cold for the interior of the 'Glades. The good news is that was just the surface temperature. When I stopped the sensor read two to three degrees warmer. With cooler water, the fishing patterns change quite a bit and we took advantage of the opportunities provided.
Any corner that's sheltered from the wind and has a shallow soft mud bottom will warm up dramatically by mid-morning on a cold day and that spot may have a lot of fish in it... We found more than a few such places and had good sight-fishing shots at snook that were in the five to ten pound range. We also found lots of speckled trout for catch and release (their season is closed now until 1 January). Out near the Gulf coast we found holes filled with keeper sized mangrove snapper and some very aggressive gag grouper. The grouper were suckers for a bucktail jig bounced just off of the bottom. Of course the bigger ones are really tough to get off of the bottom. Every one of them was a real struggle on light gear. In two days of fishing I quite counting when my anglers had caught and released more than 100 fish, all on lures, mostly bucktails and Gulp shrimp.
As we move into winter the water is clearing up dramatically in the interior making for great sight-fishing conditions. This is the time of year to bring that fly rod.
This is also the time to consider a gift certificate to give a fishing trip for that special holiday gift. The certificates are good for one year and the recipient can book the trip (daytime in the 'Glades out of Flamingo or Everglades City, or night time in Biscayne Bay for tarpon) whenever they want. Give me a call and we'll set it up....
I also have a new series of tarpon fly showing up in shops around the world being done by Umpqua Feather Merchants. It's called the Swamp Rabbit and comes in five different colors on an Owner Aki 2/0 hook. It's the first one they've done with a wire weedguard and I have high hopes for it. Any shop that does business with Umpqua can order them. Here's a sample in red & black...
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/data/520/11751fly_pics_1_017_Small-thumb.JPG
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