Spring is close
Capt. Jim Hobales
March 18, 2009
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
030809
I am with the Marinelli's today Jay, Frank Sr. and Frank down at Flamingo. We wanted to target Tarpon in the back country but the cold,cloud cover and winds were brutal, I decided to fish out front. We got into some Tarpon first thing but they were reluctant to bite. Frank Sr hooked some Ladyfish while we were casting at the rolling Tarpon. They did a lot of casting early on with little results, Jay caught a Redfish and then Frank Sr. caught a decent Jack. They decided to call it a day around 1130 unless we ran into something on the way back. I made a stop on a good grass flat and we caught a few Trout real quick, then Frank Sr. drag was screaming. Earlier Frank had asked if I minded if he used one of his own lures, I said sure maybe I can learn something! Frank handed me a huge Chrome Bomber topwater plug. To get back to the fish, I saw a giant splash 150 feet away I thought it was a big Snook Frank got it close to the boat. That is when I noticed it was a Monster Trout! I brought the fish into the boat and was amazed at the size. It is the biggest Trout I have had on my boat while guiding a customer and I let them know it, I was proud of Frank. They caught a bunch more but none close to that. We called it a day shortly after that.
031109
I am fishing with Jim and Don today in the Whitewater Bay, I hit a couple Snook of my spots and they were just loaded with Trout. Don did have one small Snook but not what I was looking for. They caught 25 Trout some Ladyfish and Jacks so I moved on for Tarpon. They were rolling and free jumping but out of our range, the water was extremely clear. I moved on and found some in Ponce bay where we had a couple shots at laid up Tarpon but no takers. We fished the rivers and caught Snappers, Gag Groupers, and Don landed a 35 lb Goliath on light tackle. Jim caught a couple of 10 lb Goliaths as well.
0230909
I am fishing Government Cut this morning with Sam and his grand daughters, the winds were less than favorable for the girls. We stuck it out for a while and caught a Grouper and some Grunts while watching Tarpon roll from one end to another., We were coming off the full moon and they had probably ate Shrimp all night so they were not interested. The other boat didn't have any hook ups either which showed they just were not eating. We moved into the bay and caught some Trout before calling it a morning.
031509
I met Vinny,Ivan and Jose at the back country ramp at Flamingo today with hope of hooking some Tarpon. I ran up to Whitewater Bay to where they have been and had them start casting while I was looking. It didn't take long to get some bites but not from Tarpon, the Ladyfish, Jacks and Trout where thick so we played with them for a while. I like to keep a few Ladyfish and Jacks for bait anyway. We moved around a bit looking for Tarpon and finally found them in Ponce Bay. We cast the lures (Catch 2000) that usually work but monster Ladyfish were just killing it. I had netted some Mullet on the way out and put one out, I van had the rod in free spool when the line started ripping off the reel. Ivan lock it up and the rod double over letting the circle hook do it's job. He seemed to have a solid hook up until the fish ran thru a tree. I re-rigged the rod and again it doubled over, the fish ran into the tree again but this time we got on top of it. The fish was stuck in a tree so I pulled on the line freeing the fish, Ivan got the 22 inch Gag grouper in. This only led to speculation on what the first fish was!
I saw mullet get blasted so moved into the area, It didn't take long and we had a big one eat only to throw the hook. We ran into the river and that's where the fun began, the bite was steady with Gag Groupers, Goliaths Groupers and Snappers. There was a couple time where we got schooled by decent fish . I ran to a fun spot and it was time to use those 1-2 pound Jacks. Ivan was first and if had to see the expression on his face on the first hit. he couldn't believe how hard and how quick. Vinny yells my turn but Ivan says but I didn't get to react! I rigged another bait and again it hit the water and double the rod but made into a tree. All three guys got there chance but the Goliaths were faster on this day. The last bite was a good one, we had 14 inch Mangrove Snapper off a point and the Big Goliath pushed up a 1 foot wake when he hit it. This was such an awesome strike, Ivan held on but this was a really big Grouper and got us into a tree and cut him off.
It was late and we had a long ride back but these guys were excited about the amount of big fish the hooked and landed.
Give me a call 305 333 8149 if I can help with your fishing dreams or desires.
Captain Jimbo
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Warmer temps should have the fishing getting hot!
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