Summer is here
Capt. Jim Hobales
May 11, 2009
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
I have been fishing every day so its been hard to keep up on my fishing reports but here is a an overview of what's been happening.
050109
Flamingo with Poco,Larry and Galant these are there frat names. They were about 2 hours late so we just went catching. We caught 50 Mangrove Snappers to 1 1/2 lb on lures, Trout,Jacks and Ladyfish.
050209
Flamingo with Ot and Jason tough day we saw a lot of fish but Only managed a Snook and a Tarpon and some Trout.
050309
Govt. Cut with Kenny and Ginger. It was rough and Ginger felt sick so we moved inside the bay. We cast at rolling Tarpon but they would not eat . Ken caught a Grouper and a Jack and we did see a bunch of Snook in clear water which spooked.
050409
Govt Cut with John and Landon, it was breezy and the outgoing tide made it sporty. We hooked an 80 lb Tarpon on our first drift only to jump him off on the Fischer Island side. It was slow so we moved in to the cut. We caught Red Grouper one after another. John was fishing a crab deep and hooked 2 more Tarpon, both Tarpon were Jumped off.
050509
Govt Cut with Linc, on our first drift we started out on the Fischer island side, Linc caught a 6 lb Red Grouper. I marked the fish in the cut on the way in so we went back in and started dropping down do the 50 foot mark with live crabs. Linc kept getting hit but is was Groupers, they ate 10 crabs intended for Tarpon. We also dropped 4 inch Gulp Shrimp which caught more then it share of Groupers. We must of boated 20 Groupers to 6 lbs.
050909
I'm with Johnny, his son Jt and friend Steve, We started out casting Top water, spoons and Steve a former fly fishing guide in Alaska was throwing a fly. Steve got us going and caught the first couple fish Jacks, Trout,and Ladyfish. Then Johnny caught a couple 3 lb. Trout on spoons and Rapala skitter walks. We caught some bait (pinfish) and went looking for Tarpon in the Gulf of Mexico. It didn't take to long and we were hooked up Jt was on the rod but the big Tarpon threw the hook on his first jump. I had several Ladyfish in the well and re-rigged and used one for bait and again we were hooked up. This time the fish ate, jumped a few times and then ran for a while staying hooked until we landed it about 30 minutes later. We got some good photos and released the fish after reviving her. We had 6 more hook ups and one thing or another happened but no more caught fish. We saved some Jacks during the course of the day and went to bend the rods on some Goliath Groupers.
Jt was first and it didn't take long he hooked up to a 50 lb Goliath, the fun of this is watching them eat the bait. Fishing in clear water make this a blast. Jt got the Goliath next to the boat and the hook pulled. Johnny was next he hooked a 30 lb Goliath and Steve followed up with a 15 pounder. These guys were whipped so we headed in.
051009 I'm with Mark and his wife Terry and she wants a Tarpon for her Mothers day gift. We started off catching Pinfish, Pilchards and Ladyfish for bait. We ran to the Gulf of Mexico which was slick calm, the Tarpon where everywhere and Mark and Terry couldn't wait to cast. The tide was just at slack and when it turned the bite was red hot and continued for 6 hours. We had a couple mishaps on the first couple fish and then Terry was hooked up on a good fish. We landed the 70 lb. Tarpon took a couple photos of her first Tarpon and revived it. The bite was continuous for the next 6 hours, we hooked 30 something Tarpon on bait and lures. The great part is we were alone all day and Terry landed and got releases on plenty of fish. Mark never grabbed the rod, letting his wife have every fish.
We hooked a bunch on X Raps and Mark finally got an 80 Lb fish on the way in while we were trying to get Terry a Snook to complete her Grand Slam. Terry had already caught Tarpon, Redfish and Trout. We had lost several nice Snook earlier and also a big Redfish. Mark caught a 10 lb Goliath as well. This was a remarkable day!
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Its only getting better with less winds and baits moving in daily
Target Species:
Tarpon, Snook, Bonefish Permit
More Fishing Reports:
