Tarpon are here
Capt. Jim Hobales
May 19, 2008
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
050908
Steve is in from England with his trusty fly rod, I decided to fish Whitewater Bay because there had been some fish back there. The winds were blowing around 15 so we stayed tight up against the islands. Steve had some opportunities but into the wind is always tough. The Jacks, Ladyfish and Trout ate his fly, finally a couple nice Snook decided they wanted to play as well. We ended the day on some feeding Tarpon which were kind of spread out but we did get a few opportunities at laid up fish but no hook ups.
051008
I am with Steve again today and we are ocean side off of Caesar's bank hoping for a tarpon hook up. The wind is calm, but we had a haze which made it tough to see into the water. The Tarpon we rolling pretty close and we did get a couple chances early. Location is key in this fishing and another boat was in the area where the fish where coming thru but we waited them out and they finally left. The Tarpon were actually farther out in open water so we moved out after them. Steve had some great cast at the lead fish but they just swam by his fly. We changed his fly and tried again, only to get the same result. The SW wind and a barometer that was bottoming out had them shut down. We played with some big Sharks and had some Rays which will hold Permit, but not today!
051408
Bill called me and said his wife Linda wanted to just catch a "Tarpon". I suggested Flamingo, we started out on a little spot and they were everywhere, little fish that normally eat. We spent 3 hours on those and no bites! I started moving around a bit we caught some Jacks, Ladyfish, Trout. Bill hooked a big Snook which jumped repeatedly and startled a Sting Ray which in return jumped up and hit his line with its tail. The line broke and the big fish was gone, I have never had that happen before and it was a nice fish. Linda ended up with a nice Snook of her own and we hooked a small Lemon Shark only to get broke off. The heat was getting brutal so we called it around 1 PM.
051608
Tonight I am out with Andy, Bryan and Tommy from New Jersey, we started out laughing and had a really good time. These guys are here for Bryan's Bachelor party and showed up with 2 cases of beer. The winds were blowing pretty good making our drifts really quick. We had an opportunity at some really big Jack Crevalle (25 lbs)busting up bait schools, but they were in and out and we only go a few cast at them. The bite didn't come until after the sun went down and we finally had a big fish hooked up, Bryan was on the rod and he was extremely pumped up, this is what it is all about. Bryan fought the fish for 30 minutes and then he said "it gone". No time to cry about it lets get set up again, I positioned the boat for the same drift since I marked the fish right before the bite, as our Crabs passed over the area the drag started singing. This time Andy picked up the rod and the Tarpon is jumping all over the place, Andy fought it for a while and the Tarpon jumped and thru the hook. We set up a few more times but the bite was over that quick. Tommy had enough anyway he was almost out of beer. I am glad I could put these guys on fish we had some good laughs.
051708
Today I am with Rick and Dave at Flamingo, and its breezy out of the SW again. I started out in east Florida Bay but the fish weren't on my first spot. The second area was different, as I poled in I spotted some Tarpon. I pointed them out and they made their cast at them only to get hit by Ladyfish. Rick hooked a nice Trout and then we blew out a bunch of fish. The area had some fish but no Snook. The next spot had a couple Snook right where I explained they would be, Dave caught one. We had a couple big schools of Redfish pop up and wake only to disappear, Rick and Dave cast in the school but no bites. The next spot had some fish on it, we were fishing potholes and Sting Rays. One Sting ray had 2 big Snook on it but the heeby-jeebies got the best of Dave.The one fish actually ate his bait but was slow on the hook set. I said he ate it and he waited, I can see everything from that poling tower! the Snook and Trout were pretty thick up on that edge and we caught some decent fish. Today while looking for Tarpon we caught a lot of Ladyfish in the same areas when the winds finally come down the Tarpon will show up really good. While looking for Redfish we came across some sharks we played with for a while,sight fishing 100 lb Sharks is plenty of fun.
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Fishing is good, but the SW wind flow hurts it. These conditions shouldn't last much longer, I hope!
Target Species:
Tarpon,Snook ,Bonefish,Permit,Sharks
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