Everglades Bonanza
Steve Gibson
December 16, 2009
Sarasota - Freshwater Fishing Report
We made our first trip to The Everglades on Monday and it was nothing short of spectacular. The stars were align, the weather perfect and the fish were plentiful and hungry.
Capt. Pete Greenan of The Gypsy Guide Service in Sarasota was my guest. It was the second time Greenan fished The ‘Glades with me. On his last outing in January, we did very well.
But not as good as this time around.
Using a 3-weight fly rod and a No. 10 popping bug, Greenan hooked up on his first cast. After a great battle, he landed a feisty oscar, an exotic that is one of the hardest fighting fish in all of Florida's fresh waters. It was the first of more than 150 oscar we caught on the day.
We switched to my Myakka Minnow after the topwater bite ended and did extremely well. In addition to oscar, we caught largemouth bass, bluegill, stumpknocker, Mayan cichlid and warmouth perch.
We also caught two species that we had never caught in this particular stretch of water: speckled perch and peacock bass. We landed eight speckled perch (black crappie) and five peacocks.
By our conservative estimate, we landed 300 fish.
We fish The Everglades from December through April. The water level is down during this period and it concentrates the fish. During the rainy season, the water level is up and the fish spread out over millions of acres. In addition, the air temperature is quite comfortable and there are no bugs during winter.
Obviously, this is an all-day trip. We depart around 4:30 a.m. and get back about 6:30 p.m. Often, we'll stop for dinner at the Islamorada Fish House at Bass Pro Shop in Fort Myers.
Saltwater fishing has been fair. I fished Tuesday and landed a pair of pompano and a Spanish mackerel on my Big Eye Baitfish Fly. I used a 6-weight fly rod and sinktip line.
I fished off Stephens Point in Sarasota Bay. There were plenty of fish on the deep grass, but they weren't aggressive. We probably need four or five days of decent weather to spark the bite.
If we get some good negative tides, I'll head for Charlotte Harbor, Matlacha or Pine Island Sound to target tailing redfish. This is a thrilling way to fish – although it can be frustrating.
This is probably my last fishing report of the year. Kathy and I will fly to Grand Cayman on Christmas Eve. I'm planning on fly fishing for bonefish, permit and tarpon for five days.
Happy Holidays to each and every one of you.
Sarasota Fishing Forecast:
Everglades action will be fast-paced through April with anglers averaging 150 fish each.
Saltwater action will include spotted seatrout, pompano, Spanish mackerel and bluefish.
We'll target redfish in the shallows during the period of negative low tides.
Target Species:
oscar, peacock bass, Mayan cichlide, largemouth bass, speckled perch, pompano, spotted seatrout, bluefish, redfish, snook
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