Flamingo Friday, Chokoloskee Saturday, 23 Nov
Capt. Bob LeMay
November 23, 2020
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
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lemaymiami
lemaymiami
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Joined Feb 9, 2007
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Discussion Starter • #1 • a moment ago
On Friday we fished out of Flamingo in windy conditions (seems like the wind has been blowing for weeks ...) with Nino Lenoro from Georgia and his partner Jack. Nino was using fly gear and Jack with spinning gear... It was a tough day -but we still managed to catch and release a few snook... Here's two pics of Nino's best snook...
Note the fly, a Whitewater clouser - we catch a number of fish on this pattern when working backcountry shorelines year in and year out...
Jack kept up his end as well - here's his first backcountry snook..
All of his fish came to leadheads with Gulp tails...
The next day, finally the wind laid down and I was over at Chokoloskee, working off my angler's skiff (more about that later). What a difference the weather made. I was fishing with a couple wanting to learn a bit about how to fish the Ten Thousand Islands area and we had a ball... At our first spot we caught and released speckled trout on leadheads with Gulp tails - at times double header after double header... I quit counting when we'd released around forty - as well as a nice snook and a single redfish... All of our best fish on Saturday came along the outside.... We did run back up inside but it didn't take long to figure out that the fish were mostly outside... that will change as water temps fall...
Just inside a river mouth we scored with an upper slot redfish on a lure that got invited home for dinner as well as a nice snook that released itself at boatside - then it was time to move back into one of the passes near Chokoloskee where we used bait (live ladyfish) to tempt a goliath grouper or two into biting... That last spot was on fire... Our first fish just took us to school and shredded the leader on the bottom structure. Once we got the hang of it we caught and released a half dozen of small ones up to about 8 or 9lbs - not bad on fairly light spinning gear... All in less than ten feet of water and along the way the lady tossed a leadhead over to a nearby mangrove tree and hooked another nice snook - and once again after a good fight the fish came to the boat and very quickly slipped the hook before I could reach it...
Both my anglers that day caught and released a backcountry slam (snook, redfish, and speckled trout) during the day - not bad for a first time in the backcountry... They also brought two trout and one upper slot redfish home for the table...
Here's a tip for anyone wanting to learn to fish the backcountry and not sure where to start... If you can... book a guide for that first trip - it will greatly shorten the learning curve (wish I'd taken that advice all those years ago myself...). I figure you'll learn more in a day with a guide than you will in a year on your own.... For a guide it's also a chance to fish on a variety of boats from big bayfishers all the way down to the newest technical poling skiffs while their usual ride stays home.... something I get to do a few times each year... Great fun - and I do my best to make it a learning experience - not hot spots, more a "how to go about it" proposition in my case...
These next few weeks the fishing in the backcountry should get better and better as water temps fall.
"Be a hero... take a kid fishing".
Tight Lines
Capt Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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