Flamingo report, 21 July 2020
Capt. Bob LeMay
July 21, 2020
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
I fished Kevin and his son Dawson last Sunday out of Flamingo and we had a pretty good day, running through the interior to get out to the Shark River area (the gulf coast of the Everglades for anyone not familiar with the area..). We were using spinning gear that day , mostly artificials although we did make a point of picking up a few ladyfish at our first stop so that we'd have live baits if needed... Less than 20 minutes later in one of the big tributaries nearby it was game on as Kevin hooked up a good sized goliath grouper on a lure meant for a small tarpon (tarpon were all around the boat at the time...). That fish took Kevin to school, hammering the rod over and over then diving back down and hanging him up on a ledge... While all of that was going on - Dawson saw that our only live bait had been hit, grabbed the rod and was hanging on to a 70lb tarpon... Kevin finally brought the goliath to the boat for a quick photo and release then we set off after that tarpon...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/p9YSuIL.jpg[/img]
One of these hooked up in river will take a medium sized rod to its limits... Great catch on a small lure...
Here's Dawson with his biggest tarpon ever...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/r82oEO5.jpg[/img]
The fish had run off about a hundred yards of line while jumping repeatedly before it settled down as we chased after it...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/J52SCrb.jpg[/img]
here it is just before I leadered it for the release - a solid fish that never quit....
That day we also worked some shorelines that paid off as well using small leadheads with Gulp tails... We got speckled trout, small snook, more goliath grouper (a bit smaller than that first one) as well as two triple tail... Here are the pics...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/QN0cYvv.jpg[/img]
All of the trout were this size size or larger, father and son took turns catching them
[img]https://i.imgur.com/fh7iJMW.jpg[/img]
Here's Kevin's second goliath, note the leadhead it was taken on...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ThwrKVt.jpg[/img]
this 7lb tripletail was invited home for dinner.. both triples that day were hooked up in less than three feet of water (a lot less...).
Along the way we caught and released one redfish that was almost 18" and tangled with several sharks, both small and large ...
Lots of action now along the coast of the 'glades every day and unlike ramps along the Atlantic side of things no restrictions on operating hours for the Park or the boat ramps... Very welcome as far as I'm concerned...
As we move through summer the fishing in the Park will just keep getting better...
" Be a hero... take a kid fishing"
Tight lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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