Its hot, but they are biting!
Capt. Jim Hobales
August 22, 2016
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
I like August it's when all the fish come out to play. Some days it Tarpon, some days Snook, this season has been very disappointing for Redfish. This time of year its always about numbers and recently that's what I have been pursuing. This is also the slower time of year so I fish allot with family and friends. I took on a project of teaching my nephews Flamingo a couple years ago and its starting to really show. They actually took me to a spot and put me on Snook, a bunch of them. What's funny about it is it's place people run by every day, but since they are fairly new its a as far as they go. They are learning and I am fishing a tournament with them next month.
There are fish from outside the Flamingo marina out to the coast and as far north as you want to run. I have been fishing Rapala Shadow Raps and Twitchin Raps along with some Gulp shrimp on jig heads. When there is bait I net some and there has been lots of bait around. This increases the chance of big numbers of fish although lures do really well when fished in right conditions. Everyday is different and baits that work today might night work tomorrow.
My wife was on vacation she runs the office for Biscayne rods, she hears nothing but fishing all day long. On our vacation I took her out to catch fish so she would have a few stories of her own. It was a fun day we caught a bunch of Snook and she managed a few on her own, will not take a passed rod. We hooked a bunch of Tarpon that day and she got a couple close to the boat for releases, this with a ton of Trout she got a SLAM.
I fished the BBI Tournament today for the Sheridan House Charity, the tournament is held out of Key Largo. I had 3 really great guys Kevin, Shane and David on board with me . We started out with some rolling Tarpon and a few hits and misses. We moved on caught some pilchards and turned them into some really small Snook. We caught a bunch little Snook and had some big bites as well,but they all turned into Sharks. Shane caught a 23" Redfish also. This turns in to a short day because we ran to Flamingo from Key Largo and lines out at 2 pm. The last hour was so incredible! I was looking for a big Sawfish to take big fish honors, I did it last year. This year we hooked a big Sting Ray instead but this was a gift. As we were releasing the Ray I noticed a rolling Tarpon, and found a giant school of them. We spent the last hour hooking, jumping and almost landing Tarpon. This was a day maker but we were out of time and had to run back.
I am at Flamingo with my son James and friend Bruce, we were out for fun. I'm always trying to learn and its makes it easy when you have guys who just want to catch fish. Bruce started it off by catching a couple Snook that were busting up a bait pod. James was next but this was just the beginning. We netted some pilchards and used them for live chumming. It didn't take long James had a big Snook eat a Shadow Rap and get all into a root system. We managed to get the decent fish out. A few pics and now Bruce has one and its a good one, he was matching the hatch with a Mirrodine. Of course he was fishing the lightest rod in the boat and had the biggest fish of the day. (which is pictured above). I got in on the action and landed a big girl of my own. The full moon tide was a 5.0 tide that's allot of water. We tried several other places but there was lots of water. We called it a day.
I am down at Flamingo with my nephews, its both of their birthdays so this was a pretty good gift. We started out quick with Tarpon we hooked, caught and jumped around 15 by 8:30 a.m. The next stop produced a few Snook and some bait. The bait was important for the next spot, we had a strong outgoing tide and I wanted to chum up some Snook. we had super clen water and sight fished a couple Snook and once we started chumming the pilchards we go into every thing that's swims. We caught big Mangrove Snapper, Jacks, Ladyfish, Trout, Barracudas and had some what of a learning experience in a couple spots. We kept hitting places that I don't normally fish and kept coming up with fish. They said they wanted to show me something, I said ok. It's funny but they showed me something. We got into a pocket I run by everyday and it was loaded with Snook and we caught a Redfish also. It just goes to show I look at the same spots every time I run by and don't take a chance, they looked at it as an adventure and potential.
We had a live well full of pilchards and emptied the live well on the way in, we also went 2 for 8 on Tarpon.
The fishing is good down in Everglades National Park is on fire right now. With school starting and every one getting back to the grind the park will be slow during the week. If you would like to give it a try give me a call at 305 333 8149.
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Capt. Jim Hobales
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Its good!
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