Live bait is key for big numbers!
Capt. Jim Hobales
October 27, 2013
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
102213
I am with Bob Wegner today fishing S. Biscayne Bay, Bob has just got back from his summer home in Wisconsin and wanted to hear some drag getting pulled. Our first stop was netting some pilchards but while we were doing this there were some big explosions on the surface. I said Bob throw the top water lure! His lure hit the water and got knock out of the water at the same time after a couple missed strike he had something pulling some serious drag, I was thinking big Jack all the way. Bob worked the fish close and I saw it was a monster Mangrove Snapper, I reached for the net and boated it. we continued and had many other strikes from assorted fish and watched a really big Shark come thru. I thought it was a Tiger because of the Blunt dorsal fin, I've seen a few and that is what I have always noticed about them. Regardless it was over 10 feet long and everything slowed after his passing thru. We continued casting but the Blue Runners moved in and it was time to go. I ran to a little wreck in the bay and started to throw out live chum, it didn't take Bob long and he was hooked up. He caught plenty of Muttons, Mangroves, Yellowtails, and 1 big Barracuda until he was ready for something else. We ran down and looked for Permit and got him a shot at a big one but the big Permit changed direction after the cast. We saw one more and then moved on to fish the channels for Mutton Snappers. We set up and again started live chumming it didn't take long and the Barracudas were killing us, then he had a different kind of hit and fight. This fish stayed deep and pulled hard like a Mutton after a few minutes Bob got it in and it was a 20 " Mutton Snapper. Bob caught 20 Barracudas and nothing else was able to get to the baits. He had enough and we headed in we caught allot of fish today!
102313
I am fishing Flamingo today with Rick and Kathy Widener and Kathy's brother John. We fished the back country and it didn't take long get fish in the boat. The first spot produced 5 Redfish and the first Snook I have caught on that island since the big freeze of 2010. The next spot was the same a couple Redfish and Mangrove Snappers. I decided to run a bit and go catch some bait, bait was easy today 2 throws of the net and we had a full live well. I love pilchards because we can live chum with them and my clients get excited about seeing the fish come up. Today was definitely one of those days the Reds and Snook cooperated we worked up and down the coast and worked every point. We had a couple spots which produce good numbers with all three anglers constantly hooked up, it seemed like I couldn't get to the live well quick enough. For @ 3 hours we caught fish on every cast mostly Snook, but we had a lot of Reds mixed in. We had some kind of storm line come thru, the bite turned off and got really windy. It was late so I started to make my way back but stopped to net a few more pilchards just in case. This paid off big time I had another spot I had not caught a Snook on since the freeze, it changed today. Its amazing what pilchards can do. I tossed a handful out and the shoreline erupted, Kathy was hooked up. This fish ran a round a bush and then showed it self before it broke off, it was a nice Snook. The next hour was incredible we caught another 10 Snook, 4 Redfish, 5 Snappers to 15", Trout to 18", Jacks and of course a couple Catfish. The numbers of fish today were as good as it can really get, I think total 60 Snook, 20 Redfish, and the rest just made them tired. I forgot to mention the 90 lb. Tarpon Kathy was hooked up to for a while, what a day!
102613
I am back at Flamingo with Ray Dame and his daughter Nicole, again today I started out close on another spot that had not been producing since the 2010 freeze. I had some live shrimp and rigged up a cork for her, first cast gets slammed. It was a big Mangrove Snapper, after a couple more Snappers we get a good fish hooked up. The fish ran right into the tree and broke us off, we watched the cork was still attached to the fish swimming down the shore line. I'm pretty sure I know what it was so another spot that's coming back! On the next spot we tossed a shrimp up into a tree and it got slammed again only to come off. I decide to go catch bait and hit the same pattern as the other day. We had our first cold front come thru last night and things changed a bit today, there was bait but not as thick. I still only needed one toss of the net and we were on our way. Today was almost the same as Wed. we caught allot of Snook and Redfish the big difference today was Ray is fly fishing for them. I would throw out live chummers and he would get hit, he was having a blast. Nicole on the other hand was getting the advantage of using live bait and catching all the fish she could handle. She caught a couple good fish on her own which was important to her. I always keep a top water rigged and throw it off the back of the boat when I can, I can throw that where my anglers can't reach and it always seems to pay off with big fish! The last couple days were no different, Nicole took a break and I made a few cast. I got a big blow up and caught a 30+ inch Snook. I tried to pass it off but no one would take it so I got to catch one! The tide was almost done and there was no movement so I ran back into Whitewater Bay where it was still moving. I stopped at the same spot as I did on Wed and threw out some live chummers and it didn't take long for the Snook to blow them up. Nicole cast a bait up into the trees and got slammed by a Snook which we landed and released. Three of four minutes passed and all of a sudden 2 Porpoises are under the boat looking for the Snook, I don't think they got it but fishing was done there. One last spot for Tarpon but only 1 more Snook for Nicole. It was the end to an awesome day so we headed in!
Flamingo Fishing Forecast:
Miami should get a good mullet run here in the next week!
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