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South Florida Report - Flamingo, Biscayne Bay & Miami
Capt. Jim Hobales
March 5, 2007
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
March is usually a windy month and so far we are on track. The windy conditions along with a late winter have affected our Tarpon fishing dramatically, they are late. The Tarpon along the coast of Miami Beach have been inconsistent at best, the back country Tarpon down in Whitewater Bay out of Flamingo are here today not biting tomorrow. I have to believe it could change any day once the conditions remain steady for a few days. The weather has not hurt the other species to bad; Redfish, Snook, Trout, Cobia and Groupers have been caught regularly.
Flamingo-
The out look is good for the rest of the month is optimistic, warmer weather will definitely turn the Tarpon on,
I will continue to look for them and soon they will cooperate. The shallow water flats have been loaded with Redfish, Snook and the big Trout are up in the potholes. The Tripletail's are in the Gulf of Mexico hanging on the crab traps, the can be big and very challenging to cast at. The Shark fishing has been good with some big Lemons, Bulls, and Black Tips all of these Shark pull plenty of drag.
Biscayne Bay-
The Bonefishing is good year round with the temperatures rising daily, it will become dependable along with the Permit starting to show up in better numbers. There have already been some Tarpon swimming down around Elliot Key which is very early in the season.
030107
Richard Carter is in from Texas, he's out to play while his wife is at work( got to love that). We started out the morning by looking for Tarpon in Whitewater Bay. The Tarpon showed themselves early by free jumping, I was hoping it was on. The bite was on the 3 days prior. Today's weather is breezy which don't allow us to see the fish as they roll; only the free jumpers. We cast plugs for an hour and the conditions just got worse so I asked if he would like to try for Snook, he agreed. I ran to an area which was protect from the wind, I poled down the shore line and Richard cast a Gulp Shrimp along the bank. The Ladyfish and Jacks hit it first, then a Goliath Grouper, Trout and finally a Snook and a couple Redfish. The action continued thru the day, I said let's go back and try the Tarpon again, they will get more active in the afternoon! The wind was still blowing pretty good but the Tarpon were showing themselves, it took a while but we finally had a bit tarpon smash a plug. The Tarpon hit within 20 feet of the boat so we got a great view of the big female, somewhere in the 140 lb. range. It didn't last long but it got the adrenaline pumping. Unfortunately that was it no more bite's. We called it a day, Richard was satisfied with the days catch, he did catch his first Snook.
030207
Today I have some hardcore anglers, I know I have to work hard because of their needs. Rob called me right after a trip last month (1-15) and said he wanted to go again for Tarpon, he really wants one bad. Rob brought His brother in-law Craig and his buddy Mel. This morning we started out in Whitewater Bay again, there are some free jumping Tarpon so we are optimistic. It didn't take long and I lost my optimism and moved to several other areas looking for Tarpon. We finally ended up in Ponce Bay where there were some Tarpon rolling, These Tarpon love the Catch 2000 in either black or green and silver. We rigged on of each and tried a assortment of others, the Ladyfish, Jacks and Mackerel were beating the Tarpon to the lure, but they kept casting. The Catch 2000 paid off for Rob; he hooked around a 30-40 lb Tarpon, unfortunately it didn't last long. They continued to cast until the tide change and it was over. I said how about some Groupers, we made our way to Shark River. I rigged up some big lipped Rapala's and we trolled down the bank, it didn't take long. The right rod doubled over Mel started cranking and pulled in a nice Goliath Grouper of 5 lbs., back to trolling. This time Rob is hooked up and again another 5 lb. Goliath. The next time the rod doubled over Craig pulled in a Gag Grouper and the another Goliath Grouper. Sometimes fish pop up when you least expect it, a school of Tarpon rolled in front of our path. The guys cast into the school and we worked the area for a while without a Tarpon bite. I asked how about looking for Tripletail's and Cobias, they agreed. We made our way into the Gulf of Mexico and ran the markers and the crab traps. It took a while but we finally found a Tripletail on the crab buoy. Mel cast and the fish ate it only to come off but Mel was excited about the take. I pulled up to a boundary marker and Mel cast before we stopped, Mel's hooked up! This fish is spooling him and we can't get around the marker because of the wind. rob almost ended up in the water when I backed down. Again another lost fish, this is starting to hurt. We ran the crab buoys finding a bunch of small Tripletail's, I finally spotted one bigger than the top of my cooler. We started out up current and the guys cast a bunch of times failing to get close enough, the giant Tripletail finally spooked off.
We moved on Craig Caught a Snook on a shoreline and we thought we found the right conditions when the mullet schools were getting beat up, but no bites. The rods stayed bent most of the day although the good fish all got away, this happens!
030307
Today I fished with Bob and Harry buddies from New Jersey. Bob fished with me last month and had such a good time he's back, out of the cold of his home state. Bob and Harry set the rules and the bet's; first fish, big fish and most fish. Tarpon were on the list but no takers today, so we moved on. The idea today stay busy size or specie don't matter all that matters is who catches the most(at least to Bob). The day was very consistent, they caught tons of Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Catfish, and were keeping score all along. Harry finally went to his"go to lure" at home, a chrome pencil popper. This is when it all changed, Harry started getting some big boils from Snook behind his lure. Harry had a very "BIG" Snook come up and smash his lure. Its hard to put in words the reaction and the sound this makes. The Snook was looking for the plug and hit it again a couple cast later. We did not catch that big one but harry did manage a nice Snook. Bob had a hook up also but got cut of by the mangroves. Harry's plug wasn't finished yet, the Mangrove Snappers were crushing it. He caught a few and they were decent size. The minnows were getting busted on the surface and Harry's plug was getting hit, but the Snook were striking it short. The day ended Shark fishing, we put out a couple lady and they were it hard and often. Harry was throwing a plug and hooked a Catfish which was destroyed by a big Bull Shark boat side, now Harry is hooked up to the Shark. After about 5 minutes the plug came free. We rigged another Catfish to the Biscayne 20 lb rod and it took 1 minute. Bob is hooked up and the trash talking, claiming to have the biggest fish so far. We boated the Lemon Shark and although it wasn't as big as Harry's we did boat it. I don't know if they could honestly figure out who caught the most, but they both had a good time bickering about it. I'll see these guys again next year and the battle will resume.
030507
Today, I am part of a corporate trip with 3 boats. I have Jerry on my boat from Phoenix, AZ. Today the weather is beautiful its cool, breezy and sunny. We did not have a lot of time today there was a bad accident which cost the guys time on the water. They only had 4 hours and then a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. We fished of of Stiltsville in Biscayne Bay. We started slow and moved around but managed to catch some fish including a large Jack Crevalle which peeled off a lot of drag. Jerry also caught a Lane Snapper and 2 nice Mutton Snappers. The day was short and sweet, we caught a few fish and exchanged some interesting stories.
These are the trips I enjoy watching buddies battle it out and having fun, if I can help you catch your dream fish give me a call at 305 333 8149.
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