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South Florida Report - Flamingo, Biscayne Bay & Miami
Capt. Jim Hobales
July 15, 2007
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
July 2007
The conditions are hot; no wind and brutal heat, but that’s when the fishing is the best!
I am getting out early trying to get an early morning bite and be gone by 1pm. I find that everyone can’t handle the heat so it’s much easier to start early.
The Snook fishing is really good right now in and around the Flamingo area, no matter where you fish there are Snook. On the flats around Florida bay they are mostly between 23 and 29 inches. The creeks and rivers on the west side flowing into the Gulf of Mexico have some of the larger females.
The Tarpon have made have pretty much disappeared from the Miami Beach Government Cut area and moved south towards the Keys. The Tarpon fishing at Flamingo is getting little more predictable but for the most part they are late to arrive. In years past the Tarpon arrive in May and stick around thru October.
The Redfishing is good up on the flats of Snakebite the fish are there some days in big schools and others in singles. I have been finding plenty of Reds in the under cuts of the Mangroves in the shade.
070507
I’m with David and Jason today; we started out fishing a shoreline with the 15 mph wind blowing straight into it, Jason managed a 29-inch Snook. Today the conditions are really against us, a full moon with a SW wind. I don’t typically move around a lot or real fast once I’m there but this day had me scrambling. The guys were getting a little bit antsy so I took them to a spot where we could catch an assortment of species. I rigged up Gulp Shrimp on ½ ounce jigs and bounced a rock pile in 10 feet of water. The area had big school of Tarpon swimming around it. David and Jason caught nice Mutton Snapper, which is not common in the area, a big Schoolmaster Snapper a bunch of Mangrove Snappers up to 15 inches, a 10lb Goliath Grouper and then Jason hooked a big Tarpon which brought a big smile to his face. Although it didn’t last very long it was a thrill for him. David wanted to catch a big shark so that’s what we did. I had a couple Jacks which I butter-flied and cast out. It didn’t take long the Lemons, Black Tips and Bulls are thick so it doesn’t take long.
070807
I’m fishing with Eric, Charlie and Carlos and I can’t remember the other guy’s name. (sorry) I netted a bunch of bait and we were off to catch a Tarpon. It didn’t take long and the rod was doubled over (maybe1 minute) the fish ran about 100 yards and let go of the bait. The bait was scaled and like I have written before only 2 fish scale baits here Tarpon and Snook. The Tarpon were active and it was rough, we were actually taken waves over the front of the Pathfinder 22 while chasing fish. The action stayed very consistent for a bout five hours it finally calmed down and about 5 acres of Jacks came thru chasing bait schools. I don’t know how many we caught but it was the proverbial Chinese fire drill. The Sharks were eating all of our baits, we must had 30 Sharks hooked up and caught most of them. Once the winds died out the Tripletails showed up in big numbers. They were spooky so we started throwing little pinfish at them under a cork; one Tripletail actually ate the cork. An unexpected 4 guys showed up today I, which had me working overtime. One guy says, “I have to leave or my wife wont let me come again” usually I would have some fun with that and make him check for his manhood. I had worked so hard this day I used it to my advantage and called it a day.
070910
Bob and his daughter Adriana were down from Pittsburgh vacationing on the beach. Bob wanted Adriana to catch fish, he told me she don’t know the difference between Tarpon or anything else. The wind was blowing again, so I poled down the lee side of an island where I had some Tarpon. Adriana felt funny and had a little heat stroke, we got some ice on her neck and I got the boat on plane to get her cooled off. She started feeling better so I stayed in the open to make sure it didn’t happen again. I kept her busy with Snappers, Trout, Jacks, and Ladyfish. Bob had a couple big hits on the edge of Snakebight but they managed to come off.
071207
Today I fished with Pete my partner for this weekends Friendly Flamingo Tournament. We have been friends and fishing partners for a long time and just wanted to get a day in together before the tournament. I have taught him a lot over the years and whenever we fish together he wants to “school me” and show me how good he has become. This is the first time I have fished Flamingo on a day off since September, so I was going to have some fun!
We started out looking for Tarpon and it didn’t take long. I spotted a large Tarpon in 10 inches of water with his whole back out of the water. I cast my Twitch n Rap at him and I was on the fish made 2 jumps and was gone. It wasn’t long and another bunch rolled and I hooked and landed a 30 inch Tarpon. Today the weeds on the surface were really bad in Fl. Bay so I had to put the Twitch n Rap away and go to a weed less Gulp jerk bait. Although we were pre fishing we had fun with a giant school of 5-7 lbs Jacks that were mixed in with the Tarpon. We had a couple nice Snook the largest a 10 pounder was eaten by a Bull Shark next to the boat. The heat has been brutal get on the water early so you don’t have to deal with the heat in the afternoon.
071407
Today I am fishing the Friendly Flamingo Tournament, this is a tournament put on by the Florida Sportsman forum guys. This tournament is as competitive as any tournament out there. There are 2 divisions, the weekend angler and the pro divisions. This tournament had plenty of outstanding catches in both divisions.
I went to a spot, which I have confidence in. It was red-hot this morning the baits were getting blasted by the Tarpon; this is exactly what I was hoping for. My partner Pete gets really exited and Told him that’s why we are here. Lines in at 6:30 am and we had our 35- inch Tarpon at 7:03 am. I worked us in slowly not to spook them and it paid off. It wasn’t long after I caught a Snook that was just short of the new 28-inch minimum limit. We kept working catching a bunch of small Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish while looking for our big Snook. The tide was dropping and the water got really clear allowing us to see the potholes we were fishing much better. Pete had a great hit which ended up being a 29 -inch Snook and I followed that up with a 15” Trout. It was 9:30 and all we needed was a Redfish to finish off the “Grand Slam”. I went to all my favorite spots and unfortunately they were in the mullet muds and would spook as we approached them. Pete had a nice Snook hooked up and then the Jacks and Snappers and Sharks invaded the area. I told him we got to go the Sharks would eat the Red by the time we get him to the boat.
I ran to an area that always produces at least one school and I can get a fish out of it before they get to weary. I spotted a nice school and in between it and us there was another, which got them all moving. There was al least 7 schools moving around us but staying 200 feet away. I grabbed my Twitch n rap rod, which can almost cast that far with the wind behind me. We chased and chased but hey kept moving, we finally got a couple shots and I hooked up. The Redfish took off shook his head threw the plug we had several more shots but with the incoming high water the fish disappeared on us. The temps were up; air and water were extremely hot and the bite was definitely off.
We ended up with 3 species and had a great fish catching day. I got to fish 2 days this
week and it reminds me of why I am in this business, it’s about catching fish!
Let’s go Catch’em
If I can help in your summer fishing plans call me at 305 333 8149.
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