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Flamingo - Everglades National Park
Capt. Ariel Cabrera
September 30, 2002
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Customer Catches Huge Redfish and Goes For a Swim
September snookin’ in the park has been quite interesting to say the least. It seems when you least look for them that they seem to be willing to show up and cooperate. Jim Engskow and son David joined me for a shot at them and anything else that would take a bite. With live bait and all, these insiders just didn’t show but we had some action throughout the day. David caught two nice-sized mangroves, a small shark, jacks, ladyfish, and even seatrout. The four or five trout were not giants but fair-sized. The most exciting part of the day was playing the tripltail game. I honestly don’t know where these fish came from but they were somewhere truly unexpected. Few times have I actually been able to pole after tripltail and I was in two feet of water, at most. These fish were definitely breeders on a spawning mission. We saw a pair and two solo fish and they were all doulble digit bruins. David and Jim made great casts but these fish were preoccupied with procreating. Lightning forced us in a little early but the trip made for a great day.
Rick and Dianelys would hook up with me again for another banner day. A small black drum and an explosive snook strike began the day followed by seven redfish, two keeper-sized trout, and snapper. The scariest but absolutely most exciting part of the day was definitely watching Rick fight a redfish that was possibly too large too keep. After a few minutes Rick would safely bring the 26” red to the net but shortly after made a bad step and went for a dunk in crocodile infested waters. Dianelys said my face turned pale immediately and Rick took quick hole of my pole and came aboard. He said the waters felt great and couldn’t be happier with the redfish catch.
The next morning Rick would bring his business partener, Ray, for another day of action. Rick caught a cobia in two feet of water. I was able to tag, photograph, and release it. His partner caught his first snook and then a tarpon weighing in at twelve pounds. This tarpon took a sudden run because it was being chased by a bull shark. The shark took a bite and got it but we were able to land it and it recovered and released it in good condition. More large trout (2) in the17”-18” range and an awesome snook battle in the mangroves. Unfortunately, he snook was 25” and was tossed back for a more challenging fight.
Thanks to Isidore the last outing was pretty much a flop. There were many signs telling us to stay but we got it-and got it good. Early morning thunderstorms, a broken key cylinder in the truck, missing wrenches, and the whole nine yards. We were optimistic in the rough stuff. It gets better but I’ll save some for the next report.
Capt. Ariel
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