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Everglades National Park - Flamingo
Capt. Bob LeMay
December 10, 2003
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week winter, or what passes for it here, was in full swing along with the usual cold fronts (and accompanying high winds). I was fortunate to be on the water four days and we fished a lot of different areas during that time ranging from Big Sable as far north to the Rogers River along the coast and a variety of areas in Whitewater and Oyster bays. Surface water temperatures at dawn ranged during the week from 64 to as low as 55 degrees. That's a bit on the cool side... Fortunately you can count on water temps to rise about 4 degrees during the day. If you can find a small cove with a shallow mud bottom you might find every big fish in the neighborhood as they move in to warm up with the sun. Redfish and large snook will be your targets, but they won't be easy to feed... This is a great time to sight fish for them. The shallows will really turn on if we get a few consecutive of mild weather (that translates to not very cold and very little wind). Remember that the fish will be feeding on a bit smaller forage than during summer and early fall.
Our biggest fish brought to boat and released this week was a small sawfish about 8' long (remember the critters get more than 20' long...). The most action this week has been with slot sized speckled trout in Whitewater Bay. In one spot we caught and released more than 80 before we left them to hunt reds and snook. The trout were eating shrimp and small jigs under Equalizers, tipped jigs, and flies. We had them feeding so heavily that it was almost a fish every cast for a while. The trout, which must be released right now (closed season), should be in the interior in good numbers for the next few months. Areas where a strong tide current works around the corners of islands are good places to look for them.
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