spring report Everglades backcountry Flamingo to Chokoloskee
Capt. Bob LeMay
April 20, 2019
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
t's been more than six weeks since my last report so this one will be a bit brief and just hit a few of the highlights... I've been alternating working out of Flamingo and Chokoloskee - day after day, wherever my anglers want to fish... and things are finally beginning to slow down. The big tarpon have been in for some weeks now - but as usual the weather has a big say in whether we've been able to fish them properly. Here's a pic or two of visiting angler Bob Elliott with a sixty pound fish up in a small river on a 10wt...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/npj1ipn.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/llGbGeh.jpg[/img]
These past weeks have seen our biggest fish on bait (a few over 100 lbs) - but lots of slightly smaller fish on lures and flies. The big fish will be around the backcountry for another three weeks - then they'll school up and head out to spawn (they'll either head for Islamorada or Boca Grande over by Sarasota). The good news is that they'll leave behind all the sixty pound and smaller fish for us to target... Not a bad deal at all since they'll be around all summer long....
Redfish in my area have been a disappointment.... Lots of them around but all on the small side. A year from now we should have a good population of lower slot size fish - but for now... all we've been finding are dinks...
Speckled trout have made a good showing - and in good fat pre-spawn condition.. Here's a pic or two of the ones we've been catching on lures and flies...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/SDgcSFh.jpg[/img]
These fat gulf run trout have shown up pretty regularly each day (thank heavens...).
As usual there were a few surprises these past few weeks - here's a pic of the biggest one - a monster snook that was very carefully released to fight another day.. She came to us in Chokoloskee Bay on a bad weather day - wind howling up to around 30... water muddy - and we were struggling just to catch a few fish.. I'd have to be pretty lucky to ever encounter one this big again (particularly in the Ten Thousand Islands...).
[img]https://i.imgur.com/mC2DoPh.jpg[/img]
Over 42" long and 24lbs on the scale - she ate a 1/4oz leadhead with a Mr. Wiffle plastic tail. Pretty neat when your angler hits a great catch on both a lure and a rod that you made yourself...
Our last outing was only a day or two ago - and here's our most recent snook - a solid 10lb fish taken on the lightest rod on my skiff - she was carefully released to fight another day...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Y0sMKdD.jpg[/img]
John Kern from Utah has fished with me for years now - I get to see him every spring... His fishing partner Phil Cox, not to be outdone got his first tarpon a few days before - a fifty pound fish on a small lure...
[img]https://i.imgur.com/EnWwKMk.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/JfqOSxl.jpg[/img]
Be a hero! Take a kid fishing....
Tight lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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