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tarpon day & night, 30 April
Capt. Bob LeMay
April 30, 2013
Flamingo - Saltwater Fishing Report
The title says it all -our daytime in the 'Glades has been mostly tarpon and the only night trip last week was more of the same.... It started with a cancellation, never a good time for a guide in the spring but I was lucky enough to pick up two of the five days lost with a fly angler from Pittsburgh who was making the transition from freshwater to the salt and hoping for his first tarpon. We were jumping tarpon from 80lbs on up his first day but none would stay connected. These were all big fish in relatively small rivers and one of them, clearly over 100lbs hit his fly at almost pointblank range. Roy Arnold got a bite that was almost heart stopping as the big fish rocketed out from under a log to inhale the fly while coming right at him - maybe 12 feet away... The fish then did a mad dash down the bank away from us going well into the backing before coming un-stuck after a couple of jumps. We headed home that day planning more of the same the following day. The next day we didn't see many fish at first then Roy got a good shot at a small group moving right at us. One or two long strips and we were off to the races with a smaller fish - about 60lbs. Here's a few pics...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/Roytarpon4_zpsc31a735a.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/Roytarpon4_zpsc31a735a.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/Roytarpon2_zpsaaefaf20.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/Roytarpon2_zpsaaefaf20.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/Roytarpon5_zpsea7c5d0a.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/Roytarpon5_zpsea7c5d0a.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Nothing like a tarpon on fly....
Roy also caught and released trout, reds, and a snook on fly. This time of year that's a daily possibility, here's two more pics...
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/Roysredonfly_zps1759c06e.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/Roysredonfly_zps1759c06e.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/Roysnook_zps191ef832.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/Roysnook_zps191ef832.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Two days later I had Evan Cox on board with a brand new high end Shimano spinning reel he was wanting to try out... It got a work out when he jumped two big fish on lures in the same river - one cut him off on a submerged branch or tree, the second pulled the hook. The biggest fish was in the 120 range and all were up very quiet rivers. To round off his day we fished a live bait for tarpon that drew a very big and hungry shark that looked well over nine feet in length as it boiled up after the ladyfish. After five minutes back and forth the fish cut us off... I think Evan was relieved since that fish was one of those fights that would have been hours long... He also caught and released a very nice trout that day... here's a pic
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/coxevanbigtrout_zpsad44f9e9.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/coxevanbigtrout_zpsad44f9e9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Finally we did a late night on Friday with local angler Neil Franklin. With an 11Pm start we were looking for tarpon on fly in Biscayne Bay. Armed with only a 9wt rod we set up at one of the many bridges in the Bay where small and not so small tarpon come to feed in the shadows... It was game on from the start. His first cast was to a fish we could see gliding along in the shadows right in front of us and it took his first cast then rocketed away from the bridge before pretty thoroughly stitching us up in nearby fender pilings... After re-rigging his very next cast (at this point he'd made exactly two casts total for the evening...) he hooked up with a very determined fish that dragged us nearly 500 meters from where we hooked up. After at least three or four leader grabs the fish finally gave up and I estimated it at 50lbs.... Here's a few photos.
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/FrankllinNeiltarponon9wt1_zps241613ce.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/FrankllinNeiltarponon9wt1_zps241613ce.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[img][img][URL=http://s235.photobucket.com/user/lemaymiami/media/FranklinNeiltarponon9wt2_zps00f0f949.jpg.html][IMG]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee111/lemaymiami/FranklinNeiltarponon9wt2_zps00f0f949.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
It would be nice to report that the hot action continued for the rest of the tide but the weather shifted and the wind got going so many of our bridges just weren't fishable..... The night scene, always good, can still be unpredictable at times....
As we move into early May the action should keep getting better. So far it looks like a wet spring - now if those pesky thunderstorms would back off a bit.....
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666
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