Back at it again today. Yesterday we got cancelled due to crazy weather. I thought today may be more of the same but not so. Light southereasterly winds. Anyways bait was very tough we check 3 spots and the final spot we finally saw a handful flipping and were able to catch 30 or so. Falling tides in the AM have been tough on the bait and today was no exception. Anyways we ran around flamingo to where the tarpon had been good last week on the incoming water. We did not see much tough we had a shark bite after 20 minutes or so. He pulled off and then saw a tarpon rolling behind our boat. A few minutes later we hooked him and chased after him. We landed a nice 60 lb fish. After that things got very grassy likely due to the crazy wind/storms the previous days. We moved around and tried a couple other spots, though no life at all. We ran out off the beaches to the west to catch the start of the incoming tide. Tried a couple different areas though could not even get a shark bite – very slow fishing. We then ran back towards flamingo to catch the start of the incoming tide there and tried another channel. We had a few shark bites there and did catch a big blacktip to finish the day. Anyways slow day though any day you get a tarpon is a good one, especially this late in the year! 1 for 1
8/24/15 + 8/25/15 August Flamingo Tarpon Fishing in the Backcountry
Forgot to do my report yesterday but here it is for the 24th. Fishing was very good we caught bait in the morning it took a few throws but managed 3 dozen or so. We go to the channels and tide was rolling in pretty good. Nice clean water and a light north easterly breeze. Fish were happy we hooked a big ray off the bat and caught him, then a nice tarpon. We ended up catching four tarpon in all, with three of them being 75 to 100 lbs! Very big fish for this time of year and nice to see. After that we ran and tride some shoreline areas and saw a few small tarpon rolling but no bites, but we did get some big bull and lemon sharks, and a nice snook. Great day back there on this day! 4 for 5
On the 25th I was hoping for more of the same… we left out early and ran towards flamingo in the everglades to tarpon fish. Wind had swung around more southeast today, it had been north/northeast the last few days which was pleasant. Bait was very tough we have the last of the falling tide in the mornings and that has been very poor for bait fishing the last few weeks. Luckily I had a couple dozen baits stashed away from the other day. But I did check a couple areas and did not see much for mullet, made a few throws and came up empty. Anyways we ran to the channels after that and the tide was slack getting ready to start coming in. I saw a few tarpon rolling around and we set up. We started fishing harder once the tide got moving 20 minutes later. Tarpon were very finicky today they did not want to bite, had rollers near us and moved around 3 times before finally getting a bite after an hour and a half. We landed a nice 65 lb fish and then set back up. The grass got really bad in the channel and I had to move around again near one of the edges, we fished a little while longer but we were no longer seeing fish so I moved to another nearby channel. We only had a half dozen baits left but we fished conservatively and after 45 minutes or so I saw a fish roll down the way. A few minutes later with our last bait out we hooked one and landed another smaller tarpon about 40 lbs. That was right about time to go was glad to get a couple on a day where somebody had flipped the switch off. Even the sharks were tough we had a couple shark bites but both cut us off. Anyways taking tomorrow off and then I have thursday and friday booked, then nothing for a little while. Getting to the end of season and I feel like I need a little break! 2 for 2
8/23/15 August Flamingo Tarpon Fishing Report Florida Keys
More tarpon fishing today I had a half day scheduled and wasn’t sure what the target species was going to be. My customer Doug and his father had been out the day before tarpon fishing without much luck so they were originally wanting to do some rod bending. However I told them it was still a far run to get to decent fishing this time of year even for simple rod bending, so they discussed it and decided to just do the tarpon thing again. We ran back towards flamingo and fished some of the channels where the fish had been the last few days. Caught the start of the incoming tide and fishing was good. First we had a couple big rays on. Next we hooked a nice 40 lb tarpon we landed from the dead boat, very nice for them to get one! Then we hooked another tarpon of about 60 lbs that made several good runs and jumps, we had to chase him down for a little while. After that we caught a couple sharks, a big lemon shark and a big blacktip shark. We moved a little further down the channel for the last 30 minutes and jumped another tarpon, then soon after hooked another big fish of 80 lbs. We landed him and that finished our morning. Normally it is tough to do a half day trip back there as half your trip is just running back and forth, though since the islamorada tarpon fishing has been consistently good lately back there and I knew we wouldn’t have to wait on a tide change or anything, I thought it was worth the risk. And it paid off! Full day tomorrow will probably be hitting the same thing again in the early morning. Not much on the books for next week we are definietly getting into ‘off season’ and not sure what this hurricane is going to do, but if you are in town and looking to go catch a silver king, lemme know! 3 for 4
