Fishing report, Everglades interior and Miami nights

[lemaymiami]

I was lucky enough to be booked the last three days of 2005, fishing out of Flamingo each day. All the facilities there remain closed and only the inside ramp is open. Since that's my normal area, it was all we needed. Temperatures warmed very nicely during the three days before the New Year. We started on Thursday with barely 61 degree water temps at dawn... by Saturday it was 64 to 65 at dawn and everything was eating! Every morning we started off the day catching and releasing ladyfish and speckled trout. Some of the ladies were ocean sized, the trout were mostly small or barely legal. The best fishing each day was for shallow water snook warming up each day along very shallow mud corners just out of the wind. The snook ranged from little ones all the way up to fish that were at or above the upper slot limit. Although we caught and released them from Whitewater all the way out to the Shark River, the best hunting areas for them were in the interior of Whitewater Bay. We also caught and released redfish each day in Oyster and Whitewater Bays but there were a lot more snook around than reds on the days we fished. By Friday Robert Halvorsen and his nephew Billy from Pennsyvania had each managed a backcountry slam of snook, reds, and trout for each angler on lures. Although our biggest snook landed and released was only about 8lbs, both anglers had hooked and lost snook up to about 12lbs under the best weather conditions imaginable. At the end of Friday we began to see a few giant tarpon moving in Whitewater Bay... Knowing that the following day would have even warmer water temperatures, I had visions of an end of the year big tarpon for the next day's anglers.

Saturday, although we saw a few tarpon, the fish remained out of reach. My anglers Brian King and Wayne Hamilton were just happy to be fishing for reds, snook, and trout. Early that morning Wayne, a local angler from Dade county made an outstanding catch. He caught, photoed, and released a snook that weighed over 18lbs on the Boga-grip. The fish was taken on fairly light gear, 12lb line with spinning gear. It was his biggest ever and a great catch in Whitewater Bay within just a few feet of a mangrove island. It would be tough to find one bigger in Whitewater in a year's fishing, but we'll be trying... They also went on to catch and release a backcountry slam of reds, trout, and more snook. Flamingo is just the place to be in the winter when the weather eases up a bit. At the end of three days we had caught and released around 20 reds and at least as many trout each day and had good sight action with spooky snook every day. For guys that want to fish the area out of their own boats here's a tip... forget the trolling motor and just use a pushpole to hunt fish. You'll see a lot more fish if you're quiet... For fly anglers a small dark fly is just the ticket now...

As I write this another local angler called to report that the night-time small tarpon fishing in Biscayne Bay is still on fire... so Flamingo isn't the only hotspot right now. The best night fishing will be on a falling tide with a few shrimp moving to start the feed. It will continue all the way through April if the fish behave like they usually do.

A quick note about Flamingo for anyone reading this report. The place got badly damaged during this fall's hurricanes and the Park will have quite a bit of work to repair things and re-open its facilities. One serious problem appears to be that there's some question about whether the Flamingo Lodge will be re-built at all... Curtis Morgan with the Miami Herald has written an excellent article about it last week. The final decision will be made in the near future. I hope the Park hears from lots of folks about that decision. It worries me that the Lodge may just disappear since it brings so many visitors to stay in the Park. Your comments to the political types may influence that decision. Step up, the Park could use some friends right now.

[Fish_on_fly]

Hi Capt,
Thanks for the report.

My buddy and I will be down the 4th and 5th of feb and we'd like to target tarpon on the fly (Even if that means smaller tarpon in the back country). What's the chance of that happening that time of year? We're certainly open to other species, but would prefer to experience a few hookups with tarpon.

It sounds like the ony time to fish tarpon is at night. I'm assuming that's bait fishing?

-Mark

[lemaymiami]

Boy am I glad you asked... Winter tarpon in South Florida come in three possibilities.

The first is night fishing in ocean inlets and just outside the beaches of Miami Beach. Ocean boats (20' is on the small side), live bait, and hang on 'cause these are big fish. It's not my scene but lots of folks enjoy it. A few of the captains that I know are Bouncer Smith, Dave Kostyo, Dean Panos, just to name a few (there are others) that work this fishery.

The second possibility is one of my specialties - sight fishing small tarpon (average 20 to 40lbs) at night with light tackle or fly gear. There've been several articles about this fishery and a few local guides are on them every night during winter when the tide's right. On a good night it's possible to jump more than 10 fish in five hours on an 8 or 9wt rod. These are fish that hang right at the surface in the shadows around all the bridges that connect Miami to Miami Beach. We're fishing so close that an occasional one will land in the boat on its first jump (not good). Some nights the fish run a bit bigger, every winter we'll stick a few up to 80lbs. A 30lb tarpon on an 8wt. will be all you can handle... stick one near 50 and we'll be chasing him for as much as an hour...

I've saved the best for last. The interior of Everglades National Park has world class giant tarpon fishing in winter when the conditions are right... Whitewater Bay is the place, when it's on I see top anglers from around the world there. The key is the weather. If it's mild (no sudden temperature drops) Whitewater Bay is warmer than any other place in the 'Glades, including Gulf waters. The fish move in and loaf and occasionally feed on anything that swims near. The Bay is 10 miles long and 6 miles wide so a quite a few anglers can hunt them in the typical 3 to 6' deep water. Because the water is stained brown to black the fish can't see you if you're quiet. Tarpon heaven, a 10wt is a very light stick here. We typically hunt them with an 11 or 12. The best days are when it's been mild for four or five days and the winds are light. These are fish that will eat a fly all the way to the boat. Occasionally an angler will hook up and get a bath at the same instant. When the wind picks up we hunt the "laid up" fish in sheltered coves. A light green log that's five to almost seven feet long in 2 or 3 feet of water is quite a sight once you realize that it's actually a fish laying motionless.

As you can see there's a few different possibilities. The night fishing is the most reliable. The fish feed on shrimp every night either oceanside or in protected waters around bridges and docks. Tarpon eating shrimp are just right for small flies with 1/0 or 2/0 hooks. The giants in the 'Glades have to be seen to be believed, but the weather can shut the fishing right down.

All you have to do is choose...