Only one trip this week, a night-time session on Sunday night. My angler was Doug from Minnesota who was in town to do some work. Nothing like a night with some tarpon and snook to make the trip worthwhile...
We left the dock at 8:00Pm and were in small tarpon before 8:30... Although I was set up to fish with spinning gear or fly fish, the spinning gear saw all the action. Rods held 10lb line and artificials. The small plastic lures we were set up with was all that was needed. Doug barely had time to make a few practice casts before he was hooked up to his first tarpon under one of the many bridges between Miami and Miami Beach that night. With the wind hitting 15 to 20 out of the northeast (as usual a bit more than predicted) many spots just weren't possible in a small skiff. There are enough good spots that we were able to find a few that not only held fish but wouldn't beat up the boat. We were fishing at close quarters and were able to sightfish with shots at tarpon after tarpon cruising by in the shadows.
That first fish, between 10 and 20lbs gave a good account, jumping repeatedly and making nice runs before coming to the boat for a photo. The fish was able to pop off after being leadered but I was still able to get one good pic at boatside. It was Doug's first tarpon and I think he'll remember it. We went on to get another 8 or 9 bites on our lures while putting three or four in the air and a second fish to the boat. When the action slowed we left that spot and ran to a series of docklights, looking for snook, etc. That night most docklights were just empty - without baitfish or anything else. We finally found a few lights that held some very nice snook and a few more tarpon with their own supply of baitfish circling around the lighted area, over and over. They must have been full since we never got a bite, just a few follows. I suspect they'd behave differently a bit later at night but we didn't have that luxury (not many anglers can fish all night and into the dawn...). Here's a few pics from that night...
Nothing like that first tarpon....
At this point the fish is coming to hand, but still had enough to break off right at the boat.
With bookings pretty scarce right now I'm still spending a lot of time tying flies for the shop and making lures for other customers that know what they want. I've added an ocean jig to my lineup of backcountry stuff. It's a 1 oz. "pilchard" jig and it's very popular with anglers who are kingfishing. Here's a photo from an order of 100 to a local shop....
there's a lot holographic flash in the tail that the camera isn't picking up...
Long and narrow, the pilchard jig has great side to side action for deep jiggers or just when you're making a long cast to schooling dolphin or tuna. The second photo shows a few 1/4 oz backcountry jigs for size comparison. As always the heads are powder coated and baked for toughness, the hooks are razor sharp, and the tying thread is superglued for additional durability.
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666