Only two bookings this past week (cancelled my night trips this past week in Biscayne Bay... just too cold) out of Flamingo. The fairly nasty cold weather kept us inside mostly - thank heavens for Whitewater Bay since the Gulf coast was just not do-able... Fishing both fly and spinning gear we found a variety of fish each day and noted that lots of ladyfish and jack crevalle seem to have replaced all the ones that last month's cold water fish kill wiped out. Along with the usual jacks and ladies there were lots of small to medium sized speckled trout, a few nice snook and reds up shallow, and a few surprises... Our best snook on fly was about 24" and very carefully released in good shape. We did have fly shots at a few slot sized snook as well but they were very skittish in the shallow waters we found them in.
One of the surprises was a very nice pompano in the center of Whitewater, another spot produced both a flounder and a grouper in not so deep water... Our last day on the water was Saturday and it was just plain cold and windy. We did find a few large snook up in one shallow mud cove, but they were in spook mode and didn't stick around to play. Earlier in the week we poled up on the biggest redfish that I've ever seen in the interior, gliding along in only 15" of water... It was so big that, at first, I thought I was looking at two large reds. We had our shot with the fly as the fish approached but we didn't connect... That fish was more than three feet long - a breeder sized red in the interior. I've never seen one that big up inside, and don't expect to see another. Nothing like Whitewater Bay for holding fish that will surprise you (and be available when most other places aren't fishable at all because of bad weather).
Here's a few pics from the past week:
Barry Johnson with a nice snook on fly...
His Dad with a very nice pompano taken on a Gulp shrimp tail, rigged on a 1/8oz jig head.
The rest of this week we'll be in winter mode with cold nights and not very warm days. We'll be poling up shallow each day, out of the wind in protected mud coves. Next week looks to be a bit warmer... and the tides will be just right for night trips in Biscayne Bay (the tarpon are there, we just need a bit of warmer water).
Tight Lines
Bob LeMay