Wow! What a wonderful week of weather we just had here in South Florida. Light breezes from the east southeast and moderate temperatures and some action packed fishing. This past week I was able to fish all three locations that I guide in and although there were no unbelievable catches there was plenty of variety and action. In Flamingo we had Spanish mackerel, redfish, missed opportunities at snook, missed shots at cobia, nice tripletail, snapper, goliath groupers, mackerel, pompano, bluefish, jacks, ladyfish, legal limits of sea trout plus some shots at huge sharks and in South Biscayne Bay the groupers are biting like crazy in the Finger Channels along with mutton, mangrove, yellowtail and lane snappers, porgies and then add the possibility of mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish and snook and during an 8 hr. charter one can expect hours of bent fishing rods and then yesterday in North Biscayne Bay we had plenty of action on sea trout to 18 inches during a short 4 hr. charter. I have not had an opportunity to go offshore recently but the big boats are doing real good on sailfish. This action will continue for the next three months or more and what's nice about South Florida there is always somewhere to fish no matter what weather condition we have.
The Florida Sportsman Magazine is having their yearly Live Fishing Show January 31st and Feb 1st that's Saturday and Sunday and it will be held at the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale for the first time. At this time just about all of the retail booths are sold out and there will be live seminars on Inshore and Offshore fishing given by some of the best captains and guides in Florida and then there is the Rigging it Right Station for both inshore and offshore fishermen. Tune into Florida Sportsman Magazine Live on WMCU at 7 to 8 AM on Saturday and listen in to see how you can win free tickets.
Recent Catches:
Today I am with Sandra and Bill and we are fishing in Flamingo in hopes of catching a lot of fish and seeing lots of birds and wildlife. Well Flamingo rarely lets you down especially this time of the year. We spotted manatees, ospreys, white and brown pelicans, rosette spoonbills, egrets, skimmer birds, herons, turtles, sharks, bottlenosed dolphins and of course fish. We caught lots of large sea trout, bluefish, jacks, ladyfish, snappers and catfish mostly on live shrimp fished under a Cajun Thunder and Hook Up lures tipped with Gulp shrimp.
Next up is Steve and Bruce and again we are in Flamingo looking for hot action. We start out by catching lots of pilchards and pinfish in my 10 foot Lee Fisher Cast Net. Now we head out toward Schooner Bank looking for some hot action. We anchor in a good spot and soon are getting hit by mackerel on almost every cast while fishing Cajun Thunders with live pilchards and shrimp. The guys catch their fill of mackerel and bluefish and we go looking for some large sea trout. The spot that we caught them in the day before seems to be void of trout but soon we spot some huge schools of very large mullet. Casting Hook Up lures tipped with Gulp shrimp around the mullet schools we find the trout and get a quick limit for both guys plus lots of ladyfish, a few large missed fish and some shots at big bull and lemon sharks when I spot a fin very close to the boat. The fin belongs to a very large great Atlantic hammerhead shark that is stalking the mullet schools. I have a live ladyfish that we had been dragging behind the boat in hopes of getting a shark and cast the ladyfish right on top of the estimated 14 foot hammerhead but he is not interested and eventually leaves the area. On the move now looking for snook and redfish. We only have a few minutes to fish this spot but quickly hook up on three redfish using Hook Up lures tipped with live shrimp to end the day.
Back to Flamingo today but this day is with my son Zach before he heads back to college to start his Masters Degree. We started late on the day and quickly caught bait and went looking for cobias. Didn't take long before we spotted two nice fish circling a crab trap buoy but these fish were very finicky and maybe someone had fished then earlier. After many casts to the fish Zach gets hit on a pinfish but pulled the hook. I catch a nice pompano on a Hook Up lure tipped with a Gulp shrimp and then we move on. We are following a crab trap buoy line and spot some small tripletail but leave them alone until we see the one we want. This fish turns out to be a 7 pounder that eats a small live pilchard fished under a Cajun Thunder. On the move again we find ourselves in Little Shark River surrounded by a large school of Spanish mackerel that has followed a baitfish school way up the river. Throwing Rapala X raps and spoons we catch dozens plus a small goliath grouper and lose a fish that we couldn't stop. On the move once again and now in Whitewater Bay where Zach jumps six snook but it's getting late and time to head home. After a quick stop at Roberts for a strawberry shake we are homeward bound.
Today I am in South Biscayne Bay with Bill age 84 his wife Lois and sons Gary and David. Fishing lots of Finger Channels in South Biscayne Bay the guys caught over 25 groupers including red, black and scamp, mutton, mangrove, yellowtail and lane snappers and porgies. We went through 10 dozen shrimp and quite a few pilchards and sardines.
Last on the list this week is Dean, Michael, Jason and their buddy from Israel Ofear. They only have 4 hrs to fish so we launch at Pelican harbor to fish North Biscayne Bay. Once on the water I cast net enough live pilchards, sardines and herring to add to our shrimp supply and we head to our first spot. By days end we have caught over 20 sea trout to 18 inches, a barracuda and some jacks. The fish were caught on Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp and live shrimp and baitfish under a Cajun Thunder.
Well that catches you up on what's happening here in sunny South Florida. Give me a call and let's set up a fishing trip to give you something to talk about to your friends.
Check out my report in the Miami Herald's Sports section under Fishing Updates each Thursday, the Florida Sportsman Magazines South Florida Internet Fishing Report (www.floridaspotsman.com), my monthly Action Spotter Fishing Report for the South Region in the Florida Sportsman Magazine each month or tune into the Florida Sportsman Magazines Live Radio Show on 1080 WMCU on the AM dial or listen on the internet at www.1080wmcu.com every Saturday morning from 7 to 8 AM and here the up to the minute fishing forecasts from some of the top Capt.'s in South Florida like Capt. Jimbo Thomas on the Thomas Flyer, Capt. Bouncer Smith on Bouncers Dusky, Capt Skip Bradeen on the Blue Chips Too out of Whale Harbor Marina, Capt. Wayne Conn on The Reward Fleet, the Newport Fishing Pier and more.
Check out my new web site and see the monthly catches and pictures.
Sponsors: Yamaha, Bob Hewes Boats, Maverick, Minn Kota, Lowrance Electronics, Daiwa, General Motors & Chevrolet, Rapala, Mustad, Ande Lines, Pure Fishing, Gulp, Berkley, Precision Tackle, Capt. Hank Brown's Hook Up Lures, Hydro Glow Lights, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Saltwater Assassins, Key Largo Rods, Lee Fisher Cast Nets, Smartshield, Master Repair in Stuart Florida, Power Pole, Stow Master Nets, superfishlight.com
Capt. Alan Sherman
"Get Em" Sportfishing Charters
786 436 2064
shermana@bellsouth.net
www.getemsportfishing.com
