Hot Tarpon Fishing November 2009
It is a blessing to be able wake up early on a hot November morning, drive through beautiful Everglades National Park seeing all kinds of birds from Egrets to Herons and Hawks and the occasional Alligator on the side of the road warming himself on the warm pavement, then a amazing boat ride across slick Florida Bay to find the best thing….Hundreds of Rolling Tarpon!
This week was great Tarpon fishing west of Flamingo, I only found these fish in a certain small area with good water flow. The first day they did not want to play it seemed.
With fish rolling everywhere except where I was! If you have ever Tarpon fished you know you will see them rolling around your boat, and then they will come near your boat right? Well this day I was not so lucky….everywhere I was they were not…so we would move a little a looked back and they would be rolling where I was…frustrating! This seemed to happen to me all morning! I have learned so I thought that I never chase them they will come.
The second day I stayed put and on time they were there! We jumped 3 in 45 minutes estimated about 100 lbs each. The last fish eat a Rapala X Rap and had him on for about
40 minutes, he was a little bigger about 130 lbs but as we went to boat him we broke the rod tip and severed the braided line somehow. At least it was fun.
The couple of afternoons after Tarpon fishing we have found many nice Snook laid up
In potholes around Flamingo, most have been spooky with the full moon I think but we managed to get 3 or 4 nice fish.
If the next couple of weeks stays warm fishing in Florida bay should remain good using live bait for Redfish, Snook and Tarpon around moving water eddies points and creek mouths.
In Biscayne Bay there have been some small schools of Bonefish seen on the east side of the bay and I have not seen many Permit.
As the winter approaches and water temps fall we will have a good Mutton Snapper bite in Biscayne Bay, some Mutton will get 12 to 15 lbs on light test and that is a blast, also Spanish Mackerel Grouper and some Cobia. Live Pilchards are best bet.
Bonefish should remain through the cooler months for people looking to fly fish as long as we don't get any real bad cold spells, that will push the fish away for a couple of days until a warming trend starts which generally will make the fish warm themselves and eat real good just like the Tarpon in the back bays.
Good luck and be safe. Capt. Jim Hale
www.floridasportfishingcharters.com
Or drop me a line at
jim@floridasportfishingcharters.com
786-255-1788