This will be more of a fishing alert than a report, no photos this time (we were busy...). Bookings come slowly now in the weeks leading up to the holidays. The fishing's very good, but the anglers are few and far between. Yesterday out of Flamingo was one of those days when the fish were just on fire....
Unless I'm very mistaken it's all about the weather conditions - the mild weather has resulted in all the big tarpon returning to the coast. We found the big fish just tearing up mullet schools along the coast between Cape Sable and Lostman's River.... The fish were so turned on they were feeding within fifty feet of the skiff within only a minute or two of shutting down the motor.... Normally the big tarpon would be way out in the Gulf hunkering down to wait for the colder water temps we'd have this time of year. The first hint was at dawn when we found water temps in the 67 to 68 degree range on the run across Whitewater Bay. Since we were doing other things (catching and releasing as many as forty fat trout in a couple of spots, inside and outside) we didn't come upon the great schools of mullet until just before noon. You could see fish working them a half mile away. It was a mix of tarpon, sharks, and anything else big enough to eat the 10 to 14" bait. Nearby smaller bait (whitebait, mature glass minnows or anchovies) was tight to shorelines and also being worked by hungry fish.... Since we were only using spinning gear, live baits (small ladyfish) were what we set out. None of them lasted long, most were eaten by sharks. We only jumped one tarpon, with them feeding all around us. We left the fish to run to a few redfish spots and again - found more tarpon.... There were feeding tarpon for about six miles of coast (and they may be up and down the coast for thirty miles, we only worked a small area in the time we had...).
Now for the best part. A quick check of weather forecasts for that area shows the mild weather will be stable for the next six days.... As long as the weather holds I'm expecting it to be pretty much Tarpon Heaven...
Tight lines
Bob LeMay
(954) 435-5666