Rainy Day Flamingo 06/24/09

10 knot winds my azz! Me and my buddy Ken arrived at the marina in Mingo at 5am sharp, greeted by thunderstorms and rain we passed out in the truck till about 6:30, by then they had mostly disappated and we launched in a light rain and headed towards Christian Point.We weren't too happy about the conditions, the weather report called for a mild day and it was later on, but not when we were out on the water. Those 10-15 knot winds were closer to 20-25 knots, and this was confirmed when we got back to the marina later in the afternoon. The West winds limited us to fishing to backside of islands and that was fine, the fish were stacked on the lee-side anyway and this made fishing very easy...shooting fish in a barrel came to mind.

Both me and Ken tossed big topwaters all day long, the snook were ravenous! This was my buddies first time down there and he was amazed at how aggressive the fish were, 5-6 hits a cast, coming completely out of the water for it...pretty cool stuff. We fished through the rain and even that wouldn't kill the bite, I actually caught the biggest fish of the day in the middle of a downpour!

I can't really remember how many snook we caught, we both lost track at some point in the day, I'd have to say around or just under 2 dozen for me and Ken must have been close behind, he got the only red and I got a tarpon near the marina that actually towed me into the marina, well, that and the tide. I guess that rain cooled down the water a bit and made the bite last all morning long....we had a great outgoing tide too.

All in all another great day down in Flamingo and the best part was that there were no bugs to speak of! I didn't get bit by any bugs at all! And the overcast conditions allowed us to throw topwaters until noon! The only tough part of the day was paddling back from Palm Key to the marina with 20 knot winds in our faces...I needed the workout anyway. On the way out we saw tons of wildlife, crocs, gators, snakes, and bald eagles...everything seemed to be out and about yesterday...makes me wish I was down there today!

Flamingo 06/18/09

White mangrove at the trailhead

gone...like magic

Bear Lake

Yesterday was hot...I feel like I'm still sweating. Me and David (Perch) hit the water a little before 5:30, we played with the little tarpon outside the marina for a bit, they were crashing the skitterwalks but rarely connecting with it. Had to help David removed a treble from his finger early on in the morning, sorry you had to start your day like that David, I felt your pain.

There were reds cruising the flats on the way to Christian point but they weren't hitting anything, out in Snake Bight the reds were just as spooky but I managed to fool one into hitting my rootbeer DOA Cal. I also got a snook off that same flat before starting to drift back towards the launch.

Daivd stuck it out and I left him fishing Joe Kemp as I searching for reds on the flats. I saw bait jumping near the West end of Joe Kemp and tossed the skitterwalk to what turned out to be another snook. Near the marina I lost another snook on the skitterwalk and jumped two little tarpon on the Cal before calling it a day...too damn hot to be on the water.

I wish I had more days off, I'd really like to spend 2 weeks at Flamingo and fish every possible tide to see where the fish are holding. There are lots of big big big snook hanging around Florida Bay right now and the reds seem to be out on the flats every day...if you can get past the bugs it really is fishing paradise down there. I think next time around I may fish West Lake, I stopped at the launch on the way out and saw a ton of action on the water and lots of little tarpon rolling around. I think the rains have finally cleared all the sludge out of Cuthbert and the Lungs so now the passage down to Garfield Bight may be open...so the fish (and tide) can flow in and out.

The work on the trail was tough, we had a new deadfall right at the launch itself, took us an hour to clear that before we could paddle on down to the planned work. We saw a huge crocodile in the canal as well and I was "bumped" by a small gator as well.

The next day I awoke feeling pretty sore but thought nothing of it, went to work, had to move a heavy desk and as I was lifting it I felt a pop in my back...man oh man, I've never felt pain like that in my life, dropped me like a ton of bricks and I've been laid out all day at home. I doubt I'll be able to help out next week and that really upsets me, but in order to be of some use for the rest of the summer I must rest now...like the saying goes: A good soldier knows when to sleep.

Flamingo 06/11/09

Man the skeeters were bad! I met Perch at the marina a little before 05:30 and we were hoppin' around getting our gear together with the swamp angels singing around us till we launched.

Our first spot was the best for us throughout the morning, I boated 3 decent snook and one slot sized fish, losing a couple (the curse of topwater) to pulled hooks, David got a couple of nice snook on the skitterwalk as well.

We made our way over to Christian Point to find a red hot ladyfish and jack bite, there were tarpon rolling but it was impossible to get a bait past the ladyfish. One of the big pilchards rolled next to me and like the amoeba that I am (stimulus = response, tarpon rolls = cast) I pitched a gulp shrimp at it tied to 30lb leader on my stradic 2500...of course it inhaled it.

So now I have this 80-100lb tarpon clearing the water in front of me, peeling line, and towing me in circles around snake bight channel...I knew I wasn't going to land this thing but yet I gave it my all, for what felt like hours, probably about 30 minutes before I got overzealous and palmed the drag a bit too hard...friggin tarpon. Perch got some video so I will post it up when I can get my hands on it.

That was pretty much it for me that morning and I think David too, great fishing with you btw (see you out there next thursday...with bigger rods), I made a mental note to bring my tarpon rig (which will ensure that I won't see any more tarpon) to Flamingo next time so I can devote my morning to catching one of the truly large ones from my kayak...no fish makes a fool out of me!

First week of June and Flamingo 06/04/09

Monday Morning

Tuesday Morning Dania Beach Snookin'

Wednesday with a buddy @ the pier, Dania that is

Flamingo Florida - Paradise, with bugs

I've been moving at very high speeds for the last few days, moving really took it out of me and since then I've been cramming as much cleaning and upkeep as possible into my days.

So with all the work/fishing last week I wasn't expecting to make it out to Flamingo on Thursday but last minute I called my buddy Matt and we met at Flamingo at 5:15am.

The mosquitos were pretty intense in the marina, they followed us around for an hour or so before slowly disapating, we weren't catching anything but ladyfish until then anyway. When we made it to Christian point we were greeted by snook roving the shorelines, my skitterwalk was hit by a small snook, Matt's topwater was engulfed by a much larger snook that broke him off on the first jump. There were Tarpon about as well and Matt jumped one, I jumped two, landing one for a few pics.

We caught nothing but lady's for the next hour and at slack low tide we started drifting over the grassflats on the way back to the marina...they were loaded with reds, friggin reds everywhere! The were incredibly spooky in that thick grass, I got a shot at 4 tailers and Matt had a few attempts as well...no takers. We were just staked out with reds all around us, talk about frustration. I was off the water by 9:45, Tom was a litte late getting to work so I fished from shore where I could, landed a little snook and a small goliath, pretty cool way to kill some time.

Working on the trail today was particularly tough, the bug suits were a must as the mosquitos are back in full form...they are our constant company and so were the sankes! I counted 10 pygmy rattlers on the way out from Bear Lake, I also shoo'ed a large cottonmouth off the road after almost running over the thing. Another great day in the park, all 17 hours of it, got home at 10:15pm after leaving my wife sleeping that morning at 3am.

Flamingo Quickie and a little pier fishin' 05/28/09

This morning the snook took me to school... tarpon too.
I paddled out of Flamingo marina at around 6:50am, heading into the SW winds and drifting the shoreline towards Christian point. My first cast lands a hefty jack that straightened out one of the hooks on my skitterwalk :cuss: And like an idiot I left my other skitterwalk sitting in the truck, useless.

Nevertheless I proceeded to lose snook after snook for the next hour or so, I was amazed at the sheer concentration of snook on the shorelines, I was getting 5 hits a cast in some spots...a lot of missed connections and pulled hooks, I think I was off my game but will blame that straightened hook for the record. I landed about a dozen small to mid-sized snook and then a monster slob engulfed my lure...he jumped twice before shredding through the 30lb leader, looked to be a big girl in the upper 30 inch range.

So now I had no big topwaters left, the mirromullet wouldn't swim right in the chop and neither would the top dog...but the trusty chug bug worked pretty damn well in a pinch and boated a few more snook before starting to drift back towards the ramp. I finished up the morning by jumping two tarpon near the marina; one jumped off first time up, the second I leadered but lost at the side of the boat, both probably around 15-20lbs. I must say the snook really seem to be active down in mingo, and that wind combined with the overcast skies made the topwater bite last till I had to get going at around 9:30.

I really do love those mornings, hope they last through this hot summer…now if only the bonefish would hit like that. I also made a quick stop a little spot I know off near home for a quick shore-bound session now that my little yellowtailed friends are back for the summer:

not bad for the cost of a dozen shrimp, not bad at all.

Ding Darling 05/23/09

No rain all day, man I love that Sanibel "bubble", seems to swing the rain clouds just off that island, everytime.

We fished all over, went into Pine Island Sound and caught alot of nice-sized trout on topwaters and jigs, I was tossing a mirro-mullet when everyone got into to the bite and did pretty well as the water had a little chop to it.

The fishing wasn't as good as I had hoped, it may have been all the freshwater instrusion from all this rain we've been having...the bite would have been better in Flamingo but the winds and more importantly the thunderstorms wouldn't have allowed us to fish very long.

We got off the water around 3pm, trout all day long, nothing else, not even ladyfish, pretty strange for Ding Darling I felt, usually I at least get a redfish or some small snook...it was a spec-filled day.

Magical Mingo 05/14/09

I had a 9am report time in Flamingo for a little volunteer work and so I decided to get there early and do some fishing. I got to the marina at 5am but was greeted by a bit of wind out of the East, around 10-15mph. I was tired as hell from waking up early all of this week so I said "screw it, going to sleep" and passed out in th truck with my alarm set for 8:45. I was jolted out of my sleep after about 30 minutes, don' know why but I was wide awake now for no reason...time to fish.

I hit the water a little after 6am and paddled into the wind towards Christian Point. The wind wasn't fun but I fought through it to a nice flat that offered a bit of protection and casted out the skitterwalk. First cast comes walking in and is engulfed by I-don't-know-what, it hugged bottom and ran. I fought this creature for 15-20 minutes before getting a good look at it but I thought it was a small shark or a big bull red from the way it was running. It starts taking me into the mangroves so I had to take the chance and palm the drag hard to bring her head out, thank god the line held.

She went way over my 36'' measuring board, she looked to go another 5''-7'' over the board but she was seriously fat and very heavy, I would have to say at or near 30lbs, easy.
So After that debacle I tossed the skitterwalk back out and instantly hooked up with a nice snook, and then another, and another and so on...I ended up going 6 for 8 on snook before moving on to another spot.

At the next spot the skitterwalk started getting blown up without a connection, again and again, finally I made contact and after a tussle I brought in a nice red, then another, and another, and so on, 13 from one spot alone, 3 on topwater and the rest on a rootbeer DOA cal as they started to get finicky with the skitterwalk.I caught the last red at 8:30 and rode the wind back into the marina ready for work.

What a morning, wasn't going to go out but I'm sure glad I did. Had a great day working in the park and even the bugs were mild today, it was a good day.