# Report 12/11 Don's Bait and Tackle Homestead,Fl



## [email protected]_Bait (Mar 25, 2008)

Here’s the report for the week of 12/4- 12/10. We seem to be in the full swing of the winter weather pattern with cold fronts coming through every 3-5 days. It seems that the cold air temps were sticking around a little longer until this week. The intensity of the fronts this week must not have been as strong as it seems to be warming up quicker after these last couple of fronts and the fishing has remained inconsistent because of it. The key to fishing this time of year is to adjust your fishing techniques based on the weather conditions and extreme temp. changes that take place.

Offshore from Miami to Ocean Reef
The sailfish bite seems to continue at its normal pace. The better bite seems to be coming with the north winds after a front and the cooler temps. The fishing this week seems to be a little slow due to the windy conditions and only the biggest boats getting out with mixed reports of success. Kite fishing seem to produce the most results with a few fish being caught on trolled ballyhoo. The dolphin bite seems to have picked up with numerous reports of schoolie dolphin in the 5-10lb range being caught. The preferred technique was to look for floating debris and birds working as opposed to trolling. The bottom fishing has been the most consistent producer with reports of Hog Snapper on the patches mixed in with some keeper grouper. Some customers went out underwater fishing with crabs and reported catching 6 nice hogs and a couple of grouper on 2 dives on 2 different patches. The reef has been consistent with Yellowtails, Mutton, and some Lane Snapper. Some large Muttons were caught this week. Reports of fish in the 10-15 lb range coming in were not that uncommon. The mackerel bite including Kings, Cero, and Spanish has been hot. A customer brought by some smoked fish and reported catching 25 Ceros in a matter of hours.

Biscayne Bay
The fishing in the bay has been better this week with the warmer than normal conditions we experienced last week. Reports of tarpon in the creeks on the west side of the bay came in this week. Fish were any where from 10-60 lbs. Depending on the creeks they fish are in they can be hard to feed. Some of the creeks are only a few feet deep with others being 15 or so feet deep. Adjust your offerings from fly and soft plastics to jigs and pilchards depending on the depth. Several guides reported having excellent bonefishing last week. Multiple fish days seem to be common with some fish over 10 lbs being caught. Once again the trends seem to be looking for mudding fish in the 2-4 ft of water during the cooler parts of the day and moving skinny with the lower tides and warmer conditions for tailers. With the warmer weather you should be able to move up shallower a little sooner than normal. Chumming has also been producing some hot bonefishing. When the conditions are too windy or you’ve lost your light a lot of guides will employ this as a last resort to provide an opportunity on an otherwise uneventful day.

Everglades Florida Bay
The fishing out front has experienced the same extremes in productivity that the weather pattern has experienced. On the coldest days with the wind out of the north/northeast the guys fishing with live shrimp on jig heads are having stellar 30-40 fish days. Those same techniques don’t seem to do as well when the weather warms up and the fish move out of their more favorable holes and creeks in the cooler conditions to feed up shallow. This seems to suite the shallow water guys who are sight casting or looking for fish in 1-3ft of water. This week reports on the flats were consistent with catches of redfish and snook coming in from all areas. Luke being my weekly guinea pig took my Terrapin Skiff out again (like he seems to do every week) and had a great day on the northern side of Florida Bay fishing the bights out East. When he dropped the boat off he showed me picks of the snook and redfish they caught along with a nice 30 lb tarpon. They spent the entire day sight casting in shallow water and managed to find fish in several of the locations they fished. He reported catching those fish on fly and spin tackle. One of the new hot baits that Luke and several guides have tried is the Yumm Money Minnow in the 3.5 inch size. The color selection is impressive added with the unbelievable action of the bait seems to be producing really well. The swim bait craze just seems to be getting stronger as their effectiveness in saltwater continues to be realized. The guys trolling the rivers seem to be catching more and more grouper as sales of the Rapala Super Shad Rap in the Gold Shiner color would indicate. This is the lure of choice for trolling the rivers and I can’t seem to get enough of them. One guide in the last month has bought over 15. Do me a favor and the next time you stop by one of your local tackle stores buy a couple of these for yourself and a couple more for me. Just drop by the shop and I’ll buy the extras from you. The mackerel are out in Florida Bay and will be here for the next couple of months. There really isn’t anything more I can add to that. 

Everglades Whitewater Bay
The backcountry seems to be getting better and better every week. Guys going into Hell’s, Lane, and Pearl bays have been reporting increased numbers and size in fish. Large redfish seem to be the common theme in the extreme backcountry with several customers reporting catches of overslot reds on their trips. There are more snook, but the monsters of early spring haven’t arrived yet. Capt. Andy Thompson borrowed my Terrapin yesterday Wed 10th to go fish the extreme shallow lakes and ponds to north Whitewater Bay and reported mixed results. The wind was cracking and made for dirtier water conditions. but they were still able to manage some reds and Snook on fly. He reported plenty of fish still on the muddier bottom lakes and shorelines, but the conditions proved difficult for his fly client. The first report I’ve had of someone going to the Banana Patches came in this week. This seems to be a little early for that area and the report supports that theory. They customers told me the water was getting low and there was still a little too much fresh water. They did manage some small Snook, Bass, and Cichlids. This area seems to get good around the same time as hell’s Bay and that part of the backcountry. Normally reports of those areas turning on seem to start coming in around late Feb. and early March. That seems to be when the numbers of snook and tarpon increase in the Banana Patch area as well as the size of the fish.

It was brought to my attention by a forum member that they liked my report because it wasn’t me bragging about what I caught. The reason for this is simple: I haven’t been out since I started these reports. I promise, don’t worry when I finally do get out you’ll see every photo of every fish I caught from at least 6 different angles. I hope this report helps you plan you next fishing trip. Please excuse the grammatical and spelling errors. Thanks


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

*Re: Report 12/11 Don's Bait and Tackle Homestead,Fl*

Thanks for sharing! 

BTW just in case you are looking for bait...

Don's Bait & Tackle
30710 S. Federal Hwy.
Homestead, FL 33030
(305) 247-6616


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## oldschool (Feb 22, 2008)

*Re: Report 12/11 Don's Bait and Tackle Homestead,Fl*



> It was brought to my attention by a forum member that they liked my report because it wasn’t me bragging about what I caught. The reason for this is simple: I haven’t been out since I started these reports.  I promise, don’t worry when I finally do get out you’ll see every photo of every fish I caught from at least 6 different angles.  I hope this report helps you plan you next fishing trip. Please excuse the grammatical and spelling errors.  Thanks


I wonder who you are talking about? 
You know what I meant. I like reports that are reports. Makes me wanna buy more bait....

For those of you who don't know Ashley, let me tell you:

One day, when I first started fishing my own boat with my kids, I blew a hub at Don's. I had no idea what I was doing and Ashley and others helped me change my hub and saved the day for the kids. Not a lot of people would have done this. Ashley is truly a nice guy and when someone gives detailed reports like this, it just shows that he is willing to share info so EVERYONE can have a good day on the water. 

Thanks again for the report. Saved me a trip to the canepatch this weekend...
Marcel

Any reports from West Lake?


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

*Re:  Report 12/11 Don's Bait and Tackle Homestead,Fl*



> Ashley is truly a nice guy and when someone gives detailed reports like this, it just shows that he is willing to share info so EVERYONE can have a good day on the water.



Ashley is a guy? Damm, I didn't see that one coming  ;D


Seriously, that is a great story and exemplifies what word of mouth is all about. Great recommendation.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## newbie_dave (May 31, 2007)

*Re: Report 12/11 Don's Bait and Tackle Homestead,Fl*

Great report!! I have made them a weekly habit of reading. I have to stop by Don's next time I'm down there. (I have never been there)


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