# Flamingo report, 12 May



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

The weather this past week has been more of the same stuff we've seen for at least six weeks... high winds day after day.... With only a few days on the water our first task was finding somewhere sheltered that might also hold a fish or two... One of the advantages that fishing the backcountry offers is that there will always be sheltered areas downwind -no matter how hard it's blowing (most days the forecast was for 15 to 25 mile an hour winds last week and it's still blowing as I write this..). Our sheltered area was almost the entire west coast and all the rivers and river mouths that drain to the west since the wind was in the east/southeast quadrant each day.... The run to get there each day was easy in the morning running with the wind --but a bit rough on the twenty mile run back each afternoon.

I had visiting angler Bob Wilder from New York aboard for two days last week and he managed two medium sized tarpon on fairly light gear - the first about fifty to sixty pounds, the second around seventy.... Here are some pics...



We had to look quite a few places before we found a bunch of these guys up one of the rivers north of the Shark.... It was Bob's first large tarpon (even though just a medium fish by local standards) and it was much appreciated, then carefully released to fight another day. That first day Bob managed a backcountry slam adding redfish and trout (we were just short of the snook needed for the grand slam). Here's a pic of one of two reds that day, up inside a small creek...
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The next day was more of the same but we did find quite a few spots that held some very nice mangrove snapper (and they'll just get bigger as we move into summer....) . Here's a pic of one Bob caught with very light spinning gear with only 8lb line...



To end our day we jumped one more nice tarpon up another river on just 15lb line....



This particular fish was just on fire and spent a lot more time in the air than in the water, finally releasing itself. Guess it didn't want to wait for me to un-hook it....

Despite a brief heavy rain day more than a week ago we still seem to be in the dry season - in spite of all the wind.. A fishing forecast for the next few weeks isn't hard to do... The weather will finally settle down and we'll start into the wet season (with some rain every day, and the beginning of afternoon thunderstorms....). As we move into the wet season all of the fish will just get hungrier and hungrier... The Everglades in the wet season isn't very angler friendly with the heat, rains, and mosquitoes but the fishing will just get better and better....


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## grovesnatcher (Sep 25, 2007)

Awesome pictures of the tarpon jumping. Great job


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## eeekbackupinthere (Jan 14, 2013)

Great report as usual Captain! I love the Glades.


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

Great pics of the tarpon getting air!


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## floridascuba (Mar 15, 2012)

Nice haul


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## larryg (Dec 11, 2013)

great report as always.

but I have one complaint, seriously... I always seem to see you trailering your boat as I head south(passing you as you head north) on the turnpike as I leave Doral...after a long day at the office I began thinking of how great a day it was on the water. You lucky bast8rd!

Was lucky enough to fish saturday and manage a few nice fish, the conditions made us work for it though, being as that we fished right out front..


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## Megalops (Oct 23, 2011)

Capt. Bob - you're one of the few if only on here that routinely puts up pics of tarpon. Keep 'em coming!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Thanks but you'll have to wait until next week since my next booking isn't until Sunday...

For those that want to get pics of their fish in the air it's not too difficult and you don't need sophisticated camera gear. I only use a Pentax Optio 80 auto focus point and shoot camera that I keep on a lanyard inside my shirt pocket (and of course you want a waterproof model...). When the fish is hooked up solid and doing its thing I grab my camera and make no attempt to focus at all just hold it at arm's length with both hands trying to keep the fish centered between my two hands. When it comes up fire away. If you have a high speed or motorized camera it's even easier. Some of the best shots will come near the end of the fight as the fish does it's last two or three jumps nearer the skiff...

The downside for me is when the fish is really active and spectacular I'm usually too busy maneuvering the skiff, and trying to keep my angler from doing stuff that might cost him/her the fish, etc. So you just won't see the pics from that part of the fight...


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