# Flamingo Reds 6/11



## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

I got a call from a buddy yesterday to head down to 'mingo in search of some reds. I had never caught a red, so he was up to the challenge of putting me on my first. The same went for another one of his friends, so he promised that he'd try his best to put us on some fish. As we arrive, he wanted to check out some new areas he hadn't fished before. And boy did it pay off. Within minutes, two fish were on. His friend ended up losing his, but mine stuck. I landed my first red, and boy was it fun. Within the first hour we were surrounded by schools of tailers. Poling from school to school hooking up doubles and triples on each attempt. We had boated 19 of 23 within the first hour. By then, the current had died down and it was slack tide. The reds were scarce. We decided to go in for quick lunch and a break. Alonzo had been poling the whole day himself, while we were having the most fun. He somehow managed to land 6 reds from the poling platform. After lunch, we were in search of some snook. We came across an area that was holding a school of some small snook, with a couple mixed reds. But none were enticed by the artificial. We came across another school of reds and pulled out a few more. 

The total tally was 23 reds, out of 26 hook ups. 
We were back on the road by 2:00 pm. 

I caught 9 reds, Blake caught 8 reds, and Alonzo caught 6.

I have to thank Alonzo for poling us around all day in his Maverick "Mirage HPX Micro", and putting me on my first red.


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## aaronshore (Aug 24, 2007)

Good job Eric. Nice fish!!! Whats up with the gangster pose? Your buddy gonna cap a fish? LOL

Next time they're that easy pull out the fly rod. You wont be sorry.


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> Good job Eric. Nice fish!!! Whats up with the gangster pose? Your buddy gonna cap a fish? LOL
> 
> Next time they're that easy pull out the fly rod. You wont be sorry.



Thanks, and lol I don't know, he felt it was appropriate since we were having our way with the reds early on. After a while, we did pull out my fly rod. But it was already too late. The current had died down to a stop, and the schools started cruising. It was a real pain to keep up with them and get some casts in. For sure if we would have pulled it out sooner, we would have got several on fly. Next time, that'll be a priority.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

dude!!! you guys were kickin' butt [smiley=spank.gif]. i dont care what part of the state your from those are some fish worth bragging about [smiley=1-thumbsup3.gif]. congrats on your first  [smiley=1-beer.gif]and hopefully not your last [smiley=headbang.gif]


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## dacuban1 (Sep 9, 2008)

nice reds! did you guys hit the inside or outside of mingo?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> nice reds! did you guys hit the inside or outside of mingo?


We fished on the outside.


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## REELKEEN (Mar 24, 2009)

What an awesome trip man. I couldn't imagine catching that many reds in a day.


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

Dude, if it weren't for the pictures I say you were asleep, cause that trip was a DREAM! [smiley=y-10.gif] [smiley=1-thumbsup1.gif] Unbelievable!

I love that you can still see the school in the background on some of those shots. Congrats on the first redfish(es) as well. [smiley=cool2.gif]


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## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

That's what it's all about. Do it next time on the fly--2x the fun.

Great pics and "high quality H2O".


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Thanks guys. That Maverick HPX Micro is a fishing machine! Poling in a few inches of water with ease. The wide gunnels made it easy for three fisherman to fight their fish all at the same time. Alonzo would set up the boat in an angle where each of us had our fair shot at the school. It was all up to us to hit our targets. We didn't get tangled not even once. We did have to walk over and under each other plenty of times as the fish would run wild, but the spacious interior and wide gunnels made it a breeze. Some fish weren't photographed in order to revive them quickly after long fights. My biggest red wasn't photographed. The average fish caught was 28". With several over 30".


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## redgheenoe (Apr 28, 2007)

What were you throwing at them? Everyone wanted to ask. ;D


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> What were you throwing at them?  Everyone wanted to ask.  ;D


I caught all 9 on a black spoon. Blake caught 7 on a gold spoon, and one on a gulp. Alonzo caught 3 on a gulp, and 3 on a d.o.a. cal.


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## Green_Hornet (Nov 1, 2008)

Man-o-man you guys were on fire!
That looks like some kinda fun! Congrats on the first and all the rest!


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## redgheenoe (Apr 28, 2007)

What were you throwing at them?  Everyone wanted to ask.  ;D
I caught all 9 on a black spoon. Blake caught 7 on a gold spoon, and one on a gulp. Alonzo caught 3 on a gulp, and 3 on a d.o.a. cal. [/quote]
Nice job. Your arms must have been tired!


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> What were you throwing at them?  Everyone wanted to ask.  ;D
> I caught all 9 on a black spoon. Blake caught 7 on a gold spoon, and one on a gulp. Alonzo caught 3 on a gulp, and 3 on a d.o.a. cal.


Nice job.  Your arms must have been tired![/quote]


Extremely! 

I'm going down to 'mingo tomorrow with a couple friends to try and get on some more fish. This time on a 16'4 jon boat, so we might not be able to get one some reds.


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## shallowminded (Dec 10, 2008)

is that snake bight?


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

> is that snake bight?



Nope. But that same day we had heard reports from several very reputable captains that there were schools of 200+ reds on the snake bight flat. 

I was out there today but didn't see any on snake bight. :-/


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

And just to put it out there. There were islands in those pictures. One can notice it a lot on some of the pictures. I used the clone tool on photoshop to hide the islands upon the request of Alonzo.


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## pescador72 (Aug 6, 2008)

wow great pics dude.


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