# rrrrraid!



## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

anyone know the bug situation around big lostmans / broad river. :-?

thanks.


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

Not sure about the bug situation, but, with this warm weather and rising water temps the tarpon will be back and chewing again soon!!!!!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

As already noted.. it should be tarpon time any day now back up in out of the way places in the 'Glades..... Along with them here's what I would expect in the way of bugs.... 

Any morning with only light breezes (or no wind at all...) expect clouds of no see ums around any trees - once a breeze comes up they'll be gone, but first thing in the morning and every evening they'll carry you away if the wind isn't blowing a bit... 

Should be quite a few skeeters at every boat ramp now -but few if any as you run back up inside... until nightfall -then you'll get chewed on.

Lastly, this time of year once it warms up you can expect lots of deer flies everywhere way back up inside. For anyone that hasn't come across them they're the size of an ordinary housefly, are sandy colored with green eyes. If you get bit you'll swear that every one of them was carrying an ice pick to the fight.....

As you can guess if the fish are biting you'll put up with bugs, if the fish aren't around but the bugs are you'll be up and running somewhere else pretty quickly...

The Everglades... it's my favorite place in this world.


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

thank you !!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Anytime, if yer worried about the bugs in the Broad, then you got no bizness goin up there. 

Hey Bob, you have any secret recipe sauce besides Deep Woods off or 100% Deet for the dear flies? They piss me off worse than the no-seeums and skeeters put together.

I've had the no-seeums and skeeters figured out for eons. But the deer flies and those big fat black horse flies from Lostmans to the Shark will lap it up like honey with about anything I've tried over the years without takin a bath in it. :-/


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Your only protection from deer flies (other than running away from them) that I've found is clothing and staying covered up... It's helpful to remember that bugs can't bite through rain gear. I can actually remember poling up in areas where they're loaded up and my exposed fingers (I wear those fingerless Mangrove sun gloves during daylight hours always.. along with long sleeved shirts) were just getting shredded by deer flies.

I know one very experienced guide who'll tell you he fishes up inside until the deer flies "run you out of there" and that's how most of us see them. Yes, there are times when that's the only place the big tarpon are - but you've got to be pretty tough to put up with them. Funny thing - I never worry about the big horse flies since you'll see them coming a mile away, and they're easy to swat or avoid. It's those little deer flies that get me every time.


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

who's anytime ?
not worried, just want to know from anyone that's been in there recently.
more bugz = less people.

thanks again Bob


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## JRP (Sep 24, 2012)

Hi Bob any encouragement about Tarpon Bite on inside next week if only temps and wind can be had or due you think they have already moved into rivers to move out .Could have happened Wen I was there Tue and naturally wind went from N to NW not NE than to SW very unusual shift, temps were almost there not quit .I always have alt plan put prob close to 100 miles on boat went as far back as you can go every everything dead lm sure cause of crazy wind shift is it over in the closer spots? seems like there are so fewer if any times to hit right these last couple of years.Sorry probably in wrong post location but it seemed to be alrady started Cap Bob is a great guy i have given his number to numerous people always has the time to say hello or even give a quick tip even after a long day on water.Thanks


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## AfterHours2 (Aug 2, 2010)

Hey Anytime, I wasn't aware you were afraid of bugs. Stay out of S Florida!


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## anytide (Jul 30, 2009)

> Hey Anytime, I wasn't aware you were afraid of bugs. Stay out of S Florida!


anytime aint scared of schit !! 
bugs are protein, i wanna know what type of sides to bring......


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

That explains why my red neck buddies ran the Turner River, at full throttle, with their mouths open.
Fresh eats when going from spot to spot so no fishing time was wasted.

Why didn't I think of that?  :-? 

All this time I thought it was the redman they were chawin'.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

;D  Hey "anytide"....  Hey look what time it waz when I posted that reply.  I was really thinkin that anytime now i'm ready to pass out and hit the hay!   ;D  Sorry bout that!

Just splash on some miccosukee bug juice, take a few swigs of some Kentucky bourbon and you'll be alright!  Hey and no, dat ain't the way it goes.  Da mo bugs, da better the fishin is, especially for the big girls (snook that is...).  That's when you'll find me there, when you can't stand to go in!     Sometimes I can care less about catchin tarpon.  It's the big snook in those dog days that keeps me going back time after time, year after year.  Believe it or not, I even camp out there during those times.

Bob, I always try to cover up, but those &%[email protected] piss ant deer flies will find any place to get cha when your not lookin.  Yes I agree the big black ones are easy and fun to whack down, but when they land on your back when your fighting a fish, doin the deerfly dance at the same time and not paying attention and they sneak up behind your neck and bite you somewhere you didn't cover up, can suck when your trying to have a good time.  Some kind of extra stuff on top of what I use for no-seeums and glades skeeters would be great to know.

Hey but guys, forget those petty bugs, try being up in the sticks and get caught in the middle of one of those beetle swarms (more like storms).  About 3/4" long black skinny beetles with 1/2 long legs that are strong and grab on to you trying to crawl all over you in a panic (even try to crawl in your mouth).  Bzillions of them!  You can have a hundred of them on you (to several hundred) in an instant, crawling all over you and trying to crawl in your clothes or where ever else.  You either have to zip yourself in the tent or hi-tail it out of there.  That's happen to my bro and I several times.

Other hot sweety summertime fun is when your camp is raided by hundreds of rats, or about 15 *****, or a nuisance gator or a pak of wild hogs or being greeted in the morning by a cottonmouth at your tent door!  Or torrential storm camping.  Now that's summer glades backcountry camping and fishing at it's finest, but the fishin is worth it!  Just not for light weights tho!  ;D  

Makes early spring fishing a breeze down there.    So quit yer winein or just stay home! ;D


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

We have those damn Deer Flies here in GA. Of course thier not out here until May. I am allergic to the little buggers. I wear long pants and long sleeve shirts, hat and buff and they still try to get to my eyes. They have delta wings with spots on them


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

The big fish should be there now... but winds will have to lay down a bit to find them. When the wind is up I'll run to a selected few river spots hoping to find them. The big girls are just plain lazy when they're up inside -they'll lay ou in the open when the wind is light or non-existent - but move behind something or abandon big bays entirely when the wind is blowing. That's pretty much the deal between now and the first week of April when you'll begin to find them around river mouths and nearby areas.

By the way for anyone wanting to learn where the big fish are when they're up inside rivers, remember that they'll lay quiet if you're running your motor and only do a roll in the first few minutes after you shut down. I tend to look for river bends and places where smaller creeks join larger ones if my normal spots aren't holding fish. In big open bays (Whitewater, Oyster, and the big interior bays at the top of Broad, Rogers, and others...) the first places I look are long shorelines that are sheltered from any wind at all. We move in as quietly as possible then shut down and just look for a few minutes. If we don't see a hint, it's off to somewhere else.

Yes, the best spots come equipped with bugs...


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

Yes, they are there and happily feeding at will!!! Look for "happy" fish, free jumpers, grey hounders, slow rollers, tails.... Approach spots quietly.... Pole or drift through.... Sight fishing these Giants can be like taking candy from a baby if done patiently....


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Eli, don't you mean... "the *bugs* are there happily feedin at will!" ??


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

Nah, the bugs just bite. The tarpon beat you up. One day trip on Saturday ended in there favor.... Broken push pole, stolen tackle, bloody knuckles, sore arms... They won that battle.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Where did you launch from? Is that where you had stuff stolen from? Whatd they take?

Do tell us bout the fish. What happen, what area and whatd ya throw at em? Only tarpon? what size?


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

I had the opportunity to take my teenage cousin tarpon fishing. He's never fished for the big girls in the backcountry of the Glades. We launched out of the backcountry ramp at Flamingo. First spot we checked had some happy fish. Free jumping, rolling, eating!!!! Got one boatside and played with a few others. Once the tide flooded in and the wind kicked up the bite ended. We checked a few other spots inside Whitewater, but no happy fish. Headed north to some areas where Ive seen them before, they were there and very comfortable. We jumped more fish and had dozens of strikes. 
My cousin likes to fly fish but still needs a lot practice, so I had him throwing topwater and twichin plugs. All in all a good day. 

Tarpon fishing is brutal on the tackle, the angler, the boat, and the fish... I'm lucky to survive with only a few missing plugs and a broken push pole, darn cap rock!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Cool! Sounds like a good time, except for the push pole! :-/


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