# Flamingo friday and Saturday



## lewis_walker (May 22, 2012)

We fished Flamingo Friday started on outside to East Cape water was real dirty ran thru Lake Ingraham to Shark and into Oyster Bay water was cleaner but fishing was disappointing,Saturday went inside and fished Whitewater at the mouth of several rivers not much happened other than a few snappers on plugs anyone have any good stories
Lewis


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

Water temperature was 57 degrees when we launched in the back on Saturday morning. The warmest spot we found all day was only about 68. Caught dozens of trout, couple lady fish, a permit, and a sawfish! That's it!


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## 25stampede (Dec 1, 2015)

I fished flamingo those days too. Did you stay on a chikee?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

This time of year the best fishing for me is almost always up inside the interior - mostly in Whitewater or occasionally Oyster bays... If we're not there you'll usually find us in one river or other where there are fish that might just be in the "unstoppable" category.... All of that is in cold water temps -if it warms up a bit (70 and above) then we start thinking tarpon..... big ones up inside just hanging out and trying to warm up...


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## lewis_walker (May 22, 2012)

No we did'nt stay in a chickee I live out in the Redlands a few miles from park entrance Bob you are spot on Dave Vatter is down for a week or two so I'm sure we will be doing some exploring.Don't know if you knew but Eliot Fox passed away this week.The salinity up in some rivers was so low you could drink the water and the bugs were pretty bad...


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

lemaymiami said:


> This time of year the best fishing for me is almost always up inside the interior - mostly in Whitewater or occasionally Oyster bays... If we're not there you'll usually find us in one river or other where there are fish that might just be in the "unstoppable" category.... All of that is in cold water temps -if it warms up a bit (70 and above) then we start thinking tarpon..... big ones up inside just hanging out and trying to warm up...


Bob, do most species go to deeper water when it's that cold? We thought the mud flats and other areas with oyster bars, etc. would warm up sufficiently as the ambient temperature rose, but really did not find the fish.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Here's what I've learned about water temps in the 'glades over the years in cold weather.... Those lovely shallow areas that we like to pole and sight fish reds, snook, and others... are the first to cool off as the sun goes down. That means all of the cold sensitive fish have to leave the shallows overnight. Those same shallows (if they're mud bottomed and happen to be sheltered from the wind...) turn into fish magnets each morning since they warm up quicker than anywhere else.... but only on a nice sunny day. The kiss of death as far as I'm concerned after a cold night is a cloudy day with little, if any, direct sunlight during the following day... That said there really are a lot of variables in finding fish on cold days. Areas with a lot of wind exposure not only don't warm up very quickly -they also turn murky as the wind stirs up the bottom. A nearby sheltered area (from the wind) not only warms up quicker -but also stays much, much clearer for sight fishing opportunities. No you don't need an early start after a cold night, in some places the fish may not move into shallow areas until after 10Am.... and don't forget the tide since many shallow areas will fish better on completely different tides. An example is one area I know pretty well that has a lot of very small mangroves along each shoreline with areas inside that are too shallow for most skiffs but with lots of small openings for snook and reds to move up into on the higher stages of the tide... When that's going on you could fish those shorelines until you fell over and rarely find much of anything. Fish that same area towards the bottom of a falling tide and it's just loaded with fish that had to come back outside since where they were is drying out as the tide falls..... Across Whitewater there's lots of places that only fish well on the higher stages of the tide... go figure... Whatever water temps are at dawn on a relatively sunny day... I expect them to rise five degrees by 2pm in places where wind isn't sucking the heat out of the water as it warms...

Yes, there's many a day after we pole an area and strike out that I'm wondering whether we got there too early (or too late). We're also constantly trying to figure out exactly which of the many variables resulted in our success or failure in one place or other. That sort of stuff is what makes it so challenging in winter when fish have slower metabolisms (cold blooded, remember) and just don't need to feed as often as they do in warmer conditions. One other thing I try to remember is that river bottoms (all the big rivers and the many tributaries that flow into them...) have a much more stable temperature situation than the flats. Of course the sun is much less of a factor there than in the interior.... Simply put, in winter the center of Whitewater and other big bays is almost always a few degrees warmer at mid day than the coast of the 'glades is then.


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## nehrkesm (Aug 11, 2013)

Don't live in the area anymore, but bumped into you last April at the buttonwood ramp....a gentleman as always. Appreciate the steady stream of information. You da man!


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## lewis_walker (May 22, 2012)

Bob we fished all the way up to banana patches and back to the horseshoe area we were in 2 boats Bill Aman was in the other boat with Stan Bujalski Dave Vatter and I were in my skiff one snook and the typical other bycatch it was tough but we tried water temp around 67-68 even on shallow flats.
Lewis


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## lpg (Sep 1, 2015)

we were out there as well two weeks ago and same story. East cape canal was a parking lot, but there was not much fish. When I start seeing boats moving around alot, its not a good sign. We were fishing mostly shrimp and some jigs, managed a small slam by moving around, but we did not really ever get into them. Everyone was asking "been catching anything? Nah, me either".

For the average weekend warrior like myself, it is tough to put the puzzle together for finding fish while cold fronts blow through once or twice a week.

Im taking my nephew out there tomorrow and am going to pickup some shrimp and will have to find somewhere to anchor up. Hopefully we can get some rods bent..


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