# Flamingo 3/29 & 3/30?



## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

My friend that was going to fish Biscayne Bay with me just called and said he's got to work.

Anybody want to fish Flamingo tomorrow afternoon and/or Saturday?

I'm driving down from Lake Mary (Orlando) in the AM to set-up tent, eat lunch, then fish Friday afternoon, evening, night?...Saturday AM and head north after lunch Saturday. Unless the fishing is crazy and then I'll stay through Sunday.

Since I've never been there, any advice would be appreciated.


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## creekfreak (Jan 8, 2013)

Too much driving,not enough fishing man.Good luck.Tight lines.


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## creekfreak (Jan 8, 2013)

> Too much driving,not enough fishing man.Good luck.Tight lines.


So much to do there,but many factors.Wind,type boat,species target,ect.Get a top spot map.They r on the money with there spots and then explore a lil beyond that point of map and keep hitting spots from that map.When I started I learned a lot off that map.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

I arrived at the campsite just after noon and was able to get spot A1 on the front row. Good thing is you can parallel park along the road and not have to unhook the trailer. Bad thing is there was nothing to block the strong East wind or headlights at the camp registration as people trickled in on Friday night.










Had the tent set-up by 13:00 but the low tide had just past and the winds were a steady 15 out of the East with gusts to 25 so I decided go (Miller) Lite for the afternoon. I stalked every boat that drove into the campground and performed the Fisherman's interrogatory routine to find out that the water was dirty and live bait was the (only?) way to go.

I also discovered by talking to another fisherman that the Hot Spots map #206 that I bought that shows Flamingo and Snake Bight was not the best one for going South. Map #207 is the one you want to fish Florida Bay. With the water dirty and my not being a bait fisherman I planned on heading to the bonefish spots on Map #207 in Rabbit Key Basin. I entered 10 waypoints into my chartplotter that took me through several marked channels around the keys headed South.

Another thing I learned from the fellow that had the #207 map is that when you fish live shrimp, if you throw the dead ones on ice you can eat them for dinner. Good thing cause he got skunked at the First National Bank. (I thought that was some kind of local joke, but its a real place.) His camping and cooking set-up was a lot better than his fishing rig.

Hit the hay early and was on the water at 06:00 making my way through the channels with a flashlight. The water turned clear past Man O War key, but the wind was already blowing 10 out the East at sunrise. Made my way to Nine Mile bank and motored through one of ther bigger channels to the Gulf side. The water was invisible, except for the glare created by the ripples across the flats and the foam from the white caps that were already forming. Not seeing any sign of life, nor any other boats I figured I was in the wrong place and headed back North.

Stopped to fish the lees of a couple keys and didn't see anything move except for cormorants and one other boat. When I got back to Snake Bight channel I thought I was entering a parade. There were a dozen boats all racing to get in there. Everything from 22' Pathfinders to 14'  john boats so I jumped in line and  stopped about 2/3 of the way down the channel to the end of the channel.

Not having any bait I decided to throw a big minnow hard bait with my 8' spinner and in less than 5 casts caught my first brown bass. 










As usual, quick success is a jinx, but I wasn't alone. As the tide dropped and action was slow the boats left about one every 10 minutes. I also fell in line as the birds started to walk the flats, but noticed a couple pathfinders anchored in a cut out into the flat so I stopped and got on the trolling motor to go see what was going on in there. About 100 yards down the cut I snagged some grass with my lure and was trying to snatch it off when another brown bass ate my lure with the grass still on it about 20' from the boat. The first run took at least 50 yards of line out, the second about the same and the last was maybe 25. If I had not seen the fish take I would have sworn I had hooked a big jack. He (she) wasn't mush longer than the first, but a whole lot fatter.










After the pic I was expecting to get at least another one along the 1/4 mile stretch between me and those anchored boats when some guy in a panga shuts down as he's crossing the bar into the cut I'm in and jumps on his trolling motor trying to get in front of me. He didn't succeed. I didn't catch another fish, but neither did he, and without exchanging any words he moved on to fish elsewhere.

I took a lunch break back at the marina around 14:00 and then went back to Snake Bight to see what the rising tide looked like. It wasn't pretty. lots of grass, trash, oil,. I thought I saw a tar ball and I was out of there,

Back at camp around 17:00 I found many of the neighbors from Friday had either left or changed, but the guy with map #207 was still there. Turns out he had battery problems and didn't get out on the water until after 10:00, went West to clear water and got skunked again.

I showed him some venison loin chops I had and he said I can cook that. He made one marinade of Worchestor sauce and another terriyaki plus some other stuff in separate ziploc bags. Mixed some flour and Ms Dash on a plate for batter, put oil in a frying pan, and in less than 5 minutes pan fried those chops into the best deer I have ever eaten. Add on the cream corn with Tostito's salsa and onions plus Vigo rice and just the dinner was worth the trip.

I can't wait to go back to Flamingo, but those vultures hanging around make me want to bring a shotgun.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

When the weather at Flamingo is howling.... You've got several alternatives to consider. Snake Bight will produce -even in murky water (try bumping tipped jigs or leadheads with Gulp tails). The best alternative if you don't mind using bait is either East Cape or Middle Cape canals (one or the other will always produce), but like Snake Bight you're either going to be bumping the bottom with jigs or fishing bait (pay particular attention to anyone anchored up around one of the canal entrances or canal bends - they're on station for a reason.....).

In my book the best alternative when the weather isn't very good is to get yourself up inside - then fish Whitewater or Oyster (while hiding behind one island or other). The interior is endless and takes some learning but you'll always, repeat always find places to fish that aren't crowded.... Good luck.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

> When the weather at Flamingo is howling....
> 
> In my book the best alternative when the weather isn't very good is to get yourself up inside - then fish Whitewater or Oyster (while hiding behind one island or other).  The interior is endless and takes some learning but you'll always, repeat always find places to fish that aren't crowded....  Good luck.


Thanks for the pointers.

In hindsight I had the right map ...I just didn't use it.

This was partially based on a comment by the chef fisherman saying that the Whitewater and Hell's Bay spots on that map were for years ago when there wasn't a dam at Flamingo. That sounded reasonable, but is it true?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I was actually involved in the petition process that led to Buttonwood canal being dammed.... and that was in the late seventies.  I can't comment on whether your fishing spot chart does or doesn't show valid spots - but I can sure tell you that the canal getting plugged and then the net ban years later made a very dramatic difference.  The fishing in the interior now is different - the fish are bigger.... and there's more of them.

The main reason most thought that plugging that canal was a good idea is that you could find fish in winter that just didn't belong there.  In short the interior was saltier than it should have been.  For years that canal didn't hurt anything... but as freshwater flows into the Park diminished that canal needed to go....  It's still my favorite place in this world.


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