Capt Bob LeMay

We ran out of Flamingo yesterday - more scouting than fishing but can confirm a few things... Not the slightest sign of any damage along the roadway down to Flamngo - all 38 miles of it. You can see at the ramp and on top of the dock remnants of the gray mud that comes with flooding there -- but other than the missing Porta-Potties at the inside ramp nothing else has changed... I'll be glad when they finally complete the renovation of the restrooms there... The water in the interior from the boat ramp all the way out across Oyster Bay is at least one foot or more higher than normal - but all of it is the usual clean dark waters... Thinking about it, I'm guessing that it will be a while before the tremendous flooding to the north of the Park, makes it's way down into Florida Bay or out of the Gulf side rivers... The rainfall alone from hurricane Ian was just massive... The 'glades are in the process of a big time flushing out... In years past that meant some really good fishing a year or two down the road... Along with that, though, I'm expecting a bumper crop of mosquitoes for the near future until drought conditions cut them back this winter. All of the few markers in the interior are right where they should be and we saw scant evidence of any hurricane at all in the interior. Once we entered the "rivers" (the tributaries of the Little Shark River) things began to change, with a tiny bit of mangrove damage here or there - and the waters began to lose their clarity as well.. Out on the coast you'll find an occasional downed tree in places where you didn't expect them so I'd advise caution when running (and that includes staying a bit farther off the beach when running north or south. We did bump what I believe was a tree in one of the mouths of the Harney river.... We were in eight feet of water at the time and just idling - if it was a tree - it was a big one... At that same river mouth a big old mangrove tree that we've been catching fish around for years... is just gone now... Lastly it's definitely the beginning of fall fishing conditions - the mullet run along the coast is in full swing now... Just nothing like the 'glades... I'll be back there as soon as possible.. "Be a hero... take a kid fishing

Doing quite well… that nasty hurricane missed us mostly - so unlike the west coast of Florida over on the Miami side of things we’re still going strong all the way up to Stuart. I did a scouting trip today out of Flamingo and found hardly a sign that a hurricane had just missed us. Throughout the interior though water levels are still high… out on the Gulf at the Shark river there was a feeding frenzy going on with baitfish everywhere and big predators like tarpon doing end over enders through them. It’s that time of year …

Getting older isn't for sissies - that's for sure... About two years ago I finally broke down and added a trolling motor to my skiff (after poling it for years and years)... I still use my pushpole - but I'm too slow now.... by the time I get to where the fish were - they're gone... This and other small touches I hope will keep me guiding a few more years - but there will come a day when it's all behind me... Until then I'll still be working both day and night trips as they come and I really do believe that actual work keeps you going...

Actually all of the Gulf coast barrier islands are kind of temporary… We‘ve had many years to forget about the reality that one hurricane can restore, alter, or remove them entirely…

Sure glad others have chimed in since if I ever had the info… I can’t remember it now… I do have Google Earth Pro and will look to see if their photo maps are current or still showing how things were before the storm. A quick check of Google Earth only shows photos from before the storm…

A note for all of us -- getting older not much fun is it? I have more than one angler I fish regularly that has difficulty just stepping on to my skiff.... Heck I've even fished one fly angler who was completely blind and another fly angler that was wheelchair bound... No it's not what you're used to, and probably something you never considered... but you really can fish late into your years if you've a mind to... Here's a photo of Capt Bouncer Smith (randy smith) an IGFA Hall of Fame angler with fifty years as a charterboat captain behind him ( and too many to count world records for his anglers over the years...) - now retired since he has great difficulty even standing... On the day he and a buddy fished with me, he needed a walker to make it from his truck to the dock and once he was on board he had to remain sitting all day long since his legs aren't working very well any more.. Then he proceeded to outfish all of us... ps... I'm only 74 years old now and still going full time as a guide when I have anglers... Hope my string runs a few more years but it will run out for me like it does for everyone else. If you still want to fish don't give up... My oldest angler (that I know of... ) was 87 years old and his partner, up in his eighties as well....

A bit of good news... the Everglades City Bait and Tackle just re-opened... Keeping limited hours (8Am to 2Pm) each day and without the ability to handle credit cards (cash only...), still it's a miracle they got back in operation as quickly as this since they were flooded out.... The best part is that they apparently saved all of their merchandise (must have emptied the store before impact) and are fully stocked with all the stuff folks need... Just one more sign of how tough and determined folks in the 10K are... You can find all the contact info on Instagram for them..

Public exposure is the best medicine in my opinion… Must say though if they’re doing this… what else are they up to? Of course I’m just a cynical old cop that will never be allowed to serve on any jury…

A buddy of mine fished Flamingo yesterday... He said that other than a high water mark and some mud on the ramps you'd never know the Park had a hurricane pass by.. in that part of the Park. I'm betting it's a different story 55 miles to the northwest where Everglades City and Chokoloskee are... He reported very high water in the interior and his day was mostly snook and small tarpon... It will be a few days before I can get out there myself... Just got in a bunch of trailer suspension parts so I'll be dropping my hull off the trailer and getting after it in a day or so... When you tow a boat on the highway as much as I do most years the maintenance stuff just never ends between boat, trailer, and not to mention all of your actual fishing gear...

I used to tie a tarpon fly in those same colors (blue collar, orange and yellow tail) as that Winter's Hope pattern... It was very popular among the shops I was fillling orders for a bit more than 30 years ago... That Wiinter's Hope is very nicely done... hopper

I've begun to think of them all these years later as a just a bonus when you're poling along shallow shorelines looking for snook, reds, tarpon, etc. The small ones will eat a properly presented fly on sight - you'll get some excitement until it finally bites though your tippet - then tie on another fly and keep moving. Little blacktips in particular will get so fired up they'll chase a fly or lure all the way back to the boat - then race around the boat a time or two trying to figure out where that tasty looking item went.. . Bigger sharks are more than just a one time thrill since they'll really put an angler through the paces and it's fine preparation for fighting big fish later on.... Yes, you do have to go through some preparation to fish for the bigger specimens and you'll have to chum (here I always want the freshest of fresh-killed fish to hang over the side - none of this last week's frozen carcasses. And it can certainly get exciting any time a big shark is near the boat and not happy at all. For what it's worth though as long as you don't try to pull one in the boat with you - they quickly settle down and allow the guide (or your fishing partner) to do a bit of retrieving so that the fish swims away without the fly in its jaw... By the way, along coast of the 'glades many, many sharks have more than one rust mark in the corner of their jaws from rusted out hooks... Doesn't seem to bother them at all...

I'm a retired cop (retired after 22 years and went back to school, got my captain's license, and never looked back..). It took a few years after leaving that line of work before re-learning that most aren't lying to me or doing something they shouldn't be doing. Incidents like these cheaters remind me of a world I don't want to be a part of any more. Wish it weren't so...

Both of my main venues in Everglades National Park and nearby areas are open again and available to anglers and guides alike... Flamingo (the center of Everglades National Park) - but only the boat ramps, the marina store and fuel pumps are up and running... and Everglades City / Chokoloskee at the north end of the Park. In that area though - nothing else is up and running with very few exceptions... I've seen one post that mentions an email from the Everglades Rod and Gun Club saying they have a few rooms available -but no restaurant or other amenities. All of this will change from day to day as everything comes back to life - but for now I'd have everything I'd need with me when going into that area... .I have no idea whether any of the gas stations are open at all.there at all. Now if I can only finish a few home projects - I'll be on the water myself at each location and post a report for each... maybe later this week... This should be prime time in the salt and brackish portions of the Everglades...

Just posted a piece on another site that might be of interest... about how we toss flies at sharks - of every size from the little ones all the way up to ones that are too big... https://forums.floridasportsman.com/discussion/294747/shark-fly#latest Although I didn't mention it.. .whenever we're working bigger sharks I try to pick places on the edges of large flats with a deep channel less than a hundred feet away - and do my best to make sure there's no downed trees or other nasty snags anywhere nearby. Once you're hooked up on a big animal you really can't control it until it begins to tire and I've lost more than one good fly line to a shark that made a hard turn around a submerged tree or other object and cut us off... Nothing in what I wrote speaks to handling sharks at the boat - that's a whole different topic. I will say that we do our best to remove the fly from any hooked shark with an 18" long de-hooker and never, repeat never, make the slightest attempt to take it out of the water.. Little ones that I can pick up with one hand are the only exception..... and even a tiny little shark is a handful. The only sharks that have ever drawn blood from me are the little ones so be warned...

Saw just enough of that to last me forever…. The moment you place a money incentive on winning a tournament… I expect one or two will be trying to gain an advantage by cheating…. I long ago decided not to fish tournaments since in general they take something I really like -and turn it into something I don’t like at all…

For folks with building skills Florida will be heaven these next two or three years… Unfortunately we’ll also draw more than our share of scam artists and other scoundrels hoping for chances to rip off anyone from a retiree to the government itself…. and make a quick buck. Emergency workers and utility workers will be on all the overtime they can stand - while every last resident in our state can expect their homeowner’s insurance to jump again (as if it weren’t high enough…). Just the price we pay for living here .

Historically all of the boom times here in Florida - came to an abrupt end with terrible hurricanes.. in modern times.... The baddest of them all was the "Labor Day" hurricane in 1935 that killed hundreds and hundreds in the Keys... To this day it's still the hurricane that had the lowest pressure reading on record... This is by way of saying that as bad as Ian was... it could have been a lot worse (if you can even imagine that...). Of course we live in a well known hurricane area - but you could go years and years without a single strike - or get hit three times in one year... That brings up another small point, that hurricanes come in all sizes and situations so you can never be sure of the size of that dog coming to bite you... The one positive thing about them in the modern era is that at least we hear about them well in advance (mostly - but not always...) and can prepare for what can happen to you. We do have significant numbers of folks living in sub-standard housing though around our state - it's all they can afford - and those new mobile homes look pretty nice until you see what a bad storm can do to one (and here I'm not even talking about hurricanes...). Every time we get hit with a hurricane there's substantial sentiment to prohibit "mobile homes" down here - but economics will prevent any action... Wish it weren't so.. It's not an accident that the first place TV crews head for after a storm is the local trailer park... For anyone considering buying property here (or moving here) the first item I'd suggest you learn about is just how high above sea level.... that property you're considering is... The next item would be to learn just where, locally, is the nearest public parking area where you could leave a vehicle - so that it's not flooded during the storm. Always a few public safety outfits (police, fire, etc.) that have to learn that lesson the hard way... Before I took up guiding (1996) I did a career in law enforcement locally and was my department's representative at all of the local (Miami) disaster preparedness seminars each year as we prepped up for what in my era we just missed - with the exception of hurricane Andrew, a very, very bad one in 1992... Just to illustrate what can happen - that storm, a small but very strong (a full category five...) hurricane was literally aimed at my city - until an hour or two before landfall changed direction and hit 30 miles to the south of us... In short, be safe, do your preparations, stay out of "mobile homes" and if you're in a flood zone - when they say to get out - take heed... One other small point is that October is a very, very bad month for the great storms that come out of Africa.. hope we get missed -one more time...

All of Chokoloskee and Everglades City was still under water yesterday -the photos look pretty grim. Will post an update as I learn more...

Here's what I wrote on another thread about how we fared down here in south Florida... Down here in south Florida we got very lucky and it missed us mostly... except for the storm surge which beat up the lower Keys and the entire area of the coastal Everglades as it passed by. During the storm's passage, the Park (Everglades National Park) had their gates open and I was surprised... After the storm passed, last night they shut down the Park completely, locked the gate (only one road and one gate into the Park - the road to Flamingo....) and won't open again until they can do a full damage assessment... Along with that I've tried today (Thursday) to make a few calls into Everglades City / Chokoloskee , the northwestern boundary of the Park, about thirty miles east of Marco Island and Naples - with no success at all.... I've heard, second hand only, that both the town and the island got flooded.... Not surprising since most of it is very low lying and it doesn't take much to cover it with a storm surge... Will post up when I hear differently... The folks in that area, the Ten Thousand Islands are hardy souls who will get things up and running again as quickly as possible. Visitors and commercial fishing are their sole source of income and very few, it any can qualify for insurance -if they could even afford it.... Nothing like living in a flood zone that gets hit over and over again....

Down here in south Florida we got very lucky and it missed us mostly... except for the storm surge which beat up the lower Keys and the entire area of the coastal Everglades as it passed by. During the storm's passage, the Park (Everglades National Park) had their gates open and I was surprised... After the storm passed, last night they shut down the Park completely, locked the gate (only one road and one gate into the Park - the road to Flamingo....) and won't open again until they can do a full damage assessment... Along with that I've tried today (Thursday) to make a few calls into Everglades City / Chokoloskee , the northwestern boundary of the Park, about thirty miles east of Marco Island and Naples - with no success at all.... I've heard, second hand only, that both the town and the island got flooded.... Not surprising since most of it is very low lying and it doesn't take much to cover it with a storm surge... Will post up when I hear differently... The folks in that area, the Ten Thousand Islands are hardy souls who will get things up and running again as quickly as possible. Visitors and commercial fishing are their sole source of income and very few, it any can qualify for insurance -if they could even afford it.... Nothing like living in a flood zone that gets hit over and over again....

Very surprised to see that Everglades National Park has not locked down for Ian... Usually, if you even say the word hurricane they lock the gates...figure the storm surge alone will be problematic - particularly for the Everglades City / Chokoloskee area since they're barely above sea level as it is... Looks like south Florida got lucky on this one.. . Will report out as soon as I'm able to get back down to Flamingo and / or Chokoloskee for anyone interested. In the meantime everyone along the Gulf coast of Florida will be doing everything they can to prep for what looks like bad news coming their way.. Hope everyone stays safe - and after the storm, once you've sorted out check on your neighbors and assist if needed... Good luck to all.

A quick note… haven’t been able to call up this site for a week or more now. So glad to see it up again … With the weather being the original topic on this thread I’m happy to report that hurricane Ian looks like it will miss down here around Miami but instead head for Tampa and points north while pretty much ruining the fishing from the Keys all the up to the Panhandle area of our state. Lucky me… I’ve only lost three trips I had booked out of Everglades City this week. Hope everyone stays safe and helps out their neighbor after the storm passes …

I'm pretty sure I have a partial box of Keel Hooks - somewhere in my gear (they were stainless, of course, and by Eagle Claw). If I can find them I'll gladly send them to whoever can use them - gratis.. I remember trying to use them - without a lot of success as a beginning tyer in the mid-seventies -and I was pretty much self taught using what few books I could find (this was long before the explosion in our passion on the saltwater side of things..), I also remember tying up the Blonde series on standard hooks - then never having any particular success with them myself... Once I was well on my way as a tyer and finally getting an order or two from one shop or other don't believe I ever got a single request for anything done up on a keel hook...

I’ll settle for a 13 year old with serious computer skills since my grandkids have better skills in that area than I do…

Tried to edit the above post - and once again, although you can call up the edit function - you get a "not allowed" message... frustrating...