Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted March 6 Finally our weather warmed up a bit - and stayed that way... In the backcountry of the 'glades our waters warmed up 12 degrees in just a few days - and the giant tarpon responded by flooding up into interior bays out of the cooler Gulf waters they've been holding in... On our first of two days the wind was blowing and we only saw a few of the big fish but weren't able to get on them properly. That day I was fishing local angler Bill Myers and his buddy Andrew... We mixed it up with Bill on the fly rod in the bow and Andrew with light spinning gear at the rear and found snook, speckled trout, and redfish along mangrove jungle shorelines for both anglers, at times double hookups. The snook were small, the redfish nice sized, and the trout were numerous but only a few of them were keeper sized.. Here's a pic of a nice redfish that Andrew caught and released. the reds in our interior areas are all this gorgeous red brown color... That day we kept two nice trout for dinner - an 18 and a 19" - both loaded with roe.... It's that time of year when the trout will flood into our area all of them roe laden and fully mature. When the conditions are right - we do really well using popping bugs on fish holding in feeding lane currents with them. The next day I had Chris Frohlich and his Dad Court on board fly fishing for the big tarpon... Chris was the sole angler that day with his Dad along to watch and do a bit of filming if possible. Chris is a very skilled tarpon angler, able to lay out a full 120 foot tarpon line in the right conditions. We found the big fish early on, laid up in a sheltered area in a big open bay , just occasionally rolling in three to five feet of water (and every now and then floating just under or right at the surface, showing only the very tip of a fin here or there.... I was on the pole most of that day and fish after fish - simply ignored our flies.... typical tarpon (you could hear them snoring....). Finally late in the day the fish perked up, began moving around and actually doing a bit of feeding. Chris began to see fish following the fly although still with lockjaw until one, only thirty feet from the skiff did a perfect eat and it was game on... with a fat eighty pound fish (there were a lot of tarpon in that immediate area - some of them really way over one hundred pounds...). I was only able to take one photo of the action (and I'm hoping to get a small video clip from Court...). That one fish, though really made our day... Hooked up solid with an 11wt rod We like to use much bigger tarpon flies than folks in the Keys favor... This pattern a Tarpon Snake variation, was the tarpon food that day... Just nothing like the Everglades... "Be a hero... take a kid fishing..." Bob LeMay (954) 435-5666 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DFoster 0 Report post Posted March 6 Looks like fun Bob, nice weather and fish! We're under a flood watch for a few days so as far as my river fishing goes it's not looking good🙄. Then again at least its not snow and I don't have to clear rain! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted March 7 Water temps in the 'glades are a bit higher than normal for this time of year... We had 81 degree waters in the afternoon... For those who've never fished tarpon - water temperature is what gets them moving - not time of year or any other factor... The interior of the 'glades is simply warmer than waters out in the Gulf - and that's why Flamingo, Chokoloskee, Goodland and the entire Ten Thousand Islands area gets the first crack at the big fish - before the spawning migration gets going each year.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
