Water clarity report for everglades?

[Goats 0]

I'll be fishing out of choko next week and I was wondering if anyone can give me a water clarity report. I've been watching the weather for the last few days but need a baseline to work with.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Water clarity in the 10K is a day to day proposition - and entirely "wind dependent". Yesterday, in the upper bays it was just fine - except a hard NE to East wind had the water pretty much blown out most of the day... Outside it was a chocolate milkshake in any open shallow areas.

 

In short the wind is the major variable day to day. Many days the wind can actually be stronger than the tide and can exaggerate tide effects one way or the other -yesterday it helped push the tide out to almost a foot below the prediction - then greatly delayed the incoming all day long - from the opposite direction you'd have had very modest low tide -then a very strong incoming that would have been much higher than predicted...

 

Most days I simply roll with the punches and try to predict where I'll have good water (and maybe a fish or two...). Needless to say, yesterday I went home talking to myself and my anglers didn't see much action until very late in the day when the tide finally began to push up inside - two or three hours after it was supposed to....

 

Everglades City/Chokoloskee can be outstanding - but when the wind is pushing hard I'd much rather be over on the Flamingo side of things where a bit deeper water and lots of rivers that drain into the Gulf coast provide opportunities that help you overcome a bad weather day.... I'll be back on that side of the 'Glades on Monday.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Water clarity still not much - outside, but up in the upper bays the water is just fine.... water temps are in the 74 - 78 range depending on time of day...

 

My day was saved today by a 12 year old young man - we struggled all day long -not fly fishing, just using light spinning gear... Here's a pic of a big girl type snook that he caught (and we carefully released...) the fish weighed in at 18lbs on the Boga Grip - the fish was so large young Tyler Bravo needed help from his Dad, Jason, to hold the fish....

[mikechell 0]

Wow! I think that's the largest Snook I've ever seen!

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

We actually get bigger.. but in the summer when the big girls are around - you usually only get the head.

[agn54 0]

That's a beautiful snook, but do you think dangling a big girl like that from a boga grip to get a weight is a good idea? I know it's only a few seconds so maybe it doesn't matter but then again it may not take long to sever a vertebrae, jaw, or mess up the internal organs that they say can happen by suspending them (as far as I know they haven't done a study on this with boga grips yet, the Australian study on barramundi on which this belief is based used something else to hang the fish). In any case, a cool tip I picked up from reading an article on salmon fishing in Russia is they would use those large landing nets (this snook would fit into it) to scoop the fish and then attach the boga grip to the net's ring and weigh the fish with the net. You could always weigh the empty net too and subtract it for an accurate measurement. It is a great way to weigh the fish with minimal handling.

[Peterjay 0]

I'm with you, Andy. A fish's jaw is not constructed to support its weight. With all due respect to Bob, Boga Grips are one of my pet peeves. They're especially deadly on fragile fish like false albacore.

[mikechell 0]

Always been my bone of contention with people who catch big Large Mouth Bass, too. Hold them up for a picture, then watch the go belly up when they "release" them.

[Peterjay 0]

Mike, what really kills me are the guys you see on TV, grabbing a fish by the lower jaw and holding it parallel to the ground. For some reason, I seem to be seeing more and more of it. (my apologies to Bob for hijacking his thread - this has nothing to do with him) Those idiots might just as well hit the fish on the head with a hammer and get it over with.

[ben bell 0]

peter, that,s how the pros hold a fish and we all want to be like the pros.lol.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

The criticism about using boga grips (or any weighing device where the fish is suspended from its lower jaw) is valid - but that doesn't tell the whole story by a long shot. I've been using bogas for many years and here's how they allow us to greatly limit the amount of handling that a trophy fish (and that snook was certainly a trophy...) receives. First, you'll note the lanyard has a soft synthetic sleeve over it so that any beginner can hold onto it - as long as its slipped over their wrist before the handle is grabbed...

 

At any rate here's how we use them... When the fish is at boatside I slip the jaws onto the lower jaw of the fish - but we don't remove it from the water. While the fish is in the water being "swum" in place to revive it while on the Boga - we get out any camera gear (mine and the angler's usually) and square away the place where the angler(s) will stand or sit - all while the fish is still in the water - untouched by anyone's hands at all (and no net for the fish to rub up against). Once we're squared away the fish is lifted - onto the angler's other hand so that the belly is fully supported as it's lifted up to where the photo(s) will be taken - then it's quickly settled back into the water. The only time a fish is actually weighed is when it's the angler's first one - and then it's allowed to hang for only a few seconds (just long enough to get a read on the scale.... then the fish is back in the water with the boga still in place so the fish can begin to breathe again - total elapsed time out of the water is kept to an absolute minimum. By the way - I long ago quit using a boga on any tarpon (no matter how small -they just beat themselves up on any restraint) -and we long ago quit making any attempt to weigh tarpon for the same reason... In places where there are lots of sharks the boga is the only thing that allows us to "swim" the fish in place without placing your hands in danger when your snook (or other fish) becomes a target. If I can find it I've got a pic that shows what happens to many trophy snook in summer where we fish if you make any attempt to revive the fish (provided it wasn't already attacked when first hooked...). To call the 'Glades a "tough neighborhood" is an understatement...

 

Hope this explains a bit why the Boga is a very handy tool that actually lessens the amount of handling for any fish that's headed for a release instead of the fish box...

[Peterjay 0]

Thanks for posting, Bob. I wish there were more anglers who use Bogas as responsibly as you do. I've actually seen, on many occasions,fishermen use a Boga to land false albacore, haul the fish out of the water, hold it up for pictures, then throw the dead fish back and watch it sink out of sight. (albies don't have swim bladders, and sink like a rock.) Albacore are easy to tail & quickly release, and they can't survive anything but gentle handling. Just drives me nuts when I see some ignoramus kill a beautiful fish for no reason. BTW - if you decide to publish that picture, the caption should read "how to get a head in the fishing business."

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Where I am... the 'Glades is a real jungle -both above and below the water.. Today the fish is feeding on whatever the menu provides, tomorrow the fish opens the menu - and his name is at the top of the menu... Several times this year when the water was colder and there shouldn't have been any sharks around at all way up in Whitewater Bay one of my anglers has hooked a good sized gafftopsail catfish (a real nuisance when you're working small bucktails or Gulp tailed jigs) but when it's to the boat we realize it got attacked and all that's on the hook is the head (roughly a pound or two catfish attacked and the angler never noticed a thing while reeling it in....). Tough neighborhood...

 

We only lost one tarpon last year to sharks - but it was around an eighty pound fish that my angler had fought to a standstill. We were not able to do a thing since the shark, like always, attacked the tail to immobilize the fish - then took the rest of him out on the coast. I tell all my anglers not to even think about a swim in these waters....

[mikechell 0]

If they DO decide they're going swimming, tell them to wear a bright, shiny swimsuit. No offspring from such people will ever "benefit" mankind.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

That reminds me - the animals in the jungle have learned the lesson about things in the waters there... You'll never see a small animal like a raccoon, fox, or bobcat make the slightest sound when swimming from one island to the next (and that also goes for birds and snakes...). I figure the noisy ones never lived long enough to have babies so the "noisy" impulse just isn't part of their heritage. Humans on the other hand aren't exactly quick learners.