MuskyFlyGuy 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2023 CB, Nice pictures! You need some serious shoulders to hold those fish? Are the legals good to eat? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caloosa bug 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2023 4 hours ago, MuskyFlyGuy said: CB, Nice pictures! You need some serious shoulders to hold those fish? Are the legals good to eat? Thank you. Yes , they are excellent to eat and are a protected gamefish that you won't find in any restaurant or market. Very mild and flaky, much like a grouper filet. There is a short spring season and a fall season. One fish per day and must be between 28-33 inches for the western half of the state. I had several under 28 and a handful last week that were over 33, including a 39", 36", and a couple 35 inchers. Tons of fun on bass gear. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted December 10, 2023 Broke another rod last night (more about that later...). I've been doing a bit of exploring these past two weeks as we move into holiday season (and most folks are doing family stuff when they have time -not booking fishing trips...) and have been alternating between the saltwater Everglades and freshwater trips hunting peacock bass and other exotics looking for new spots. On Friday night was lucky enough to book a night trip with Ollie, a young 8 year old angler, along with both his Dad and his Grandfather aboard (both named Marco)- all local anglers... We got on the water less than an hour after sundown and headed out looking for tarpon, snook, and other species using spinning gear and artificials. Our first good spot, one of the bridges that span Miami to Miami Beach was a zero --- the bridge lights that are so essential... weren't working on the side of the bridge we needed to fish... The second spot , though - it was on - with lots of tarpon from ten to thirty pounds (along with a few bigger...). The night scene in Biscayne Bay (and other places..) for us, is all about sight fishing and we're looking at most of the fish in docklights or bridge shadows on a five hour trip. Marco, Ollie's Dad, was the first to hook up using a light rod and a DOA shrimp and we were off to the races... Here's that first fish... a good start to our evening..... The next angler up was Ollie with either me or his Dad doing the casting part then handing him the rod to lure a fish into striking. He missed at least four bites before hooking up solid on his very first tarpon.. After fighting the fish to the skiff twice though - his rod broke and he had to work it to the boat one more time - with what was left of his rod... I released that fish at boatside then we went back to jumping fish. Lots of shots that night (and believe it or not - we'd have had better success with fly rods - night tarpon eat flies really well...). We went on to jump over eight or nine fish (I quit counting) that evening. Our last fish that night was bigger than the rest -after about 15 minutes of jumping, running, and just in general carrying on, the fish looked to be over fifty pounds - and right at the limit of the light rods we were using... Here's that video, just before the fish wore through the leader... [MEDIA=vimeo]893032079[/MEDIA] All in all it was a great night and all winter long these fish will be around (hopefully...) for hot night-time action. As for the rods... I build nearly every rod my anglers use (except fly rods since I can't make a fly rod quickly enough - and we do break a few rods....). So when I can it will be back to the rodbuilding bench for me - with two broken rods to replace at present. The good news is that I do have all the components needed on hand (rod blanks, hardware, etc.) and it is just as easy to build two rods as just one (almost...). "Be a hero... take a kid fishing" Tight lines Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caloosa bug 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2023 It was a crappie day on the big O. They were all smiles for some reason. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
niveker 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2023 Nice. Everybody deserves a crappie day once in a while. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Poopdeck 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2023 Any day out with the family is a great day. I would have been smiling too just knowing my kids will always remember time spent with Dad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2023 Those are some darn nice sized crappie. One of the best tasting fish there is imo 👍 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted December 23, 2023 Anyone that takes a kid fishing - is a hero in my book.... Attaboy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
caloosa bug 0 Report post Posted January 7 Thanks everyone. I had another crappie day on Okeechobee today. The big ones were out feeding. It was cold and sprinkling rain off and on today. So I left the kids at home and went by myself with only a 10' BnM "little jewel " and a few jigs I made the last couple weeks. Time to make a few more of the ones that they approved of. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted January 17 Finally, this past weekend I was booked out of Flamingo in Everglades National Park , the interior - mostly Whitewater Bay, is starting to show its winter population of reds, snook and other species... On Saturday I had Mark Howard and his wife Dot aboard for a short trip out of Flamingo (they were staying at the new lodge there...). We found lots of trout at first - mostly in the interior near the Gulf coast - but all were on the small side. We were using the lightest spinning gear and small lures almost exclusively... Mark is a retired fishing guide from Anna Maria Island and I was looking for a bit more action so we moved back inside and found both redfish and snook in the same shallow shorelines... The reds were all slot sized and working in twos and threes along very shallow shorelines (good sight fishing... ). The snook were laying just about 20 to 30 feet off of those same shallow shorelines (and we never saw them until the strike..). Here's a pic or two from Saturday... Mark is a really big guy - this red was around 23", carefully released.. A nearly slot sized snook - one of three that day... Almost all of our fish that day were taken on 1/8oz leadheads - with plastic tails using only 10lb braid on light spinning rods - great fun! Inside waters on Saturday were unusually warm for January - back at the ramp that afternoon we showed 77 degree water.... The next day was a definite change of pace. I committed to meeting my anglers at an interior chickee (they were part of a group in two bigger boats and wanted to fish with me instead... ). I knew that I'd have to get an early start just to meet them but never guessed I'd log 31 miles to get there that morning (the Harney River chickee was our meeting point). Fortunately we didn't have to run back there at the end of the day and met up with their group at the Joe River chickee instead... Still and all - it was a more than 90 mile round trip that day for my old skiff... Our first few hours that day were a struggle - just to find fish - and we struck out in Tarpon Bay, and a few additional spots near Oyster Bay before I decided we needed a change.. At a nearby river mouth we finally found fish and began to score well on a variety of species laying off the shoreline at the very beginning of the incoming tide - then found the reds and snook we were looking for nearby. We caught and released seven snook (all under 24") at that spot without moving - all on small leadheads (just like the day before) as well as small reds and one very nice 18" trout, all carefully released - then ran back inside when the action slowed. Once back in Whitewater the same pattern as the day before produced well for us. Here's a pic of our best snook that day... Jeff Sink with a nearly slot sized snook on very light gear... What started out as a very slow day - just got better and better.... Just nothing like the 'glades... This time of year we count on cold front after cold front coming through, every 7 to 10 days - our next one is headed to show up this coming weekend (along with the usual high winds and sudden temperature drops). In coming weeks, as soon as the weather moderates and we have low seventy degree water temps in the interior for a week or so - the giant tarpon will flood up into Whitewater Bay and nearby areas.... If the waters stay cold (air temps supposed to drop to 50 degrees this Saturday night...) they'll stay away... Note: Every bit of the action this past weekend would have been perfect for an 8wt rod with a simple weight forward floating line... "Be a hero... take a kid fishing" Tight lines Bob LeMay (954) 435-5666 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcozzz 0 Report post Posted January 18 Thanks Capt.We warmed up to 6 above 0 today.Was gonna go icefishing this weekend but caught the flu.Jan up here is not fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted January 18 If I lived up north I wouldn't be much of a fisherman at all - until it warmed up a bit... Instead I'd take up poker playing, pool shooting, visiting other fellow's wives - nothing dangerous at all... All of that, of course, was many years ago. Nowadays - it's just a memory... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted January 18 Nice looking fish Capt Bob. Dunno what is is about them but for some reason I have always thought snook were just a really cool lookin' fish. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jcozzz 0 Report post Posted January 18 A buddy's family had a condo on Jenson Island.Went down there to remodel a couple bathrooms and fish,party at the bars on the beach.Just a good time.Free place to stay,make a few bucks and escape Chicago for a couple weeks.Wading the intercoastal in the area was blast.I just fished for snook like i would for bass up here.No big ones but plenty of small snapper and crabs for dinner.Throwing soft plastics into the mangroves and never knowing what you will catch.I had fished Okeechobee a few times and seen lots of gators up close.I had no idea gators lived in the salt.My buddy pointed out a few sharks and mentioned bleedin fish on a stringer tied to a belt loop was no a good idea in chest deep water.Been to FL many times but not since the late 90s.It seemed pretty crowded back then cant imagine how it is now. PS The rattle snakes were huge along with the land crabs and giant toads?/Frogs? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Bob LeMay 0 Report post Posted January 19 Snook do behave a bit like largemouth bass in that they will attack anything that comes near (and we use many of the same tactics, lures and flies for them) - when they're hungry... After that things change since they're very quick once hooked and will streak towards the nearest cover and stitch you up before you even realize you're on one... The harvest of them is strictly controlled since they're also great table fare... In my area, along the coast if you hook one - sharks are always a problem since they like to eat them as well.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
