(No fly zone) Non fly caught fish pictures

[caloosa bug 0]

Big specks, (crappie) are still biting all over Lake Okeechobee. I've been busy the last few weekends and only had time for a couple short trips. Last weekend I spent an afternoon exploring bass locations in preparation for a small local tournament coming at the end of this month. Found some beautiful water but the bass weren't back there yet. Then jigged up a few slabs before the sun disappeared.

This weekend, my only chance to get out was for a few hours this afternoon doing some bank fishing. Even went in my Sunday lounge shorts. 😊Down the street from the house is the Caloosahatchee and I got a nice one on a rubber worm after there was no takers on fly. 

[caloosa bug 0]

This one was waving a reed with a flag on that said 👋 You hoo, I'm over here!" 

[caloosa bug 0]

A couple weeks ago me and dad spent 5 days out of an 8 day stretch on Lake O. We had an absolute blast. Explored many areas and patterns to try to win a little money in our annual one fish, big bass tournament during our county fair. We caught a lot of nice bass and had a lot of fun. I caught some big ones the first couple days, then a mid week front came through. I guess I forgot how to fish after that, probably because I was over confident in my pattern of a senko and weightless trick worm. Dad proceeded to kick my but the rest of the week on into tournament day on a tiny shallow crank bait. I didn't weigh in squat, and dad finished in 9th out of over 70 participants.  It was a week to remember and I'm glad I shared it with dad. 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

This time of year we're going day after day (nice to have anglers... but be careful what you wish for...) - freshwater, saltwater, day trips, night trips.... when that great flood of visitors heads our way..   By May things begin to slow down (as customers begin to dwindle - the fishing, though, gets better and better...) and in summer - not many want to fish in the jungle with me... In the meantime I come up for air a day here or there... with lots to do - then it's back on the water... 

Here's a pic from last week of a nice redfish out of Flamingo in Whitewater Bay where the reds have that great mahogany red/brown copper color... carefully released after  an encounter with a small leadhead on light spinning gear... 

Today I'll be sourcing a new stern light for my skiff... Trying to stuff a seven foot wide skiff up  a six foot wide creek - has consequences... 

[caloosa bug 0]

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Winds... howling and yowling (must be springtime down here in paradise,  the wind's been blowning for a few weeks now...) but still lots of bookings... A day or two ago I had two anglers from the San Diego area on board using plugcasting (or occasionally spinning gear).  That day the tarpon were hiding, but we still caught lots of speckled trout and other species - then carefully released them.   At the end of the day this nice snook gave us fits after biting a leadhead with plastic tail - in a jungle of downed trees...  With a little luck we un-snagged the fish and this was the result - a nice snook for a quick photo... 

Earlier that day he also caught and released his first goliath grouper...

 

Now, if only the winds would ease off a bit...

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

More backcountry and night-time trips... 

this time of year the sharks make catching a nice snook and releasing it safely more adventure than most are looking for but we succeeded with this one... The sharks along the coast now are a real hazard for any fish we hook up since every specie is living in close proximity to every kind of inshore tropical shark you can imagine... 

at night back over on the east coast in Biscayne Bay the snook in docklights are great fun (and never a shark problem at all...).  The night scene will be going on all summer long... That night this same angler got his very first tarpon under a local bridge - but around bridges and other structures I'm a bit too busy to be taking any photos... of crazy tarpon... Once again,  hoping my anglers will send me a video clip so that I can post it up.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Wouldn't eat the fly... so my angler's partner - took care of business... Another nice redfish in Whitewater Bay,  Everglades National Park... 

carefully released to fight another day....

[caloosa bug 0]

Me and dad took my son and his friend from down the street fishing this weekend... who apparently had never ridden in a boat before. You know they're having a good time when they are laughing out loud as they were reeling in fish 
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We brought home enough for a few meals.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

"Be a hero.... take a kid fishing"  You get an attaboy from this corner...  Well done

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Been a strange year for tarpon in the Everglades... normally our big fish leave our area - heading down to Islamorada for the spawning ritual each year - the first week of May, give or take... This year they left much earlier since the water temps were much higher early in April than the norm.  The big tarpon departing usually leave a bunch of smaller local fish behind (tarpon smaller than sixty pounds don't migrate at all...).  This year the smaller fish have been really tough to find making every guide work hard - just to find a few here or there.  Finally this past weekend the normal pattern began again and the small fish (and not so small - a 50 or 60lb tarpon is all you can handle on fly or other gear... ) have been showing in some  of their usual places.  On Saturday a long time client jummped two - one on a lure the other on bait with one of them to the boat.  Very glad to see them.... and they should be around in good numbers all summer long (and at the end of summer the big fish will come back to the 'glades for our "second season" in September and October... 

Very carefully released to fight another day... and we were in lots of fish along the coast... 

[caloosa bug 0]

It was a great morning for bass fishing in the caloosahatchee river. Dad landed the 3 biggest and lost another big one. We weighed the two biggest at 6lbs 14oz and 5lb 2oz.  We boated more than a dozen fat and healthy 2- 3 1/2 pounders too. My son, somehow, didn’t get to join in on the action.  Maybe next time.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Did a bit of exploring on my own down out of Flamingo in the Park on Tuesday (exploring is what I call it when I just have to leave all my shopwork and get out on the water, solo...).   The idea is to run in places I've never been before and / or work areas I know using different strategies or techniques to learn a bit without the pressure of having anglers aboard.  That day it was topwater all morning long for snook, redfish, speckled trout (and even one small tarpon).  This time of year I do as early a trip as possible with my skiff in the water before sunup since we're in the wet season and around noon each day the weather (thunderstorms) gets a bit dicey.

Tossing a topwater plug on both spin and plug casting tackle I had a backcountry slam before 7:30 trout, snook, and a nice redfish...

at 21" it got invited home for dinner... along with two speckled trout in the 18" size range...

After working a few different spots it was time to run into areas that I've never navigated before (thanks to the assistance of my new chart plotter with the Florida Marine Tracks chip installed).  That chip is a bit pricey at over $500, but I highly recommend it for anyone fishing inshore down here in paradise... Most days I barely touch 5 or 10% of the areas I run into (with an operating area that's miles and miles of creeks, rivers, and bays my normal area is 40 miles north to south and a bit more than 20 miles east to west when we're working out of Flamingo - the Park is roughly 90 miles by 90 miles in size....).  No two days in that area are ever the same and you could fish it for a lifetime and never learn all there is to learn there...

Still working my way west I ended up out on the Gulf coast, in the Shark river area where the snook were just attacking my lure - but the good sized ones weren't staying hooked at all.  Yesterday I removed and replaced the hooks on that particular plug so the next time it's getting blown up there should be a better result.  I had no problem catching and releasing the small snook - but the bigger fish in the 28 and 29" category just jumped off like I was using rubber hooks... Earlier that morning using very light gear and small leadheads good sized snook just took me to school, running back into the mangroves with that nice small lure... so it was topwater or nothing... 

Last night I was invited out to speak at a local fishing club - today it will be luremaking  and rod repairs all day long, dreaming about being back out on the water as soon as possible... with fly rod in hand next time... Just nothing like the Everglades... 

[caloosa bug 0]

Been back out on the big O the last couple weekends….mainly just bass fishing and enjoying the scenery. All catch and release. 
ps. The second pic is a sea cow submarine that was headed right for me.
 

 

[caloosa bug 0]

I planned on doing some fly fishing, but it’s hard to put down conventional tackle when it’s working. Caught maybe 20 bass this morning before lunch . Mostly 2-3 pounders and this 6lb 13 oz kicker. 
I had a couple visitors too.