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CaptainBly
Posts: 2,702 Captain
Egmont?
CaptainBly
Posts: 2,702 Captain
Been in boca for a few weeks and haven't fished here for poons in a while. I got a buddy going through a surprise divorce and wanted to get him and his two sons on a **** on Monday night. Don't need any secrets, just wondering if they are chewing in this flush.
Was talking to a captain at Oneills and he said the bite has been way off this season.
Just don't want to get his kids hopes up if they haven't been there...
Was talking to a captain at Oneills and he said the bite has been way off this season.
Just don't want to get his kids hopes up if they haven't been there...
In Loving Memory of James Zielske, January 19, 1957-July 5, 2013
Replies
Which is perfectly fine with me, except perhaps that now there will be more fishermen around the other productive spots.
Go offshore...
I have certainly just begun to learn this game and my boat limits the search on a given day. I basically fish from the Don to the south tip of EK. Anyway, along this path there are two spots I have found that consistently have fish at certain stages of the tide. They won't always eat what I have to offer, but they are there. One of these spots is not unfamiliar, but this year in particular there has been, what is to me anyway, crazy amounts of fish. I have watched as the spot has become more and more crowded each day.
Also, there are some spots where the fish won't eat certain things. For instance, once you get inside the bay, tarpon won't eat crabs, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Once you get to the Gandy, it's like they have forgotten they are food. It's really strange. See that same fish at the Skyway, not 20 miles away, and they eat them like candy.
Tarpon are strange fish.
I agree with Mike, finding them is the hard part. Figuring out what they want to eat and when can be frustrating but easier than finding them at times. This weekend we caught fish on threadfins, crabs, and shad. All in different spots and conditions. They most certainly prefer different food in different locations.
Eventually, you can gauge what they want to eat by just looking at the water and what kind of bait is around (ex. crabs are probably not the best bait choice when the water looks like mud with 1ft of vis).
Definitely a crazy year (very different than the last several). It seemed like the big blow we had on May 24th pushed the fish out of Bean Point and they never re-staged. But, I agree - the fishing has been awesome. We've found fish all over the place up and down the beaches and in open water with multiple hook-ups on most days.
However, based on my observations of tarpon over the years, they respond in a fairly predictable way when pressured excessively -- they change behavior -- and this year wasn't really all that odd weather wise.
What I think happened is that Bean Point got so popular, the fish simply decided there are better places to hang out and get some peace and quiet and do their pre-spawn thing -- eat and frolic together before heading offshore to spawn.
Ask anyone who has fished Boca Grande for the past decade or so, and they'll tell you the same thing happened down there....
The good news, of course, is that the game changes in July. Post spawn is on, and the fish are much more spread out, and as a result aren't subjected to the same localized pressure...and they come back hungry.
I was fortunate enough to have fished Bean Point back in the day when you could pick and work a pod of daisychaining fish for quite a while getting into position for the right cast. huh maybe its how people pressure the fish. I have noticed a change in their behavior towards a boat. It seems the pop up just to check you out and go down way more than they used to...
They have not been around for Millions of years by being "dumb" fish, as many call them.
However weather did seem to be a big factor this year as well, especially north of Tampa Bay. The fish were here early in April. After jumping a few fish mid april we began our season. by the last week of April fish were here in full force. We found a huge school with nobody around one morning. 2 guides did see us hooking fish and worked our way. Fish shut down and they didi not hook any. The next day 5 other boats were in that spot. No one hooked any fish. That was the last week we caught fish. the 1st week of May I had a trip booked with capt. Jim Lemke to permit and tarpon fish with a buddy from Shimano. That was the day winds hit 64 mph on Madiera Beach. a nasty cold front. It was like 54 here after it blew through. shut things down fish moved offshore. The week before memorial day another cold front blew through, keeping fish offshore i believe. I suspect that when fish returned that weekend (memorial day weekend) all the boat traffic and anglers kept fish down because they were here, but not happy (I have not seen any happy fish this year, btw, a 1st). My postponed trip w capt Jim was the day that front hit. I had a house for june 4th -10th. Rained everyday, and when i found a few fish here or there no luck (there was no pressure other than ours).
Only one crab of mine was taken by a tarpon. only 1 frickin crab all season. Baby cats have been more productive.
Fish have been around but seem split off from any larger school (maybe waiting offshore), almost as if they are scouting for food. All the fish we have seen this month seemed to spawned already. Last month was the big push up north, and now they are seeing the fish in the panhandle. It seems fish are near or at that post spawn stage and moving on.
idunno. Just when I thought I had a bead on things...
What are the effects of the persistent red tide combined with all the dumping of sewage last year, and continued dumping of partially treated wastewater on the lower food chain, which seems off balance more so this year.
Whatever you think is happening isn't really happening. We hooked plenty of fish this year (~200). It's been a good season. We still continue to hook fish just about every trip. It's been a while since we've been skunked. I'm also fishing about 4 days a week on them. Just keep fishing for them, change things up, work harder. We've hooked some good fish off the beach this year without seeing a single fish and for us beach fishing doesn't really go full swing until July. Yes, the cold fronts were a pain and the weather was blowing but fish were around.
https://youtu.be/gH53mImtj-g
Right at the beginning you can see a tarpon jump over the shoulder of the kid fighting the fish….then around 3:55 you can see a really good jump.
Beautiful sunset. Beautiful night...
Hooked 2 last night. The first one spit the hook after a couple jumps. The 2nd one we had on for 15 minutes and Mr. Bull Shark heard the dinner bell. Got the fish away from him and horsed him close to the boat and broke him off to fight another day…I counted that as the 1 for 2....Didn't actually touch the leader but it was right by the boat and I wanted him to get away...
You are fortunate to have had a good season.
Ok. looking back at last year - June 27th 2 for 3 -, my son went 1/3 (and, we went home with our limit of tripletail). Yesterday, nada.
It must just be me.
How far do you run looking for them? I know it changes, obviously with the fish moving, but I remember a post where you mentioned running 30-40 miles on that day. What would you say is average?
Probably 30 miles a trip average. Sometimes it's 10, sometimes it's 70...
With tarpon - here today, gone tomorrow, gone today, here tomorrow.
17 ft. Ankona Native with 40 hp Suzuki 4 stroke
Too far! You are driving over fish! My average trip is between 4-8 miles round trip, sometimes up to 20 if I do a pass through everything when I am starting from scratch again.
Still getting on your level :grin
Some of my running is a result of wanting to go "check up" on some other areas to see if they are producing. However, I rarely ever leave fish to find fish. Plus keep in mind boats up in Gulfport so there are a few extra miles :rotflmao
Wow, this sheds new light on things given the proximity of boat ramps and water where I never assumed there were fish. Back to my benthic research and the ole' drawing board.
Can't be too surprising as Ft. Desoto, Maximo, Gulfport, Bay Pines, Seminole, Kingfish, Longboat, Anna Maria all are very close proximity to the beach and a lot of different places.