Everglades backcountry, Flamingo, 30 November

lemaymiami

Had a booking on Saturday and we met up at Flamingo.  My anglers that day were Patrick Cowan and his two sons, Leo and Gabriel, ages six and eleven,  looking forward to some backcountry action.  That day we found speckled trout in good numbers both in the interior and out along the coast but the fish along the coast were a bit bigger than those inside.... All of that will change this week since the next few nights we'll finally have some cold weather (only about a month late this year...).  When the weather turns cold and water temperatures begin to drop the fish begin their long awaited move off of the coast and back inside - where the waters will be a bit warmer all winter long...

 

We caught trout both on lures and on bait (a small popping cork for a six year old angler is just the ticket... add a 2/0 circle hook to the terminal end and a beginning angler can really shine.... ).  As we moved towards noon we began to hunt for big snook with no results at all... Finally we found a few big fish - but they weren't snook or redfish at all.  Here's Patrick's first cobia, hooked up in less than three feet of water... 

That fish fought like it was on fire... it made long runs, jumped several times and then when crazy at the boat before I was able to lip it with a Boga Grip... After all that the fish only measured in at 32" to the fork of the tail - exactly one inch under the slot so it was carefully released to fight another day...

 

Still looking for that big snook, we set up again and this time it was Gabriel's turn on the fish.  I don't think Gabriel at 11 years old had ever tangled with something that pulled like that jack (yep it turned out to be a big jack...)... Here's the photo before we released it... 

When I asked Leo if he wanted to tangle with one, he just shook his head saying "no".  Guess he'll have to get a bit bigger first... 

 

With a few trout kept for the table we called it a day and made the long run back to the ramp.  That day the two boys, with Dad assisting when needed must have released a hundred fish between them - not a bad day at all...

 

"Be a hero... take a kid fishing"

bottom feeder

Thanks for the report.
Great day, I always like to see kids fishing and catching

Engguy

I was too was down there with my 15 year old grandson. With the full moon and ultra high tide fishing was tough for us. We managed a couple jacks, small snook and got into a mess of trout in the westside of Whitewater. Managed to put 2 keepers on ice for the grandson to lay on the table.
Ventured up to Tarpon Bay where I have not been for probably 20 years, hasn't changed... That's were we got the small snook. I was hoping for a Red or two up there but it was not to be.
Ran into Capt. Bob at the ramp and had a nice converstion with him.  Great to meet a fellow Forum member in person. 
Took some time to teach the grandson how to run a trolling motor and navigate with the GPS. 
It was a magnificient day down there.