Inshore Flats Fishing Miami with Stephen
Miami Fishing Report January 16th Bonefish-Shark
Stephen Reinhard was a in town for a relaxing vacation during his birthday with his wife and two children. There is nothing more gratifying then enjoying Miami Flats fishing on a clear blue bird day when you work 12-14 hours a day in the finance industry. Stephen and me took off and ran across the flats to one of my favorite areas looking for some large lemon sharks on the flats then transitioning into bonefish. The sharks were slow to show this day and Stephen had one shot at a large shark that gingerly decided to take the bait. This shark just kind of mouthed the bait for a while and never really committed to put on a show…
We decided to look around for bonefish and tossed a couple of shrimp around the flats to have Stephens rod double over and drag start screaming. I knew we had our first bonefish of the day and put on a good show running all over the flat. 15 Minutes later and led the bonefish head first into the landing net ready for picture. We kept the bonefish in the water while I got the camera ready and took some shots.
Next up was a 2.5 foot Bonnet Head shark that swam in casting range. Stephen put a nice cast in front of the shark and circled around took off with line screaming once again. A bonnet head shark of 15lbs can put on a fight identical to a bonefish in shallow water and that is exactly what happened.
After 2 hours of flats fishing we decided to run back to the downtown Miami area and hit some inshore fishing spots for jack, snapper and some other species. Not only did we catch those but a 9 foot bull shark showed up. First he ate a jack that Stephen had on small bonefish spinning rod and took off without knowing he was even hooked. A few minutes in and he popped the line but he gave us a thrill at the end of the trip. All in all it was a good day on the water!
Miami Fishing Report 12/19/2011
Frazer Preston called to discuss a fishing trip for son Charlie on Saturday. I asked what he wanted to do and he inquired about bonefish and tarpon. I looked at the tides and said “let’s do both”. Preston had some early appoints so we scheduled the trip to begin at 2pm. After a quick greeting at the dock, we left the marina and headed to the bonefish grounds.
We decided to stop by a shallow wreck in Biscayne Bay and bend some rods. Charlie was quick to hook up and started catch many species of fish including bar jack, blue runner, porgy, mangrove snapper and a few more. At one point, Charlie targeted his fish and used the pull away technique to keep his bait from other fish until his Bar Jack came in and crushed his shrimp. That is the making of a professional fisherman. Fraser used a technique to probe the wreck for grouper and was able to land about 5 gag grouper over a 30 min period.
We decided to leave for a bonefish flat and it only took about 10 minutes to get there. Not more than a few minutes on the flats I pointed out some bonefish muds and spun the boat around to get Fraser and Charlie ready. Fraser had a spot on cast to the incoming school of bones but at the last second the banked a left and did not see find his shrimp. Seeing more muds, I staked off and tossed about a few shrimp out of the boat and the bones started coming in one after the other. For about 20 minutes we had bonefish all around the boat. It was amazing that they did not find the shrimp as they were actively feeding. Just about the time I thought we were going to get a hook set, Charlie’s rod bent over and the fight was on. After a few minutes Charlie landed his first Bonnet Head Shark of about 2.5 feet long.
Unfortunately, we were chased from this incredible bonefish activity by a horrible storm and were only able to fish the bones for twenty minutes. We made a run back to Miami’s city and started working the bridges for Tarpon. Once the bite started it was explosive tarpon fishing. Fraser went one for five and landed his first ever tarpon. Charlie was ready to give it a shot and was on instantly. Charlie being a professional fisherman in the making fought his tarpon perfectly and after a 20 min battle landed his first Tarpon.
Both Tarpon were released health and happy!
What an incredible trip.
Miami Tarpon Fishing
Miami Fishing Report 11/18/2011
Jim Lowell is back again for some fast miami tarpon fishing action. This time he was joined by his son one night and his daughter the next night. On the first night we had a good tide and nice shrimp run. We had shrimp flipping all around the boat in the lighted areas around the bridges but the tarpon were not biting. We stayed fast to our plan and waited for the bite to begin. It took a suggestion from Jim to get the action stared. Jim’s 10 year old son Charles is a Shakespeare expert and we were discussing some of Shakespeare’s writings as we waited for the bite and Jim asked Charles to recite a Shakespearean type quote. Charles thought for a second and said “The Tarpon you seek in your heart”.
Not two minutes after the quote, Jim’s rod doubled over and the fight was on. We were able to land a nice 70lber to put another notch in Jims Tarpon belt. The night was filled with action once the bite started and we had several fish on for both Jim and Charles… and Charles caught a mixed bag of fishing including Bluefish and Lookdowns. It was a great night.
Permit Spawn Biscayne Bay Miami Florida
Miami Fishing Report 06/12/2011
Ever find yourself in Miami during or near a full moon between the months of June and October? If so, you’re in luck and the Permit fishing is incredible. Just ask Julio Ruano who had a perfect slicked out day with Permit filled action.
Julio called me with the intention of catching trophy fish. We had discussed getting Bonefish on fly because at the time of his call, the Bonefish had been holding in a particular are due to spawning activities. We were seeing hundreds and catching 3-4 a day in this area. Unfortunately the spawning has ended and the Bonefish have dissipated from that area.
The great news is that the spawn has finished for Permit on the offshore wrecks and they have come in to shallow 2-4 foot depths. No other time is better to get these shallow water Permit whom really decide to show themselves during a full moon. I call them mooning permit. You can find them fining at the surface in schools from 2 to 200 hundred and it really gets the blood boiling with excitement.
Julio was able to launch a great cast to one of these schools and we waited as the crab sunk down slowly. It did not take long and Julio felt the tap. Up came the rod and then back down the rod went as it doubled over. The line was screaming! This battle lasted about 20 minutes in the hot sun with some blistering runs and line testing tug of wars but Julio was able to bring the big girl to the boat. It was Julio’s largest ever Permit!
We were very careful with her and Julio applied gloves to hold her for the pictures and then we spent 15 minutes reviving her. Here are the photos.
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