The heat of the summer has arrived and the migration of ocean run Tarpon is all but gone.  The bonefishing is now dependant on days with a good amount of rain to cool down the boiling water temperatures.  Redfishing is red hot as these fish love to school up in Flamingo during periods of high heat and low winds for some odd reason.  There are a plethora of big trout and snapper that have taken up residency in the deeper potholes and even up on the backcountry flats.  Large numbers of breeder Snook that have survived this past cold winter have piled into the inlets along the east coast of Florida to take part in replenishing our lost snook population.  It should be a matter of time now before the rains push the baby tarpon out of the inland estuaries in the Everglades and send them out onto the shallow flats to hunt for shrimp, small baitfish, and deer hair sliders.  The heat of summer is definitely here and sadly enough, even though the days of sitting at my favorite point on the ocean side waiting for tarpon are a thing of the past (for now), there should be enough things to do to keep this tarpon junkie busy until they return.  It’s a good time to explore the less explored, rediscover some old roots, and take adavantage of the diversity that surrounds us in south Florida. 

Many anglers have taken to the flats to hunt down the schools of redfish that swim the shallow flats of Flamingo this time of year.  These fish are eager to eat well placed topwaters, flies, and DOA soft plastics.  There is something to be said about laying your fly amongst a huge school of redfish and stripping in anticipation to come tight but there is definitely something very special about watching that school of redfish try to lift their heads out of the water to devour a topwater plug.  This type of insanity keeps me sane this time of year.  Redfish are probably the dumbest creatures alive when they get bunched up into a giant hoarding school.  I am dead serious…. they really are.  You know that supply of “reject” flies you have laying around…. it’s a great time of year to use those things up now.  Now when you encounter a single tailing redfish… they may sometimes require as much finesse as a bonefish to feed.  That is what makes this bi-polar fish such a cool fish to stick a hook into. 

Those summer time bones… they are a true pain in the ass sometimes.  The lighting sucks 5 days out of 6 this time of year and those little silver frustrations will tail in one spot, move 10 feet without making a single wake, and tail in the next making them tough to spot and predict.  Who would want to fish for something that unpredictable?  These tailing bonefish in shallow water are nothing like the aggressive mudders you encounter when the sun is high.  The lack of wind makes bonefishing much more of a finesse game this time of year.  You wait and wait and wait, until you get that right shot, but wait too long and the fish will take notice that you are secretly stalking it like a phsycho ex-lover.  While on one of my charters, I mentioned to my client… “anyone who wants to subject themselves to these fish must be a massicus.”  There are times when that shot is just right and all the stars line up… your line didn’t coil up, the fish are swiming right to where your fly landed, and you finally feel your line tug back as you make that initial strip… This is why summer time bonefish are my favorite summer time frustration.

I rarely get a chance to fish the inlets along the East coast of Florida for the big summer time snook, but I did get a chance to experience a little bit of this fishery one day.  What would have seemed like an easy fishery is actually a lot more involved then I had intially thought.  From catching that bloody bait to finding the right way to present it to these big weary snook, it is definitely a challenge.  We went to the inlet in hopes of finding me a big snook to photograph.  Catching bait sucked… watching 100 big snook under your boat snuff your offering sucked… but having one dumb fish make a mistake of eating the wrong sardine made it worth while for the camera lens.

A new beginning starts soon as I await the transition of the Fall fishing season with a new skiff; some world class bonefishing, and knock you on your face fun fishing in the red minnow-rich Gulf waters awaits.  Stay tuned…

I’ve been fishing and hunting this past week like crazy, I just can’t get enough. I have seen plenty of deer this week but not able to get close enough to make a great shot. O’well, this is the way it goes. I came across a little spot that is holding a bunch of tarpon, baby tarpon. We hooked into 3 yesterday but couldn’t close the deal. I tried with my fly rod but they had me beat. We were hooking into them with top water lures and suspending twitch baits. I did however catch a little snook on the fly, I am loving fly fishing more and more. Yesterday I found a nice pod of reds that were so kind to give us a taste of their fighting ability. The outgoing tide did us right! Check out the last photo, this is some serious back country fishing but very very close to civilization and no one ever goes there. Now that is bad ass!

Once a year my family and friends get to together usually at the beginning of August for the opening of Florida Spiney Lobster season. It all started when I was probably 10 years old, my parents and siblings would cram into a van and make the drive down to Marathon from Orlando, FL. with camping gear, cookware, snorkel and fishing gear strapped to the top. Every day we were either fishing from a bridge or in the water catching lobster to bring back to the camp so my mom could cook us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We basically lived off the land and sea for a week while rinsing off at the local gas stations water hose with a bar of soap for our shower. Years pass as we grew older, my brothers and sister started having families of their own and getting too busy with work that they couldn’t make the annual trip anymore and my mom couldn’t make it due to her health, but me and 1 of my older brothers kept at it and still went every year bringing a few friends here and there. Nowadays instead of years of camping, we rent a house in Marathon off sister’s creek by Sombrero Beach. I bring my skiff, my bro brings his 22′ TE Pathfinder and our friends bring all the booze! We now have a normal group of 10-12 people that go every year, and every year still brings loads of fun and laughter! This year we finally get to drag my mom out for a weekend along with her husband, my uncle and his wife, she hasn’t been back to the keys in over 10 years, and instead of sleeping on the ground getting chewed by bugs, we had her in the master suite of a 3 bedroom 2 bath house on the water. She still preferred to stay in the kitchen and cook for me and all of my friends, but having her back with us in the keys was a huge treat!!