Spring Bite

Report Date: April 23, 2004

Spring Bite

Spring is finally here. It?s been a long winter. The wind blew and temps stayed just a little below the average. Since last report we had a period of calm warm days that got the tarpon happy. Then another front came. At first we only had the wind to contend with. Luckily it was only blowing 20-25 out of the NW. As the week went on the water temp continued to drop and the tarpon slowly disappeared. It looks like we are on a warming trend for the next several days. At least the NOAA is calling for 10-15 out of the east. That would be good.

Dr Cullari and his son Christian had a good day for Christian?s birthday. They hooked three tarpon, getting one almost to the boat before the fish broke the line. After the tarpon bite slowed we headed for the ladyfish hole for a little shark chum. We got into some bluefish, jack and ladyfish and loaded up the well. I went to a new spot where I had seen a couple hammerheads and several black tips. The sharks were there and they would come up to the bait and turn off. We managed to get two Black tips on for a good run before pulling the hook. I?ve fished for them the same way before in a different spot with lots of luck. I?ll have to work on that. At the shark spot, Christian caught a very nice 24 lb barracuda and lost one. Happy birthday Christian.

Cole Clayton and friend Dicky fished for tarpon the day after a cold front with the wind blowing out of the NW at 20 kts. Tough day. We got two bites. The fish were rolling and jumping, but just didn?t eat that good. The next day the weather was better, with the wind out of the NE and 10 -15. They hooked 4 fish and got two to the boat. We didn?t see as many, but they were there.

Kent Boyer got lucky the next day. The weather was a little iffy. Wind was NE 15-20, cloudy and chilly. Is this weather ever going to end? First drift, paid. He got a 100 lb class fish to the boat. We made several more drifts and jump one more tarpon.

Jamie Blanchard and buddy Joe had a great day of drinking the day before we fished. Blanchard couldn?t get out of bed and missed the morning tarpon bite. We went to a bonefish spot and, after several hours of suffering, Blanchard hops up and casts to a 7.5 lb bone. Unbelievable! The next day we had Dearwester, but no hangovers. The AM tarpon bite was slow so we did the bone thing. Saw a lot but nobody could cast. Well, I guess we did get a couple good shots but no luck. Tried the tarpon again in the afternoon, got two on and had them jumping good before they came off. That just destroyed my tip.

You look hungover.

Murray Klugman and Vanny had a nice day. It was sunny, warming, light wind, out of the east. Finally! Vanny got a big tarpon in the morning. Then we went to the permit spots. Had several shots and got one out of a school of about 50. They were all schooled up floating around up on the flat. Very cool catch.

The weather looks like it will keep improving for the next few days at least. It should, summer starts next week.

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