Captain Jim Hale’s Florida and Biscayne Bays report 2/1/07 to 3/5/07

[Merijo_Attong]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Water temps…………………February has been a darn good month for good fishing, cold fronts have been dropping water temperatures into the low 60s and in some places upper 50s which has brought in a lot of Spanish mackerel, sheep head, kingfish, small permit and cobia on shallow water wrecks on the gulf side deeper waters off Florida bay. These temperatures and species list should continue into late March. On warmer days some larger permit have been found in the shallows and the snook have been eating real well in creek mouths as well as in deeper water.[/size][/font]
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[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Mid February U.K. boys Malcolm McConnelly and Steve Rowlands fished 6 straight days with me. On their first day of fishing they also brought their U.K. weather with them. We had horrible temps in the mornings of high 40’s and wind howling 25-30 knots. Seeing these guys thought the weather was “lovely” Steve managed to land a nice 33 inch snook. Day two and three winds calmed down and we fished water temps in the mid 60s. We went sight fishing for redfish with 8 reds being caught with the biggest reaching 30 inches. There were a lot of fish cruising, tailing and pushing big wakes, but not eating as well. The next two days were spent in the gulf on very calm days. Malcolm catching a 28# kingfish on 10# test power pro, a nice blacktip shark, over 150 Spanish mackerel (some on fly) and big sheep head. [/font][/size]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Just days before the U.K. boys arrives Dave Johnson and Steve Schwab fished in trying conditions and caught 10 nice reds on the flats the largest at 32 inches. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]In March hopefully the cold fronts will slow down which will bring a lot of tarpon into the ponds and lakes in the backcountry of Whitewater Bay. In February we were fishing it and found fish but the bite at the time was not very good. With the water warming up the bite should increase.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Bonefish have been around but with temps lower than 72 bonefish are not happy. We have chased and had shots on nice bones with few hookups, the next week air temps will rise to 85 warming up the water and should make for some great bonefish action. [/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The water temps in March SHOULD warm up, unless, the weather plans on playing more tricks on us. Like that nice and warm January and December, these fish rely on water temps at certain times of the year to migrate and spawn, like a calendar to us.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For any of you that have fished spring with me know that the permit are just around the corner, May is pretty tied up with a few days left on the calendar. April and June will be all around warm weather and hot fishing.[/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Until next time……Tight Lines and good fishing![/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Capt. Jim[/size][/font]
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[Tarpon4me]

Hi there Capt Jim, and welcome to the BFT message boards. What a great report. Thanks for sharing.

I was curious how you target the spanish Mack's in your area? Do you troll for them or cast on them with spoons? I was wondering because I'm going to spend a little more time on the Spanish this year up the way in SC. I usually troll Clark or Drone spoons for spanish. I'll put two deep at different water columns, two on top and one in the wash. Usually a 00 or an 01 size. I hear alot of guys stepping up the size of the spoons. I'm going to tie right on my spoons with fluorocarbon instead of light steel leader. I've rode with guys that did that, and to my surprise, they hardly ever got bit off. You ever use a boone spanish bird?

Also, keep in mind there is a captains saltwater picture tournament going on. We'd love to have you participate! Check out the first thread on this message board. It's free to enter, just take a few photo's. This is the first week of the contest, so it's deffinately not too late to enter.

Thanks alot Capt Jim!

Bryan D.
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[Merijo_Attong]

Hi Brian, I do not use spoons. I anchor up in a favorable area were the mackeral is going to be put out two blocks of chum in a good current. I use Trollrites which are jig heads without tails wiht light wire. I tip the jig with shrimp and cast out far and whind. Down here it doesn't take long.

The biggest trick is finding the area where the schools are.

Hope this helps and if you would like to phone me you can reach me at 786-255-1788.

Capt. Jim
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[CaptJoeVerdino]

Hi Capt. Jim

Welcome aboard and thank you for sharing your success stories and tips. I would like to invite you to post this information on the Florida board. We would enjoy your input and I'm sure there are a few anglers that would benefit from your experience.

Second note is it's not too late to join the charter captains contest. If you check the Florida board I'm putting together a special goodie bag for the Florida guide with the most points taht beats my total.
Good Luck, fair seas, and thanks for the input.

Links:
Florida board [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/forum/Florida_Fishing_C18/General_Discusion_F21/"][#333366][size 1]General Discusion[/size][/#333366][/url] [black]You can also find this board from the main index by scrolling down to the Blue Section and Clicking "Florida Fishing"[/black]

Captains Contest [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/forum/General_Fishing_C2/Saltwater_Fishing_F3/BFT_Cannonball_Run_fish_photo_contest/_Charter_Captains_Division_P310693/"][#333366][size 1]BFT Cannonball Run fish photo contest/ Charter Captains Division[/size][/#333366][/url][size 1] [/size]
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