This week’s best bet: tarpon bite out of Flamingo

BEST BET

Captain Jason Sullivan of Rising Tide Charters reported that the tarpon bite out of Flamingo has been awesome. During one charter, his clients had 27 tarpon hookups with fish up to 100 pounds. Sullivan thinks the heavy rains in the past might be responsible for the hot tarpon action. Snook fishing in the Park also is starting to heat up. Captain Richard Stanczyk out of Bud N Mary’s Marina in Islamorada reported the tarpon bite in the late afternoon and into the evening has been excellent in his area. The tarpon have been along some of the Keys bridges and many of the channels.

MIAMI-DADE/BROWARD

Captain Lester Wenger of Lester’s Live Bait and Offshore Charters out of Haulover Inlet reported the offshore bite has been inconsistent over the past week. Large dolphins showed up in depths from 400 to 800 feet of water. The best dolphin action has been in the mornings. Closer to the reef, there have been small- to medium-size blackfin tuna in 200 to 500 feet of water, a few sailfish and medium-size kingfish in depths from 100 to 240 feet of water. On the bottom next to artificial wrecks, there have been mutton snappers and an assortment of jacks. Dr. Daniel Warum and Dr. Jordan Ditchek of Fort Lauderdale fished the backwaters of Eastern Shores and caught and released five snook to 16 inches plus a number of jack crevalles and barracudas. All of the fish were caught using live pilchards and Mustad Ultra Point No. 4 hooks. Captain Alan Sherman of Get Em Sportfishing Charters was their guide.

KEYS

Captain Lenny Leonard out of Key West reported he has been finding good numbers of tarpon for his clients on both the Atlantic side as well as the Gulf side. Permits are starting to move off the flats as they head for deeper waters, but there are still plenty of bonefish to target on the Key West shallow flats. Brett Hogan out of the Holiday Inn in Key Largo reported the offshore charter boat fleet has been catching mutton snappers to 20 pounds over the wrecks, yellowtail and big porgies on the reef, kingfish, wahoo and blackfin tuna outside the reef and dolphins further offshore. In the backcountry of Florida Bay, sea trout, black drum and mangrove snappers were biting.

TREASURE COAST

Captain Scott Collins of Getting Lucky Sportfishing Charters out of Jupiter reported during recent offshore charters his clients have tangled with big bull dolphins, smaller dolphins, sailfish and kingfish. When the winds have been blowing, he has been catching jack crevalles, ladyfish and snappers inshore in the Intracoastal waterways. Nedra Maxwell of the Sebastian Inlet District reported there has been a good sea-trout bite taking place in the Indian River. Jetty fishermen fishing the Sebastian Inlet have seen a drop in their fishing, but serious anglers are catching a few pompano, summer flounder, snook and redfish.

FLORIDA BAY

Captain Taylor Powell of Fly Fish South Florida Charters also reported that there has been a great tarpon bite out of Flamingo. His clients have started the day catching tarpon and then turning their attention to redfish and snook. He has been fishing both the outside and inside waters.

SOUTHWEST COAST

Captain Jon Fetter of Catch the Cure Backcountry Fishing Charters out of Fort Myers reported poor tides and high winds made fishing in his area tough. Sea trout were available over the grass flats in three to five feet of water. The sea trout were eating shrimp fished under a popping cork. Dragging shrimp on a jig head in the passes was producing catches of sea trout, ladyfish, sharks and mackerel. Redfishing has been tough, but there have been a few along the oyster bars.

FRESHWATER

Alan Zaremba of World Wide Sport Fishing Inc. reported peacock bass have been aggressively hitting his AZ Jungle jigs in the quarter-ounce and half-ounce sizes in the urban canals. Jigging the jigs along the canal drop-offs has been the best way to get the peacock bass to strike. Over the past week, his clients have had 25 peacock bass to 5 1/2 pounds fishing the C-2, C-4, C-8, C-9, C-100 and the G-15 canals, plus a few snook and clownfish. The L-38 canal produced 14 largemouth bass to three pounds.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 11:55 PM with the headline "This week’s best bet: tarpon bite out of Flamingo."