Jack of all Waters!

This past week I have fished Biscayne Bay, Flamingo, Key Largo, and Holiday Park. It’s kind of cool not have to drive to Flamingo every time I fish.

The spots all produced fish! Biscayne Bay gave up some really nice Trout for Nick and Joe in a 90 minute nonstop bite. It was Trout, giant Ladyfish and Cuda’s on every bite. We also had a 2 lb mangrove Snapper which is nice. This was part of a 2 boat fathers vs. sons’ trip with Capt. Alan Sherman.

I ran the back country at Flamingo to where the fresh water meets the salt. It was a good time with 25 or so Black Bass, a Cyclid and a dozen Snook. I have my personal mechanic and I have to keep him on fish because he keeps me running.

Holiday Park which is in the northern part of Everglades was on fire. We had over 100 Black Bass, and a handful of nice Peacock Bass. James and Mike put a hurting on them.

Key Largo produced 30 Trout, lots of Ladyfish and a nice Snook in a half day trip. The winds were gusting at 25 mph, but the Ratcliff family loved it.

I stayed down in Key Largo for the rest of the week and went out on my own on Friday. I found a big mullet Mud that had some Tarpon in it. I was fighting a nice Trout on Berkely Stick Shad when the Tarpon blew the mullet out of the water. I had some horse Pilchards and put them to use., The rods kept bending but the Sharks were eating all my baits. I finally hooked what fought like a Tarpon for a couple minutes but wrapped around a crab trap. When I got it off the trap leader it was frayed not cut so I am thinking Tarpon.

The next day I fished Flamingo with my Nephew Capt Mark. We went looking for the awesome Tarpon bite that went on a few days before. It seemed like they moved on because we waited a couple hours and never saw them. I ran The traps for triple tails and found a few but none measured 18 inches. We did find Tarpon blowing up mullet in Middle Cape.

The weather is beautiful and fishing is getting better every day. The windy days should be coming to an end soon. If you are interested in fishing Flamingo, Biscayne Bay, Key Largo or the Freshwater Everglades for Peacock Bass give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught lookin charters ifs a family friendly charter company.

Spring Break Fishing- Everglades-Key Largo- Biscayne Bay

Key Largo Rainbow, check out the Flag!

The fishing has been ok. I have had a bunch of half day trips. I don’t do a lot of running around, I try to spend most of the time fishing. Flamingo is known for a good fishery right outside the marina so that’s where I have been fishing. The Snook, Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish and Sharks have cooperated on most trips. The water temperatures have been in the 70’s lately so we should start seeing a lot more Tarpon.

Most of my trips have been family oriented with 3-4 people which puts a lot of fish in the boat.

The Trout have been plenty of keepers between the new limit of 15-18'“with 1 over 19” per boat.

There has been some slow periods but We can usually make it work. This past Saturday it was tough on but when we found them it was nonstop action.

There’s bait around which mean the better fish are somewhere!

The next few weeks should be really good, it that time of year where everything is here.

I’m fishing Everglades national Park, Biscayne Bay, and Key Largo so if you would like to fish any of those destinations give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught Lookin Charters Is family friendly charter company.

Let’s go Catch’ em.

Capt Jimbo

Follow on Instagram @ CAUGHT LOOKIN CHARTERS

Fished Biscayne Bay, Flamingo,Key Largo this week!

Definitely best fish of the week!

I covered a lot of water in the last week. I fished with long time clients Tim and Paul at Flamingo one day Biscayne Bay the next and then Key Largo a couple days later. They caught a bunch of Snook and Tim’s first Redfish; I didn’t realize he had never caught one before. He advised me of this and within minutes we were hooked up to a nice one, while Paul was telling nonstop stories catching some nice Snook. Lots of by-catch today of Trout and Ladyfish.

A few days later they met me in Key Largo where we were going to fish the reef and then go offshore. We set up in 60 feet and put out a chum block. The area was active with Frigate birds all around and big schools of Ballyhoo get chased by Sailfish. I put out my Ballyhoop net and waited for a few to get netted, it didn’t take long, and I had a dozen. I rigged one and put it way out off the stern. The chum was working and Paul was hooked up to a Yellowtail. At the same time the rod with live Ballyhoo started screaming. Tim picked it up and a monster Sailfish came out of the water. While Tim was fighting the Sailfish Ballyhoo were getting showered around the boat and Sails were in them. I put out another bait but then just concentrated on the fish we had on. Tim fought him from an anchored boat for 20-25 minutes. Tim brought up boat side and I grabbed it for pictures, all the while Paul kept fishing for Yellowtails. Great fish while Yellowtail fishing, the Sailfish is a bonus of the inside reefs this time of year.

We decided to go offshore and take a look. There were plenty of weed lines but no Dolphin. We did get in to 3 separate groups of Tunas busting bait but were moving really fast and disappearing.

We ended the day on the reef again and finished up with an assortment of reef fish. This was a great day with good guys!

In between I fished with Brett and his son Owen in Biscayne Bay, we had an incredible day. We started out in Government, I had a LiveWell full of Pilchards thanks to Joe the Bait guy. It was foggy and really no traffic early. We saw one big Tarpon blow up and set up near it. It didn’t take but 10 minutes and we had a really big Tarpon eat a Pilchard. Owen picked up the rod and held on while the fish pulled a hundred yards off the reel. We fought it as it started running towards the middle of the Cut. The only problem we had was a big sportfishing boat running right in front of us. We had to free line it and the boat go by but the fish ran back up the ledge cutting us off. We did manage about 20 Snook to 28” and a bunch of Jacks to 8lbs. Pretty good half day!

The temperatures are in the mid 80’s and fishing is good. The backcountry giant Tarpon bite should be good thru this weekend. The tides this past week were incredibly low which helped find some fish around the Flamingo area.

Spring break is here I have some openings so pack up the family or buddies and let go catch em! Give me a call at 305 333 8149 for a fun day on the water. I offer trip to Biscayne Bay Flamingo of Key Largo and freshwater for Peacock Bass.

Capt. Jimbo,

305 333 8149

www.caughtlookincharters.com

Instagram@ caught lookin charters

Tough conditions this week

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Tough weather this week but when I got out, we caught some fish. The backcountry out of Flamingo produced a good bite of Snook, Redfish and Trout. We had a couple big Snook and Reds in the 20–23-inch range. All fish were caught on Berkley products. I always rig up the Gulp swimming Mullet, it catches fish when they aren’t biting! I also had the new Berkley “Stick Shad” in Chartreuse, this lure got crushed all day. Today the winds were @ 20 mph and the fish really ate, probably 60 Snook caught and released. Everything caught on artificial.

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On Friday afternoon I headed out to do some Peacock fishing at Holiday Park. I only had a couple hours but caught a handful of nice fish. This is the first time I have been out there since the Christmas cold front fish kill. We were fishing as a front was pushing thru and it wasn’t great but fun. This fishing should get better warms up.

It should start warming up in February and fish will eat we will have Tarpon on Miami Beach and Flamingo. Th e Snook season just opened so we will be chasing them for sure. The backcountry is a really fun visiual place to fish Tarpon.

Spring is coming and the fishing will be awesome, if you are interested in any of the above and more give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught lookin charters offers trips in Key Largo, Biscayne Bay and Everglades National Park/ Flamingo. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter company.

Let’s go catch em

Capt Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Warmer temps produced good action.

I spent a few days fishing offshore and the patch reefs in Key Largo last week. I along with everyone else were trolling for Wahoo on the New Moon. We did have a Tuna eat but got off. We set up on the reef and chummed for all the good eating fish. We caught plenty of Yellowtails, undersized Groupers, Grunts, Triggerfish and Mackerel. We had a monster Kingfish eat one our live baits skyrocket and cut us off. The fun part of these days was watching the Sailfish chase the Ballyhoo.

I fished there for a couple days and then fished Flamingo with Matt, Bill and Dennis from Massachusetts. It was cool in the morning; I think that spark a great Trout bite. It was interesting because we caught the Trout by casting at Tarpon. The Tarpon weren’t interested! We also caught some Snook and by 8:30 we had a bunch of fish in the boat. Giant Ladyfish and Jacks also took part in the party. This was all on a falling new moon tide. We fished the edges of the islands and flats until we ran out of water and fish. I headed out west to the Gulf of Mexico right about the time the wind picked up to 25mph. There really asnt much water anywhere but we ducked into a creek and found a bunch more Trout. The first thing they said to me when they got on the boat was, we want lots of fish.

Up until now we were good but I wanted something big! I had been keeping all the 1 lb. Jacks all day for my Goliath Grouper Pets. I rigged a bait and showed Dennis where to cast. He had to do it couple times but got the bite I was waiting for. I knew it was a good one but the Goliath got into mangroves. I told him no pressure on him and he will come out and he did after a few minutes. It was a tug of war on a 12lb Biscayne rod, but Dennis kept up the pressure and got it out in open. The Goliath Grouper is the strongest fish in the mangroves. Got a few pics and moved on. It was Bills turn at another spot. It took a few minutes, but he got a smaller one. I had a live well full of jumbo shrimp and never used them today. Today was all artificial, Berkeley Gulp swimming Mullet killed them. Matt was a very good fly angler and caught a bunch of Snook especially the one in a dead tree while we just pulled out from there. That was impressive!

The fishing is good and going to get better every day it warms up. The giant Tarpon are in place and will be back in the back country this week when it warms up. Thats where I will be its some of the best Tarpon fishing there is. i know everyone don’t want to spend all day waiting on a Tarpon to eat that’s why we have Snook, Redfish, Trout and a bunch of other species for fun. Caught Lookin Charters specializes in family fun so bring the kids. If anything I wrote makes you want to go fishing give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Let’s go Catchem

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ Caugh lookin Charters

A little bit of Winter!

We have seen some really low water temperatures since Christmas. The water temps have been as low as 49 degrees. The fish really don’t care for that much. I had a couple trips where we hit everything and came up short, that don’t happen often. I start panicking and running around looking for fish that are biting. We had some good bites and missed fish which hurts on slow days. I had some really great customers which understood the situation although I don’t like the situation.

I did have a banner day last week in the back country on a day it warmed up a bit. The air was 60 in the morning and water was still only 67-70 degrees all day. We had a handful of small Snook early. and a quality Snook bite as the tide switched. We had 3 big Snook bites and a couple 25 lb. Tarpon and some 5lb Jacks and a nice Spanish Mackerel in a 30-minute period. We also trolled up a nice Gag Grouper back in the rivers. The low water temps drives them into rivers.

As I am writing this report, we are getting a major cold front pushing thru and temps are going down to lows 40’s tomorrow Jan-14. It’s supposed to warm up next week but there is a very good chance of another fish kill with the low water temps.

The last cold front was tough on Snook, Tarpon, Goliath Groupers and Peacock Bass, there were pretty good numbers of floating fish.

When it warms up the big Tarpon will return to backcountry and the Snook will turn on. They will remain in deeper water until it warms up.

If you are thinking about fishing in South Florida, Everglades National Park (Flamingo) is a great choice. There are plenty of fish down there, as well as in Biscayne Bay and the Patch reefs off of Key Largo. If you have a desire to fish down here, give me a call. I am sure I can put you some rod bending fun. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly Charter and kid friendly. give me a call at 305 333 8149 and book a trip.

Let’s go catch’em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @caught lookin charters

Happy New Year, 2023!

It’s kind of nice to get out of 2022. The major cold front that pushed thru the day before Christmas hurt the fishing. The low temps which caused low water temps really affected my stomping grounds of Everglades National Park. The fish move around into deeper water, some didn’t and caused a minor fish kill. That was a week ago and we are warmed up.

I fished a couple days at Flamingo and the trips weren’t productive. I always work my hardest, but I was embarrassed by the lack of fish biting. My resolution for 2032 is to work harder.

The fishing is so incredible out of Flamingo that when we have a slow day it hurts.

I did fish the patch reefs out of Key Largo last week. It was productive for Yellowtails, Mangrove Snappers, Groupers and a few other species. I will be offering these trips this season.

This is the time of year when we get the giant Tarpon when the water warms up in the back country. This is really my favorite fishery! We will be fishing those giants until April then they move out along the coast. Tarpon stay around most of the year unless temps drop like last week. They should be back in a couple days.

The Snook and Redfish will be back to normal also.

This year I will be doing more Freshwater fishing. The peacock fishing is fun and has South Florida has become a great destination for anglers. This is mostly artificial and fly fishing but live bait works.

I am going to cover a lot of ground this year. If any of these things interest you give me a call at 305 333 8149 and book a trip. Caught lookin charters is a family friendly charter company.

Let’s go Catch’em

Capt Jim Hobales

Istagram @ caughtt lookin charters

Flamingo lodge re-opening

Opening Spring 2023

We're so excited to announce that we anticipate the completion of the Flamingo Lodge and Restaurant spring of 2023! Reservations will open early next year.

Picture this: 24 guest rooms overlooking pristine Florida Bay, each with its own private balcony and kitchenette. We cannot wait for you to see the end result.

Check out recent photos of the project below, and stay tuned for updates.

Opening Spring 2023
 

View of Florida Bay with Murray Key in the distance from a guest suite.

We are thrilled with how it is all coming together, and can't wait for you to experience it in 2023!

LEARN MORE

1 Flamingo Lodge Hwy, Homestead, FL 33034

   flamingoeverglades.com   |  1-855-708-2207
Guest Services, Inc. Copyright © 2022  All rights reserved.

Fun Fishing -Boat Problems!

I had a freak part break last week and it almost kept me off the water. The bracket on the starter broke not letting the motor start and we had to be towed in by Boat U.S. The only positive that day was we got out early and netted allot of bait. I was with my buddy Mike and nephew Mark. I said let’s run offshore and chum hard for something big. It didn’t take long and we had a solid hit, which pulled off the bait. I dropped another bait and got slammed. The line was being ripped off really fast and then the sailfish jumped. I got to fight and land the Sailfish, something I haven’t done in a while.

We went inshore looking for Muttons, Mark caught 2 and Mike had 2 Yellow Jacks. I went to start boat and starter made a load noise. I was lucky, I had my Yamaha mechanic with me right! Not today, Mike said we are “Screwed”. I called Boat U S and that was that day.

On Saturday I took Mike to Flamingo on my sons Hewes Redfisher. It was a bit slow, but we did catch some a bunch of Snook. We had Snook, Snappers, Goliath, Ladyfish, and all the other junk fish that swim.

On Wednesday My son took me fishing along with his buddy Ray. We started out casting in a school of Mullet that was full of Trout, giant Ladyfish, Snapper and Blue Runners. We went looking for Snook and and found them pretty good. We caught them 2 or 3 at a time until the falling tide quit. We estimated we caught 45 or 50, all on Lures. Of course, I was using a Gulp Swimming Mullet.

Mike and Andrew on a Redfish double up!

As of this writing I am back up and running, if you have a Christmas wish of going fishing give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught lookin charters if a family friendly charter company so wife and kids are welcome.

Let’s go Catch ‘em

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow on Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Hurricanes and cold fronts, we still catch em!

I am fishing with brothers Thomas and Raul today in the Everglades back country. We are back here a few days after Hurricane Nicole passed thru the state of Fl. We -started out quick with a Snook and a jumped Tarpon, then it slowed down. We ran around all day with no results. Raul was just happy to be out of the office and enjoying the day allot more than I was enjoying the lack of a bite. We ended up in a Goliath Grouper spot and Raul got a nice fish that pulled pretty hard. I appreciate their patience great day with 2 Brothers.

Day1 - I am down at Flamingo today with buddies, 2 Davids. One lives in California and the other Jacksonville and both come from south Africa. They have been fishing together for 50 years. The day started out with rolling Tarpon and big Jacks. The Jacks were much faster than the Tarpon. We did manage a Redfish out of that school. We also got a couple small Snook. We moved on and were sitting in a bunch of Tarpon again. They cast and cast catching Jacks another Redfish and then jumping a Tarpon. We drifted off the flat watching the show but they caught another Redfish.

We ran out to Gulf looking for Tripletails and found the motherload. We stopped at a range marker and caught them for an hour straight. We ran the traps after that and caught a bunch more, it was a great Tripletail day. On the way in we caught a Tarpon and Snook. Great day be back tomorrow!

Day 2 -This morning stated out with NW winds at 15 or so. but morning started out great. They hooked over 20 Tarpon catching only 2. It was still a lot of fun. It was getting worse as the day went on, but we kept at it.. We got another couple Redfish so we went looking for Trout. This gave us Grand Slam on the day! We called it a day and see them tomorrow.

Day 3- We met at Homestead Bayfront Park. We idled out and hit a few spots looking for bait, birds were diving but they were Mullet schools. It was blowing @ 20 out of NW, it was nasty. Birds diving but they were Mullet schools. We made our way across the bay and found the Pilchard schools. 1 cast with my new Humpback cast nest loaded up my live well. We went to an area I like to chum with the pilchards. It didn't take very long and we had a couple, Mutton Snappers. The bite was for about 3 hours almost nonstop. The Yellow Jacks, big Blue Runners and few Sharks ate our hooked fish,

These 2 Davids hooked allot of fish in 3 days and were really satisfied with the plan I had for them.

Today I’m fishing the Day on the Bay tournament with My son James and friend Mike. The winds are really strong out of North but I stuck with my Game plan. The species are Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Trout, Shark, Snapper, Bass, Bonefish and Permit!

Mike caught a Tarpon really quick which puts our team on the board. James caught a Snook shortly after so now its time to find all the others. James upgraded to a 28’ but it slowed down after that. One big mistake was buying my shrimp he day before and they all didn’t make it. I had a bunch of pinfish which would

It was a day most people stayed home but we fished till 3 o’clock.. We gave ourselves 15 minutes to catch a Bass. Mike caught a 17 “on first cast on a Frog lure. It was time to get to weigh-ins. Mi

Mike won Big Tarpon and Big Bass, James won Big Shark and Best catch for 96 inch Shark and I got Top Guide.

I’m writing this after those 4 days, I’m tired but my people caught allot of fish this week. I got some days available for during the Holidays. Give me a call at 305 333 8149 and we can go catch some fish.

Let’s go Catch’em

Capt jim Hobales

follow on Instagram @caught lookin charters

Didn’t win top team but won allot of stuff!

The Weather is Nice, and Fishing is Good!

I have fished from downtown Miami, Key Largo to Flamingo in the last couple weeks. I have fished inshore and offshore and back country some with friends and some with clients. Luckily my trips have resulted in fish which is the name of the game. The baby Tarpon bite is winding down at Flamingo but it’s always a good way to start the morning. If you have kids on the boat, they just want the rod to bend.

Florida Bay has some good Snook as of this writing and it will stay that way thru the winter. The trout bite is starting to get better as well. There is a mullet run going on out on the Gulf coast and the Tarpon are feasting on them.

There is a nice Mutton bite down south in S. Biscayne Bay find the bait and then find the fish.

November can be a great month if the cold fronts don’t mess up the weather. If you are interested in a fun day on the water, give me a call at 305 333 8139. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter company so bring the wife and kids.

Let’s go catch’em,

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow on instagram @caught lookin charters

Nice double by Alan and Cameron!

Smallest Goliath ever!

My buddy Dexter!

Post Hurricane Ian Fishing is Good!

The last couple of weeks the fishing has been very good! I have fished all of Biscayne Bay from north end all the way south into Key Largo. The baits have been pushing thru with plenty of bigger fish chasing them. The Tarpon put on a great show during the Mullet run skyrocketing in the massive schools.

The Pilchards have been easy to catch and that’s when we go look for Mutton Snappers. I fished with friend and fellow guide Alan Sherman and really had a great day of inshore Muttons and Snook.

I have also fished Flamingo since the Hurricane passed just offshore of Cape Sable. There’s some bait on the coast But the Berkley Gulp swimming mullet work just as good. I had a good day with my good friends Wayne Mckinney and Rick Toste at Flamingo We hooked Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, Tripletail, and lost a giant Trout lifting it into the boat.

I also got a little Peacock Bass fishing with my son out at Holiday Park, he’s got it down pretty good. It’s nice to be the guy on front of boat.

If any of these scenarios gets your blood pumping and makes you want to fish give me a call at

305 333 8149. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter so its ok to bring wife and kids.

Let’s go Catch’em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Follow on instagram @ Caught Lookin Charters

Day of "First Catches"

Most of my fishing the last 2 weeks has been out of Key Largo. I’ve running to back country getting ready for the Take Stock in Children tournament. I fished one day out of Flamingo with John Foss and had a really good day. On his first cast he caught a 30-inch Snook, his first. We caught several more and moved on looking for looking for Tarpon. He caught a Trout another first. We were actually in a bunch of Snook cruising the beach, but the 10 ft Bull Sharks were spooking them. We continued looking for Tarpon and continued catching Snook. John did catch another first a Goliath Grouper. It was getting late, and we found a few Tarpon. John was in heaven jumping the Tarpon but couldn’t get one to stay on. Although he didn’t land any it was another first.

2nd place big Trout for my son James, he and his cousin Andrew hooked hundreds of Snook in the 2-day tournament. We hooked the bigger Snook and we watched them get eaten by giant Sharks. It’s always a fun tournament put on by the Key Largo Rotary

Labor Day weekend in Key Largo!

It’s Labor Day weekend I’m down in Key Largo and we had some of our friends down. I initially wanted to get offshore, but it was just a little to breezy. I told my buddy Mike set your alarm for 6;30 so we can get a good start for the run over by boat. We made a few stops on the way over and found some Tarpon that wanted to play. We hooked a bunch and had a couple to the boat. The cool part of this was a pair of Permit swimming around with them.

I took Mike up looking for Redfish on the back of Sting Rays, he had never done that before. It didn’t take long, and we had a Ray with a pair on it. A good cast over the back resulted in a nice 25-inch Redfish. I threw at the partner, but it spooked off. We took some pictures and released it. It didn’t take long and we did it again. This fish had 3 others following it but swam away pretty quick. This Redfish was put up a hard battle and was worn out and went belly up. We netted it and put it in the live well and let it recover. With live well and recirculating pumps going he was very happy in there. This Redfish could have easily been dinner, but I like releasing my catch.

As if I hadn’t fished enough from Friday thru Monday, my son took me out to glades for Peacock Bass. It was nonstop for 4 hours He said he a couple spots that were every cast and they were.

The fishing is good everywhere Biscayne Bay, Flamingo (Tarpon, Snook) and the Freshwater side for Peacock Bass. If you would like to try anything I have written give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Let’s go Catch’em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Follow on Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Good time to be my friend!

Its late August and business is slow but when I get the itch I got to go. This week I fished with my nephew Andrew down at Flamingo. We had a great day catching Tarpon, Snook, Trout, Snapper, big Jacks, 2 Lookdowns (Uncommon) and Goliath Groupers. He waited all day to catch a Goliath and he got excited on the first bite. We were throwing 1 lb. Jacks and they were inhaling them. They ranged from 5lbs. to 25 lbs. They are all you can handle on light tackle.

On Friday My Nephew Mark called and said there was a good bite going on In Biscayne Bay. I called my buddy Mike and said you want to fish; he was on the porch waiting in 5 minutes. We got out, found some bait and turned on some Muttons and YellowJacks. We didn’t get any keeper Muttons, but we saw them. The YellowJacks were hungry and coming into chum in groups of 3 or 4. Mike caught the 1st one on a 8 lb. Biscayne Rod, it was @ 6lb. We had them up to 9 lbs. and I caught that one on a Twtchin Rap. On a 10 Lb. Biscayne Rod. We caught a lot of fish in 4 hours and took home some YellowJack Sashimi.

We got home late last night but I woke up wanting to go fishing again. I called Mike at 10;30 and said let’s go to Holiday Park. He said I’m ready. It’s nice because its only 15 minutes from my house. Got out and noticed only 2 boat trailers in the parking lot. I said that’s not a good sign on a Saturday. Talked to a guy putting boat on a trailer and he said there was nothing going on. I said let’s give it a try. I got some shady spots that usually hold a couple fish. We pulled up and had a Bass blow up on his Frog while I got 2 small Peacocks on a Berkeley Swimming Mullet. We joked about the other guys and went on to catch 30 or so fish including a Jaguar Guapote and a Cyclid. I was also throwing the new Berkeley Stunna in chartreuse; they killed it.

I have plenty of availability in the next few weeks. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter, bring the wife and kids for a fun day on the water. if this interest you give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Let’s go Catch’em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caughtlookincharters

Good bite this week!

This week the Snook bite was pretty good in Fl Bay. It seems like everywhere we go we can get into them pretty good. We also had a Grand Slam and a Back Country Slam on 2 different trips. The juvenile Tarpon are still around but have bn a little tougher than a few weeks ago. The fun part of the trip is watching my anglers catch the Goliaths. They can be anywhere from 1lb. to 30 Lbs. back in the mangroves. The fun part of fishing Flamingo is the number of species you can catch in a day.

I was with good friend Wayne; he brought his neighbors kids. They had a great day They caught Tarpon, Snook., Redfish, Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Snapper, Sheepshead, and a Cyclid. We were back at the Ramp by 12 o’clock.

I fished with golfing Buddy Rich and his wife Melissa. They were down in the Keys for their anniversary. It started out hot and heavy with bout 20 Snook on first stop. They caught a few 5 lb. Jacks as well. It got a little slow for a while and then another good Snook bite wore them out. There were lots of sightseeing opportunities today, Crocodiles Manatees, and tons of bird life.

I’m with my son James, my buddy Mike and his son Sean. We started out on the Juvenile Tarpon hooking and jumping a bunch. We fished our way thru Whitewater Bay catching a handful of Snook while running from some nasty weather. The best Snook of the day was the over slot snook by Sean. We stopped and played with some Goliath Grouper. I rigged up a rod with a 1 lb. Jack Crevalle and gave it to my son. it took all of 5 seconds for it to get smashed and run thru the roots of the mangroves. The fish spit it out and he cast it back up in there. The same thing happened again. he did it one more time and after that the fish didn’t want to play no more. I have a bunch of these spots, so we hit a few of them. I thru a Gulp Swimming Mullet up under a tree and got thumped. It pulled and tried to get back under, but we landed a 30-pound Goliath. We got chased around most of the day by the storms but caught a lot of fish. We made a stop on the way in and it turned into 2 hours of Snappers, Goliaths and Trout. The Snappers were turned in to Goliaths if you know what I mean. We caught Tarpon, Snook, Trout, Goliaths, Snappers, Jacks, Ladyfish, Shark and a Sting Ray. Most fish were Caught on Rapala Lures and Gulps.

My son is the newest Captain in the house took me out on the Flats of Biscayne Bay where we netted some bait and Caught some Mutton Snappers and some big Yellow Jacks.

It’s the slow time of year for the business but not for the fishing. If you would like to get out with kids before school starts, give me a call at 305 333 8149. If anything I wrote interest you give me a call at 305 333 8149. Let’s go Catchem’

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Tarpon, Snook and Goliaths keep us busy!

I had a nice couple days with a bunch of catching fish down at Flamingo. On Thursday I was with my favorites Ross and Mindy. We started out hooking and jumping Tarpon but couldn’t keep them hooked, it was still fun. I ran to a spot where I can find some of everything. We sat in there bumping a Gulp Swimming Mullet along the bottom. It wasn’t a hard bump but a Suttle bite that just starts swimming away. Mindy was the first to hook up. I thought the Goliath was going to pull her in, she is not very big. She winds and pulls hard and gets the Goliath out to the middle where we land it and take a picture and let it go.

It didn’t take 2 minutes and Ross was hooked up to a bigger Goliath. It was a great battle on a 10 lb. Biscayne Rod. It makes a difference catching them on slack tide, they don’t really run back under mangroves.

We moved on looking for more Tarpon I spotted a couple a Ross put it out in front and got the Tarpon to eat the DOA Bait buster. It was one headshake and gone along with the others that were sitting at the mouth of a creek with no water. We bounced around all day and didn’t find a good bite until 3 pm. The Tarpon were knocking the lures out of water, we had about 30 jumped fish on Rapala twitch N Raps. It was getting late, and we called it a day.

I am at flamingo again today with John, his Family Jack, Kelly, Austin, and Christie. Austin started out with a quick Snook but them it slowed down I said let’s move down they will bite there first. The bite was red hot with Snook and Jacks for an hour then we moved back to original spot. we caught more Snook there and had to go chase the tide. We got pulled up and tossed out a frozen Shrimp no live Shrimp anywhere. Christie ha the hot hand she caught 2 nice Redfish and everyone else caught Catfish.

We moved on to creek and the Snook bite was on, they were catching them 3 or 4 at a time. We did this for 2 hours and then left to go Shark fishing. We never made it to the Sharks due to a blown-up lower unit. There was no one on the water and I had 1 Capt. buddy still out. I got a hold of Capt. Mike Hutchinson, he towed me in the last 1 1/2 miles. I actually went over 2 miles on my Minn Kota 36-volt Ulterra. A giant Thanks to Mike for going out of his way to help out.

I am back in business this week with a new lower unit. The fishing is good although we are on a full moon this week. If you are interested in any I wrote about, give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter.

Lets go Catch em’

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow on Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Good back country day!

I fished Whitewater Bay with Kyle and his dad Billy. It started out a little on the slow side, we saw Tarpon but very few bites. We ran around a bit and eventually caught a few Tarpon, loads of Snook and a 2 really nice Goliath Groupers on light Biscayne spinning rods. We ran around fished the Gulf some and ended up on a good Snook and Tarpon bite. You know it’s a busy day when you eat your sandwich at 1;30. Great day with 2 good casters makes it easy on the captain.

Snook bite is good call me at 305 33 8149 f you are interested in some of them and maybe some Tarpon mixed in. Caught lookin charters is family friendly charter.

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Let’s go Catchem “

Capt jim Hobales

A couple days with big Numbers!

This past week I fun fished in Key Largo for Mahi Mahi and Muttons but the full moon ( I’m guessing made it tough). Once I got back to my playground back at Flamingo, things changed for the good. We had some great weather for the last 5 days or so. I picked up Joe and his son Alex up at the Kon Tiki hotel in Islamorada and ran to Flamingo. It didn’t take long and Joe had the first Snook, then the 2nd and third. The smack talk started and Alex was 3 down. He caught up and they caught Snook after Snook the whole morning. Alex did jump a Tarpon but for the most part Snook only today. They had to catch more than 50 Snook between them , unfortunately we lost a couple to Sharks.

I am with Danny and his son Jackson from Texas. Danny told me no Trout or Redfish because they catch enough in Texas. Luckily some Tarpon had moved in after the Tropical system a couple weeks ago. It didn’t take long and we found them and got a few blow ups. Danny finally got one into the boat and from then on there was no problem. It was figuring out what size and color they wanted. They started blowing up some small baits and these guys got really lucky to have that experience. There were some bigger fish and we went to a bigger bait (Savage gear Pulse Mullet) which they hit a few times but couldn’t keep them hooked.

We got up on a spot and I said I’m surprised we haven’t got a Snook.! A little whining got them to bite and then we couldn’t turn them off. Jackson got a bite that really pulled some drag, they were super excited. The bite was incredible, it was a Snook or Tarpon bite for a couple hours. They really got what they came Snook and Tarpon over 30 of each, not to mention all the jumped fish. What a great morning it was 2 days in a row where they cooperated.

Its that time of year where we get some smaller Tarpon, but their numbers are huge. These fish are fly guys dream.

I’m also fishing for Peacock Bass again and they are plenty of fun.

She Snook fishing will be good all summer with some bigger spawning fish around.

Its going to be a hot summer but that usually means good fishing in the Everglades salt and freshwater.

Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter so wife and kids are welcome. If anything above interest you give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Let’s go Catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow on Instagram at caught lookin charters

1 of 50 or so Snook today

Tarpon like this Savage Gear Pulse Mullet!

Wet couple weeks!

The last 10 days or so we have got some serious rain plus a tropical system that has flooded South Florida. This has not hurt the fishing at all in some cases it makes it better. In the last 10 days I have fished offshore for Dolphin, Freshwater for Bass, Peacock Bass, and of course Flamingo and the back country for lots of Snook. If you get out early you have a chance to get a good half day in.

Showing off my new BAJIO NIpper Sunglasses

I have had to adapt a little because of the weather, winds and rain but we are catching fish everywhere we fish.

A couple days in Key Largo with wife and friends produced a bunch of fish Including a 50 Trout morning, a couple Sharks and a 5 ft Cuda, Jacks and Snappers. We got hammered by a white out storm heading back to house.

The next day was all about Dolphin for a fish fry dinner.

The forecast was bad for Fri. and Sat. and rearranged schedule to get Paul and Morrow from Toronto out before Morrow left on Saturday. We got a half day in before a really nasty system ahead of tropical system hit us. It was kind of dark that makes you leave. The great part is we caught 30 or so Snook and jumped a Tarpon in a weather shortened day.

I am with Robert and John Barnes fishing Flaming today. We started out with about 20 Snook and went looking for Redfish. We caught a couple more Snook but Reds weren’t cooperating. We went looking for Tarpon and Tripletails and had to run from some serious rain. We got lucky and it went around us opening a creek mouth for us. The bite was on fire, John was throwing the Berkeley Stunna and got slammed on every cast. As we were catching fish after fish it was getting ugly behind us, but it was to late. We waited to long and know the rain was as bad as it could get. There was some flashes from lightning but no thunder so that was good. Robert and John never slowed down they kept casting thru the storm, the bite was on! In the 1 1/2 hours we were there they caught more than 50 Snook. We used Gulp Swimming Mullet and Gulp Shrimp also. It really didn’t matter everything got hit. I saw a break in the clouds and made a run for it, we were still an hour away.

Calm Before the Storm!

#1 of many today!

Its summer and the fish will eat before it really gets hot in the afternoon. The rain will bring Mosquitos and as the saying goes in the Everglades “ if mosquitos are biting so are the fish” If that’s the case the fish are really gonna bite because all of south Florida is under water. If you are interested in catch fish and having a good time give me a call at 305 333 88149. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter, wife and kids welcome.

Let’s go catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow @ caught lookin charters on Instagram