Brutally Hot, Fishing is on Fire!

0713/23

Today I am fishing the BBI -Hooked on Kids- Sheridan House Key Largo Classic. Wednesday nights Captains meeting was incredible great buffet, great band and a giant silent auction. Im fishing with Brett, Matt and Corbin Alshire we met up early for the 38-mile run we had. Once we got there the bite was on. Snook, Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish got us started until the tide started moving in. The tide was getting higher and the Tarpon started rolling but only slapped at our lures.

Once the tide got up there were Taron everywhere in a big Mullet mud. We casted at rolling Tarpon only to catch Redfish. We had them 2 and 3 at a time. The Tarpon kept rolling Matt and Corbin both hooked up at the same time, while Brett had a Redfish. This was crazy 5 minutes. Matt landed his Tarpon and we Broke Corbin s off while being chase by a Shark. (Video Above)

We did this for a couple hours and were exhausted from catching fish in 95 degree temperature. We wanted to get the most species trophy, so we went looking for a mangrove Snapper. Dont you know we found the mother lode of snappers. Cornbin caught a 13-inch Snapper which won big Snapper along with most Species. Great day they caught 2 Tarpon allot of Snook and Redfish to 26 inches and a bunch of Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish. What a great day we walked away we 3 awards for Snapper, Species and Big Redfish not to mention 2 Grands Slams. All of this and then a killer lunch at the awards. This is a tough job some days!

Lets go Catch em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caught lookin charters

07/13/23

"Slammin" in thePark!

07-06-23

The last few days have been fun fishing. I fished with 2 of my favorite people, Ross and Mindy on Thursday at Flamingo. Ross loves Tarpon and we were able to hook a few. We doubled up first thing. Ross was throwing a Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet and I had a live Mullet drifting off the back of the boat.

Ross stayed hooked up and landed the 35lb Tarpon and the second fish threw the bait. We had several other blow ups but only landed the one Tarpon. We also had a few Snook, Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish and of course the Sharks were everywhere. We had a real nice bite of Snook later in the afternoon out on the coast

We had 25 Snook or so to the boat by tightening the drags and pulling the fish across the surface so Sharks wouldn’t get one.

We went and played with some hard fighting Goliath Groupers. First up Ross got a 8 lb. fish and then Mindy had a !5 lb. drag puller. Mindy’s all of 100 pounds but she landed he fish. ( I can’t get the picture to download). We ended the day casting a couple more Tarpon but with 94-degree and 97-degree air no fish wanted to play.. Great day, 2 anglers - 2 Slams!

07-08-23

I got a call from Mike Green asking how fishing was? He was staying in Key Largo with his buddies Travis and Phil. He was interested in Tarpon so I told him I had some that would eat but we had to be early. I explained after about 8:30 the shutdown. He said being early isn’t a problem. We met at my house in Key Largo and left at 6 a.m. We ran to Flamingo, as we pulled up Tarpon were everywhere. Mie gad the tarpon touch hooking a few but just couldn’t get them to stay hooked up. The fish ate a few different lures Gulp Swimming Mullet, Rapala Twitch n Rap, a Yozuri Prizm minnow and a pinfish. There was some other action as well the Snook bite turned on when tide switched and started to go out. The Snook numbers were incredible and couldn’t keep count. The Trout also made an appearance, we caught 6 up to 3 lbs. Phil caught the first Redfish quietly off the back of the boat. Phil was the first Slam of the day, but it didn’t stop there.

We worked the same area for a few a hours so I asked if they would like to try something else. I explained the scenario to them and just throw down the edge of the channel, they will be in the Mullet schools. It really went off over 30-Redfish some Snook. Some kids were watching from across the channel so told them to go in front of me. I was getting ready to leave so I shared the wealth. It was hot and action was on fire. we called it a day and had a long ride back to Key Largo. This was an incredible day, 6 SLAMS!

Great half day trips!

The backcountry is alive right now with Tarpon, Snook, some Redfish. and assorted other species. In 5 hour trips we are hooking 30 to 50 Tarpon per trip and there are plenty of Snook mixed in. It a good trip for people who either can’t fish all day or have some where to be later on in the day. We dont waste allot of time running around.

Paul and his son Jonathan had a great trip on Father’s day. It took a while to find them but when we did nonstop Tarpon/Snook bite for a couple hours.

A couple days later I fished with Gavin and Brook. Today we found a giant school and every cast all day long was a bite. it was 2 at a time as fast as I could release them. The funny thing about catching this many fish is that the anglers get tired and that’s what I shoot for.

If have a day catching fish until you cant is what you are looking for give me a call at 305 333 8149. Flamingo and Key Largo and Biscayne Bay Trips available.

Let’s go Catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Flamingo was Red Hot this week!

Flamingo was Red Hot this week, I was down there 4 days and caught everything that swims.

On Monday and Tuesday, I fished with Paul Davis His friends Mie and John. Paul grew up across the street from me growing up, his brother Bobby was actually my best man at my wedding. Its been 40 or so years since we have seen each other.

They caught Snook, Trout, Redfish Sharks, Ladyfish Jacks, and Snappers. It was fun day; on Tuesday we went into Whitewater Bay. We found some small Tarpon on the way out. We caught 2 for 4. Once the sun came out, they disappeared. They all caught their first Snook, Redfish and Trout. Mike caught his Tarpon and Snook on Fly.

We made a few stops caught several species and found some pilchards and Mullet. We did some live chumming out on the coast and got the fish in a frenzy. We had 1 nice fish on and it was eaten by a Shark that we couldn't stop. We bounced around to all my Snook spots catching some Trout and eventually hooking a couple big Goliath Groupers. They were big and got into the mangrove roots leaving a stunned look on their faces. After 2 long days they said lets go they had enough! They caught a lot of species and had a great first trip to Flamingo.

On Saturday I fished the ABC Contractors Tournament out of the Lorelie in Islamorada. I had Mike Senecal his wife Sara, his daughter Kiley and Jason a business partner. we made the run from the Lorelie to a spot that had Tarpon the day before. They weren’t there we arrived but showed up later. In the meantime, we caught Snook, Trout, jacks we also had some sharks come eat a couple baits. We did have a Tarpon eat a bait but didn’t hold on to it.

I had to catch the incoming tide for my Redfish spot. When we got there, we had to wait a bit. Tide came up and Kiley had the hot hand. She had a Snook, a 5lb Redfish and then a 1lb Redfish. We had a few more Snook and then Jason caught a nice 28-inch Snook. It slowed down and the ladies were hot. We decided to head back with one more stop. The last stop was the bite were looking for all day. I had about 10 Horse Pilchards left. The first was eaten by a big Lemon Shark, then Jason caught a 29-inch Snook. We missed a couple until Sara got a good one on our last bait. It was a 28-inch Snook and after that every ne was ready to cool down on the ride back. This was a very enjoyable day. Everyone held their own with pretty good casting skills. When it was all over Kiley won Most Redfish in the Jr. division.

Fishing will continue to be good all summer out of Flamingo, they like it when it’s hot. I will also be doing some patch reef trips out of Key Largo as well as my back country trips. If you have an interest in some back country fishing give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Let’s go Catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Snook were biting this week!

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I had 2 good days at Flamingo this week and then headed to Key largo for a couple days. I fished with long time customers and friends Bob and Charlie Tuesday. There weren’t many people around. We started out with a Trout bite in Coot Bay and then worked our way north. Had a few Snook bites in Whitewater Bay along with some more Trout. I went to my bait spot and found Mullet and some Pilchards. The next stop was to get a couple Goliaths. Charlie was first and had the one in the picture below. A 25 lb. Goliath followed it up and tried to inhale it. Charlie pulled it away and we landed the Goliath. I rigged another bait and Bob pitched it into the hole they live in and got the 25 lb. Goliath. They were pumped! I said I got another spot. We went over and cast Berkely Gulp swimming Mullets into another hole and Charlie hooked another Goliath. It was time to move on we had a couple good bites only to lose them. We finally found the motherload in a creek in the Gulf, we caught Snook for a couple hours. We were fishing live mullet and had our share of Sharks but also jumped a 80 Tarpon. It was a long day, everyone was beat so we headed in.

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Today I finally fish with the Goodyear tire group, this trip has taken 10 months to get done. We had Hurricane Ian cancel in Sept and another cancellation in Jan. It finally came together today, and I got 3 other captains helping out. We all set out to out-do each other. The fishing was good for all of us, the Goodyear group caught Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Trout, Sharks, Jacks, ladyfish, Cobia and Goliath Grouper as a group. Thanks to Capt. Nestor Alvisa, Capt. Mike Hutchison and Capt. Alan Sherman for making it a great day!

Fishing is good right now and will stay that way all summer, If you are interested give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught lookin charters is a family friendly charter company. I fish Everglades National Park, Biscayne Bay and Key Largo. Give me a call if you want to have a good day catching fish.

Let’s go Catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales

Follow on Instagram @ Caught lookin charters

Trout/Snook bite is good.

I fished Biscayne Bay and Flamingo in the last few days and they both produced a lot of Trout and Snook .

There are Mullet schools in both places which in turn brings hungry fish.

In north Biscayne Bay the mullet were pouring down the intercoastal. They were schooled up on the flat I was fishing for Trout. Brian and Mark were double up on every cast for 90 minutes with fish up to 21 inches.

I had them throwing the 3 inch Berkely gulp Swimming Mullet, you cant beat this lure catches everything. I did have a live well full of mullet which we used for Snook. We were kind of in a hurry because they had had a flight to catch. Every mullet we used got eaten. We also had a school of 25 lb. Jacks that weren’t interested in the bait, but the 5 lb. Jacks were. Mark got a nice Snook after 3 blow ups and a couple missed fish. It was on fire, and we had to leave.

I fished with long time client and great friend Ross and his buddy Danny down at Flamingo. The morning started out with a giant thunderstorm making its way across Fl. Bay. I wasn’t sure how long we would be able to fish but it cleared up and was beautiful the rest of the day. The Snook bite early was good, but we moved on the Tarpon which were rolling everywhere. The Ladyfish weren’t helping us beating the Tarpon to the lure on most cast. Ladyfish, Jacks and Trout kept the rods bent while throwing at Tarpon.

We had some good fish that got into the Mangroves and a couple others the pulled drag and just let go. Danny also caught an 8 ft Sawfish which put on a show boatside.

I also fish for fun offshore on Saturday with friends Mike and Ken. We looked for Mahi’s but didn’t find them.

We did find Blackfin Tuna, Bonita, Yellow Jacks, Yellowtails, Trigger fish. We also had a big Black Grouper eat a Yellowtail while reeling it in, it held on right up to the boat.

I am doing the reef charters in Key Largo now if you would like to catch dinner. The Snook and Tarpon are # 1 targets right now . If any of these species appeal to you give me a call at 305 33 8149. Caught Lookin Charters if a family friendly charter.

Let’s go Catch’ em

Capt. Jim Hobales,

Follow on Instagram @ caught lookin charters

Caught some fish this week in Flamingo

This week I fished Flamingo, Key Largo. The Tarpon were thick at Flamingo although finicky. we eventually on caught them on a couple different fishing trips.

Louie and his 2 brother in laws Ian and Brandon had an incredible day. Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Trout, Black Drum, Jacks Ladyfish, Snappers, Sharks and Goliath bites but sometimes you don’t get them to the boat. This was a allot of catching today!

Fished offshore Key Largo for Dolphin caught a couple for dinner!

Key Largo patch reefs with my wife and sister. first drop my sister caught a keeper Red Grouper, 2 weeks from now it would of been dinner!

Back to Flamingo on Sunday with Dennis. We started outlooking for Tarpon that were there a couple days ago. They were there just not showing themselves. They finally made an appearance but not eating. Ran to a second spot and they were rolling in slick calm water. We made a drift thru throwing a DOA Baitbuster nd dragging a pinfish behind the boat. The pinfish worked and we were hooked up to an 80 lb. jumper. Dennis was happy. and the Tarpon wasn’t. He fought it for 20 minutes and had him near the boat but threw the hook when he jumped. We got back on the fish but they were moving around. Dennis hooked a couple others but they didn’t last too long.

We spent the rest of the day catching Snook and Jacks, they were mixed in together. Plenty of catching today!

I’m fishing the Aero Jet canal today for Peacocks. It started out slow but we found a few Peacocks along with Black Bass, Cyclids and Oscars.

If you want to catch fish in the Everglades, Key Largo and Flamingo area, give me a call at 305 333 8149, It is really good right now. Caught Lookin Charters is a family friendly charter company.

Let’s go Catch’ em!

Capt. Jim Hobales

follow on Instagram @ caught lookin charters

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

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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

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