Calm today - Rough Tomorrow in Biscayne Bay

I am fishing out of Haulover Marina with David, Mike, Jeff and Charlie. David said he would of like to catch Tarpon when we spoke on the phone. Our first stop Jeff hooked a really nice Snook which we ended up loosing when it jumped. We ran to Government Cut to fish the out going tide in pretty calm conditions. We set up along with a few other boats and instantly had a bite Mike caught a good sized Yellowtail. This bite continued with Mackerels ,Grouper, and a couple fish that were eaten on the way up. Its hard to fish 4 guys without someone being left out! Jeff, Mike , and Charlie had the right spots because the were constantly hooked up. all of a sudden we had 3 Biscayne rods double over, all 3 were Tarpon. Its time like these you pray for but we had a couple issues, a circle hook broke , a troll right straightened and the third fish jumped off. I got them rigged right back up and within minutes we had a rod doubled over Charlie grabbed the rod and fought the fish for 20 minutes we finally saw the big silver slab of his Permit. The funny thing is he didn't even know what it was! We had a couple more fish and 1 other Tarpon hook up but the winds picked up over 20 and the bite shut down. We worked our way back towards Haulover Marina but there some bad weather following us, this was an incredible 1/2 day trip.

I am fishing Flamingo today with Scott and his son James, it is his birthday. The forecast is windy really windy! We launched the boat into the back country side and made our way out. We stopped in Coot Bay and started the day off with some great Trout action. I wanted to get up into Whitewater Bay before the winds got really bad and blind cast for some Tarpon. We gave it a half hour or so but I could see they wanted something else. I hit every spot I have and with the exception of , Jacks, Snappers and Ladyfish there was no bite. The water was muddy with winds pushing across so the baits never even got into the strike zone. The difference ended up being finding some cleaner water somewhat out of the 30 mph winds over on the east side.  We stuck it out for the full day and had some laughs. I told Scott I have been fishing back there along time and that's the roughest day I have ever fished. Once it gets over 25mph,  I know now its not really fishable.

Cold weather days produce! Plenty Black DRum and Snook

I am with Bob and Charlie today and we are fishing Flamingo, the weather is nice but there is a full moon and a breeze. The past weekend cold front packed the fish together in holes and creeks which makes it easy when you find them. Today was that day and we started out with a great Snook bite which lasted for an hour until we moved on. The next spot we got into the Black Drum and some larger Snook. There were a couple of big bites which never got into the boat! Bob had a giant Black Drum he fought for about 8 minutes and the hook fell out of its mouth, this was a giant! Charlie had a big bite also but his turned into a Snook, when the fish broke the surface we saw the 40 inch Snook. The excitement took over an the fish fell off the hook as well as we attempted to net it. There were plenty of fish today and the guys were tired and out of beer.

I am down at Flamingo today with "Pepe" and Jose Luis today. The conditions have warmed up a bit and the breeze was down first thing in the morning. We stayed with the same pattern as the previous week but it was slow today, I had a few boats in the area and I never saw any quality fish caught. I kept moving around until I found some hungry fish The first was a small black Drum and then a few cast later a bigger Drum. The Trout turned on as we were waiting for a tide switch, we caught them on Shrimp, Gulp Shrimp and plugs. We moved around some and finally got into where we wanted to be. The Snook were blowing up finger mullet so I netted some. These fish are hard to get to because of the trees that block the spot but eventually we got one to eat. We tried for more but no luck so we moved on. As we were running a pretty big storm came thru but it calmed the wind for about 30 minutes. That's when I noticed what I thought were big Tarpon blowing up Mullet as I was wrong they were giant Snook. Jose Luis was throwing a Gulp Shrimp up against the shoreline and had a nice Snook but it wasn't what was blowing up mullet. Pepe says I'm on and the rod doubled over but the fish let go. We put a fresh Mullet on and this time it was the Snook form Hell. This 20 plus pound monster ate the bait and jumped head first into the motor bouncing off it. The next moves had Pepe running around in circles, we had the beautiful monster laying sideways. One last surge before we could get the net on it and it nicked the side of my boat and was gone. I really wanted that fish but S@#t happen.

Fishing is fun right now it is mostly down at Flamingo because the winds have been brutally Strong. The Shrimp are running at night and that means Tarpon and Snook should eat them in the inlets and along the beach, but the winds need to come down some.

Flamingo is as good as it gets as well, Snook, Black Drum,Trout and Redfish. There has been numbers of Cobias and Triple Tails in the in the garbage can In the cleaning room so the bite is on. Give me a call at 305 333 8149 if you up to catching some quality fish.

Follow me @ Instagram Caught Lookin Charters

Capt Jimbo

www.caughtlookincharters.com

Happy New Year!

This year has started out cool and windy I've already been changing and cancelling a couple dates. The bonus of he cool days is its going to put the fish in a winter pattern finally although no one was complaining about the late season warmth. The nice part of last week was there were still plenty of Tarpon after the cold snap. This weeks colder weather will hole up the fish down at Flamingo and the push the Tarpon into Government Cut. These are the best 2 choices of where to fish in the next few months.   

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I am fishing with my good friend John Paul Rochfort and his family from Canada. He brings his grandson Michel every year and we hook him up with a little bit of everything we can in N. Biscayne Bay. He also had his daughter and her husband along for the ride. Michel is 6 and is crazy about fishing! The winds today are @ 20 mph so we stayed in some of the more protected areas. Michel caught a big Jack right off the bat and then every one got in on the act with big Jacks. Michel was casting a Gulp Shrimp and hooked a really nice Barracuda that had him screaming. It was tough finding and area that the wind wasn't blowing waves of the sides. We ran down the 36 St. flats and caught some Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish and Cuda's.

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I am fishing with the O'Quinn family David and his twin sons Arron and Jacob today down at Flamingo. We fished a little deeper water and watched as the Tarpon blew up the mullet as they came by. Jacob had a good hit which ended up being either a Dog Snapper or a Cubera, it had great colors of gold, orange and red, but wasn't a Mangrove. We caught several other mangroves out of the same spot and I showed the guys the difference. David caught a 25 inch Redfish and we had some fish we never saw break off. I netted some mullet and had 1 get busted by a Tarpon but missed it and never came back for it. It was only a half day and they wanted to really bend the rods. I ran to a Trout spot and we bent the rods for the last hour with Trout, Snappers Ladyfish and Jacks. They were happy and it was time to go!

It's that time of year to bundle up some in the morning but the fish should be easy to find in numbers, this goes for the Flamingo area and also Government Cut. Remember when its breezy on the beach there is usually areas we can fish down at Flamingo. We have Whitewater Bay which is just full of places to hide and not so great days . The big Tarpon will show up In Whitewater Bay after a few days of warm weather and the water temps this is an awesome fishery. These fish can go from 70 lbs.and as big as 180 lbs. and allot of time we are sight casting them. If interested give me a call at 305 333 8149.

follow me on Instagram @ CaughtLookinCharters
Capt.. Jim Hobales
www.caughtlookincharters.com

Bye bye 2016!

This was a 43 inch Snook, that was starving. This fish has no belly

The end of 2016 was warm and that means the Tarpon were around in big numbers at Flamingo but today 12-30-16 is the end of it. It cooled down over night and got windy which will knock water temps down. The great part is they will be back in a couple days when it warms up. 2016 produce some big Snook for Caught Lookin Charters most out of WhitewaterBay in the Back country and I hope to continue producing them in 2017

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I am fishing with long time client Sam Rose and his son Mike today. On the way to pick them up on Fischer Island I noticed the mullet schools grey hounding on the flats. I pulled in and saw 30 lb. Jacks and 100 lb. Sharks busting up the mullet schools. I picked up Sam and Mike at the dock and headed back but it didn't last much longer. We did get shots at a few Sharks and Jacks but the were don eating. We stayed in the bay because it was blowing @20- 25 today. Mike was having a good time catching Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish, Cuda's and Snapper.

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I am with Andy and his son Alex today, I picked them up in Bal Harbor and immediately got into fish busting baits. I gave them some lures and we doubled up on giant Ladyfish , we did 4 or 5 time and moved on. I had netted some pilchards and we went chumming the canals and sea walls. this produced a bunch of  2 - 3 lb. Jacks which was all Alex could handle with a broken right hand. We got into a bunch of Trout and got a real good father son picture with a giant Snook.

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I am down at Flamingo today part of a 4 boat site seeing and some fishing, I'm with Jenn her son Luke and Carter and Niece Sam. I showed them everything I could Flamingos, Pelicans brown and white, Egrets and Herons. They wanted Crocodiles, so we went and found them. Once we finished we went fishing and whacked he Trout Jacks, Ladyfish and a Redfish. The only person who had fished before was Luke so I made sure everyone caught their share of fish. Jenn had told me Carter was Autistic so I made sure he had a great time catching his first couple fish. It was a short trip so we headed back to Flamingo marina.

I am down at Flamingo today with Shaun O'Neal his son Ethan his friend Harvey and Mitch. We started out chasing some fish that were busting baits but never seem to catch up to the, they were moving quick. This morning it was 52 degrees at the dock its  our first cold day of the year. I took advantage of the drop in temps both air and water almost 10 degrees different than 2 day ago.  I went to the deeper area of East Cape Canal and fished knocker rigs on the bottom. I gave Ethan a Gulp Shrimp to work slow and deep, it paid off Ethan hooked a really big Snook, his first. The big cold Snook fought very hard and stayed deep keeping us in suspense. The Snook came to the surface and there was allot of screaming. I grabbed the net and made Ethan's day!

We revived the Snook and went back to fishing that's when the Black drum turned on. Every was hooked up and we caught a bunch of nice ones up to 5 lbs. Shaun had this nice one which gave him a great fight.  We ran around showing them the whole park coming in from the back country. We found some Trout and caught 4 at a time for over an hour. The rest of the day was tough the winds were in the 25 mph range and made fishing tough in the back country even though we put all kinds of fish in the boat. The guys were beat and we made our way in it was a long day!

The big Tarpon are in the back country and once the water temps come back up they will start eating again.

This is my last report for 2016 and I'm glad to have a couple big Snook in the pictures, because this was a banner year for me and big Snook.

I have a Pathfinder 22 which handle the hard core angler needs , it also handles a Family of 4 kids included. If you need a kid friendly charter I'm it give me a call at 305 333 8149.

You can follow me on Instagram @ Caught Lookin Charters!

Happy New Year,

Captain Jim Hobales

www.CaughtLookinCharters

Full moon = slow bite

The last few weeks have been on the slow side but when I have been book we catching some fish. There has been plenty of bait plus the shrimp are on the bigger side so baits have been no issue, the funny thing is with all the bait we catch allot of fish on lures. We have been catching fish on Gulp Shrimp and Rapala Shadow Raps as well. The water temps have been dropping and that will pack the fish into deeper holes.

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 I am with Terry, John Jeff, and Alfredo down at Flamingo. We started out on some really decent sized Tarpon throwing jerk baits and live mullet at them and never got a look. It was fun and we put a few Jacks in the boat but the Tarpon didn't play. We moved on because they were inexperienced and bending rods was more important. I showed them allot of the park and they all loved it none of them had ever been here. We did allot this day and weren't really rewarded much until the end of the day. I saved the Trout fishing for last and we banged them up good catch 30 or so with 5 between 20 and 23 inches. The Jacks Ladyfish and Snapper made for a good feeding frenzy. We ended the day catching a big Lemon Shark and watching Bull Sharks destroy the mullet right next to our boat. This was a full day and the 2 cases of beer they brought were gone.

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I am fish the Everglades City area the next 2 day with Pam and Denise, I met them at the Rod and Gun Club and Immediately got into fish blowing up Pilchards. We warmed up by catching Jacks and Ladyfish and then moved on. The conditions were pretty tough today wind was @ 25 mph and kept changing directions. We got on a good Trout bite while looking for Redfish but finding anything out of the wind was tough. We fished a bunch of points and oyster bars which produced more Trout and a Small Snook. We worked hard caught plenty of fish but not the Snook and Redfish we were looking for. The windy conditions made it hard to find bait and the fish really didn't respond to live shrimp.

On day 2 The conditions where totally opposite it was flat calm, the bait was every where and so were the Mackerel's, Bluefish and Ladyfish. We netted a live well full of pilchards and went to one of my chumming spots. The first bait that hit the water produced a Redfish for Denise. We had a few big blow ups in the chum but couldn't get them to eat so we moved on. We were making a move and for the mother load of Mac's they broke out their fly rods for this. We did this for a couple hours and they were loving it. It was nice because the Mac's were up to 4 lb.'sand 2 - 3 lb. Bluefish. We went threw some flies but that's the cost of fishing those fish.

I hit all my spots and only had 1 nice Snook eat a bait fishing was difficult at best. I think I went right today and maybe should of went left saw a couple reports of people further south and seemed like there was some king of bite. We ended the day back into the Mac's and wore them out , Pam loves the Mac's. The big super full moon got the best of me this time!

Fall is here, so are fish!

The past 10 days have been as windy down here as it gets with not many fishing days. The wind finally came down and I had a few afternoon trips out of Biscayne Bay and Made the best of them.

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Evans and Jackie from Dallas are here for a seminar and Jackie surprised Evans with a fishing trip. We started out on some schooling Jacks, Jackie had never caught a fish so she was excited. We went looking for Tarpon and they just weren't active. I said let s go find some Snook. It didn't take long and we had 2 incredible bites landing 1 Snook weighing 10 lbs. The bite wasn't crazy but we did watch some Snook blowing up Shrimp in the shadow line of a bridge. We threw live bait and a some glow shrimps but no bites. We called it a night @ 10pm.

Evans said one of his friends at the seminar might want to go tomorrow and I said tell him to call he did first thing in the morning.

George called and we set it up and I met him and Laura, we got out at 3:30 and found bait which hasn't been easy. We started chumminga shore line that holds Snook , Jacks and other species but today was only Jacks today. It wasn't bad for non anglers we put 20 or so 1-3 lb. Jacks in the boat on bait and lures. We went looking for Tarpon and found the mother load. we had mullet and Pilchards but never got a bite. We moved on and a friend saw me and said there was a great bite going on in the inlet. I said thanks and was on my way, that's when George said we want to go in.

I dropped them off and headed to the inlet where I hooked up immediately in 40 minutes I had 2 Snook, 2 Tarpon to 20 lbs. and 2 lost fish. I just wish they would of stayed!

We are in headed into some good time in the next month, water and air temps are both comfortable . Its actually cool at night and early in the morning which will turn on lots of fish.

We will be catching lots of quality fish between Biscayne Bay and Flamingo down in Everglades National Park. If you want to experience something deep into nature in a national park you need to see Flamingo down at Everglades National Park.

If you are staying on Miami Beach and down want to make the drive then Biscayne Bay iscloser and has plenty of fish also. Hopefully your excited about coming down to South Florida and catching some fish if you are call me at 305 333 8149.

Capt. Jimbo

www.Caughtlookincharters.com

Fall is here!

Miami Beach area.

This past few weeks have been ok, we were waiting for the big mullet runs. The thing that happens every year is it's flat calm then gets windy and then the mullet push down the beach and inside the bays. Well we had some mullet push threw N. Biscayne Bay but really nothing great following.  I did have a couple days down the beach following football field size mullet schools with giant Tarpon exploding from the bottom up through the school. There were Jacks , Blue fish and Sharks mixed in but Tarpon is the Target! They were moving really fast and they Tarpon weren't interested.

The inside of Biscayne Bay is holding some Trout, Jacks, Ladyfish and a few Snook but for the most part its been pretty tough. This is the reason I prefer fishing Flamingo there is some much more to do down in the FloridaBay , Whitewater Bay and The Gulf of Mexico. The baits have been running down the Gulf of Mexico where there have been plenty of Tarpon blowing them up, there also has been Pilchards and I lucked into some Menhaden. The Menhaden get destroyed by the Snook, big Snook! I was with Bob and Charlie this week and found Pilchards, Herring, Menhaden and Mullet. The fish really enjoyed the Menhaden but when we started chumming with Pilchards we turned the water white with foam lots of fun lots of fish. They caught Jacks, big Snappers, Redfish and Trout. We fished a long day, we had some interesting weather which made the day difficult. The key is to stick it out and use the baits we found, and it produced plenty of Snook.

The bait schools are moving through on both coast and its allot of fun but its hard keeping up with them. The water temps at are starting to drop and that's what we wait for these next few weeks are going to be fun.

If your are looking for a fun day on the water give me a call at 305 333 8149. Caught Lookin Charters is a kid friendly and will teach your kids the proper way to cast and catch, while you enjoy yourself.

Take Stock in Children Tournament

09 23-16 thru 09-25-16

I am down in Key Largo at the captains meeting tonight and as usual we are having a few beers and decide not to fish starting after captains meeting. This tournament starts @ 7 P.M. after captains meeting and runs thru Sunday 4 P.M.,  you can fish straight thru Sunday.

I'm fishing with my son James and friend Paul Abolafia, we got an early start on Sat. morning onlyto have an issue with motor, I had changed the water separator the day before. The separator wasn't getting fuel and thanks to Captain Pete Silot for the helping hand. Once we got going it didn't take long and Paul landed our first couple Snook, they measure 27 and 27 1/2 not really what I wanted. I had been on some really big fish for the last few weeks and haven't been in there for a week so I was expecting them to be there. It was tough they just weren't there! I wasn't in panic mode yet we took a ride and found a few nice Redfish. James caught a 26 1/2 " fish and Paul followed up with a 23" Red. We had one giant fish today, this fish hit the lure as it hit the water. This fish would of made a difference for us and we wouldn't of had to chase a big Snook on Sunday.

We caught everything today Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Sharks, Ladyfish and Snappers but our inches aren't what we need. We got back to Paul's house in Key Largo @9 pm and we were beat.

Sunday morning Started out pretty good with a couple good Trout measuring 20 inches, from there back to the main spot and we fished yesterday. The bite started out quick there with a couple Redfish all @ 24 inches and then the bad news!

Our day changed when my son got a Text about Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, just couldn't believe it. We are big Marlins fans at my house and appreciated Jose's fun attitude on the field.  Coincidently our boats share the same name although spelled different. He will be missed!

The Small Snook were plentiful but where were the big girls! We caught allot of fish again today including a 40 lb. Tarpon, loads of Snook, Redfish and giant Jacks and Mackerel

We didn't think we had a chance but went to awards ceremony for dinner, awards and auction. we had a good time and congratulations to the winners, see you next year.

Capt. Jim Hobales

www.caughtlookincharters

Follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Harvest moon was tough on daytime fishing!

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I'm fishing the 23rd annual Firefighter and friends Redfish tournament out of Port of the Islands today. I am with my brother and his sons Mark and Andrew. This past weeks Harvest moon was a giant, bright and had allot of tide movement, it also made fishing a bit tough during daylight hours. The fish did bite for a short period of time on Saturday, we had a 30 minute spurt of good action on bigger fish but smaller the rest of the day.  It was impressive on how low the tides got today, it seemed like the fishing would of been much better. We did have some Snook all were on the small side and we lost a couple really good Redfish. This is the curse of tournament fishing! It was Mark and Andrews first tournament and they got some experience both good and bad.

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I am fishing Flamingo today with Jimmy Muniz and he has dreams about catching a Tarpon. I started out in Coot Bay looking for some little guys, we had some shots but they just weren't interested. He told me he had never caught Snook or Redfish before either so I said lets go find some. It was kind of easy before we got out of coot bay we had a very small Redfish and a couple 22 inch Snook. We ran up north and just hit everything and had a good time putting a dozen Snook in the boat.  He did hook up to a monster that ran thru some roots and finally got him into a tree but showed itself enough to know what it was. It was my big fish spot! The day was full of fish Jacks, Snappers, Ladyfish, Trout, Snook and Redfish. It wasn't his first time there but it was his first time catching fish.

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I am fishing Flamingo today with Ross, he usually brings his wife Mindy his good luck charm . Today he has his best friends Al and Scotty they aren't anglers, at 9 A.M. Al asked if it was time to go, Ross is a die hard angler and we stay late usually. I could see Al wasn't all that crazy about being there but enjoyed the sights. We fished hard and Ross caught a few fish Redfish and Snook. We had to get these guys involved some how! Al was perfectly happy sleeping on the back of the boat while we put some baits out for Tarpon.

We are still waiting on the mullet to make their way down here to Miami Beach area, once it does it will get crazy for a couple weeks. The fishing will get back on track the next few days once that big moon starts to fade. Ill be down in Key Largo fishing the Take stock in Children's tournament this weekend. We are at the time of year where it can be average today and fantastic tomorrow all depends on tides where your at. If you want to get in on some of this action give me a call at 305 333 8149

Capt. Jimbo

Hurricane Bite!

The past week was effected by Hurricane Hermine. It didn't really hurt us weather wise but some of the things that go along with big storms is barometric pressure and wind made for some good and tough times. There was periods early in the tides that really produced some great action and then it wood just quit. I was lucky enough to catch fish in those while they were biting. The winds were blowing pretty good some mornings and that's the benefit of fishing Everglades National Park we have the back country of Whitewater Bay. When it's windy find where the tide is moving and fish the points, this really produces fish, every one isn't a monster but there's always a chance.

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 I'm fishing with Bruce Carlton at Flamingo today, when we pulled up it was blowing @20 mphso we launched in Whitewater Bay. We started out with a couple small Tarpon and then moved on. We ran east and north and started to hit all the points while storms pounded Key Largo and move north thru Homestead. we had some incredible Snook action while the sky's were blue once they got over cast and the tide slowed it was over. We tried everything and everywhere but it was nasty and there was no bite. It was time to leave!

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I am with good friend Mario Hernandez, he has one of his customers with him today. He brought Jim and his son Chase from Sanford, Fl. to experience the Glades. It was really windy this morning and the storm which has been spinning around out in the Caribbean finally turned in to Hurricane Hermine. The action was good early on again today with a pretty nice Snook, Trout and Snapper bite. This was a different experience for me today because Jim had a prostatic left arm but it didn't slow him down. He had the hot hand catching Snook, an 8 lb.. Jack and some big Mangrove Snappers. Mario and Chase got into the action catching a few more Snook, Jack Ladyfish and Snappers. The winds are steadily increasing up to 30 mph but we continue hitting windy points. It paid off Jim hooked a monster of a Snook and it was off to the races. The Snook made a good jump letting us see how big it was, it made another run and leaped up throwing the jig. Jim did a great job but it's one of those things. The weather turned for the worse and so did the fishing, I think the barometer was dropping as the storm turned into a hurricane and the bite stopped dead. It was an interesting day but we called it a day.

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 I am over in Everglades City today pre fishing for a tournament in 2 weeks. I have my friend Paul and his son PJ. I hit all my tournament spots and we ended up with a bunch of Snook and a couple really good Redfish. We saw some fish which gives me hope that we an do ok.

We are getting into a great time of year, mullet run time. This is when millions of mullet push down both coast and everything that swims follow them. We also have some of the best fishing of the year down at Flamingo Tarpon, Snook, Redfish and every thing else that swims. If your up to it give me a call at 305 333 8149. This is a great time of year to teach your kids how to fish there is plenty of action.

Its hot, but they are biting!

I like August it's  when all the fish come out to play. Some days it Tarpon, some days Snook, this season has been very disappointing for Redfish. This time of year its always about numbers and recently that's what I have been pursuing. This is also the slower time of year so I fish allot with family and friends. I took on a project of teaching my nephews Flamingo a couple years ago and its starting to really show. They actually took me to a spot and put me on Snook, a bunch of them. What's funny about it is it's  place people run by every day, but since they are fairly new its a as far as they go. They are learning and I am fishing a tournament with them next month.

There are fish from outside the Flamingo marina out to the coast and as far north as you want to run. I have been fishing Rapala Shadow Raps and Twitchin Raps along with some Gulp shrimp on jig heads. When there is bait I net some and there has been lots of bait around. This increases the chance of big numbers of fish although lures do really well when fished in right conditions. Everyday is different and baits that work today might night work tomorrow.

My wife was on vacation she runs the office for Biscayne rods, she hears nothing but fishing all day long. On our vacation I took her out to catch fish so she would have a few stories of her own. It was a fun day we caught a bunch of Snook and she managed a few on her own, will not take a passed rod. We hooked a bunch of Tarpon that day and she got a couple close to the boat for releases, this with a ton of Trout she got a SLAM.

I fished the BBI Tournament today for the Sheridan House Charity, the tournament is held out of Key Largo. I had 3 really great guys Kevin, Shane and David on board with me . We started out with some rolling Tarpon and a few hits and misses. We moved on caught some pilchards and turned them into some really small Snook. We caught a bunch little Snook and had some big bites as well,but they all turned into Sharks. Shane caught a 23" Redfish also. This turns in to a short day because we ran to Flamingo from Key Largo and lines out at 2 pm. The last hour was so incredible! I was looking for a big Sawfish to take big fish honors, I did it last year. This year we hooked a big Sting Ray instead  but this was a gift. As we were releasing the Ray I noticed a rolling Tarpon, and found a giant school of them. We spent the last hour hooking, jumping and almost landing Tarpon. This was a day maker but we were out of time and had to run back.

I am at Flamingo with my son James and friend Bruce, we were out for fun. I'm always trying to learn and its makes it easy when you have guys who just want to catch fish. Bruce started it off by catching a couple Snook that were busting up a bait pod. James was next but this was just the beginning. We netted some pilchards and used them for live chumming. It didn't take long James had a big Snook eat a Shadow Rap and get all into a root system. We managed to get the decent fish out. A few pics and now Bruce has one and its a good one, he was matching the hatch with a Mirrodine. Of course he was fishing the lightest rod in the boat and had the biggest fish of the day. (which is pictured above). I got in on the action and landed a big girl of my own. The full moon tide was a 5.0 tide that's allot of water. We tried several other places but there was lots of water. We called it a day.  

I am down at Flamingo with my nephews, its both of their birthdays so this was a pretty good gift. We started out quick with Tarpon we hooked, caught and jumped around 15 by 8:30 a.m.  The next stop produced a few Snook and some bait. The bait was important for the next spot, we had a strong outgoing tide and I wanted to chum up some Snook. we had super clen water and sight fished a couple Snook and once we started chumming the pilchards we go into every thing that's swims. We caught big Mangrove Snapper, Jacks, Ladyfish, Trout, Barracudas and had some what of a learning experience in a couple spots. We kept hitting places that I don't normally fish and kept coming up with fish. They said they wanted to show me something, I said ok. It's funny but they showed me something. We got into a pocket I run by everyday and it was loaded with Snook and we caught a Redfish also. It just goes to show I look at the same spots every time I run by and don't take a chance, they looked at it as an adventure and potential.

We had a live well full of pilchards and emptied the live well on the way in, we also went 2 for 8 on Tarpon.

The fishing is good down in Everglades National Park is on fire right now. With school starting and every one getting back to the grind the park will be slow during the week. If you would like to give it a try give me a call at 305 333 8149.

follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Capt. Jim Hobales

Fishing is Red Hot!

072016

I am fishing out of Haulover this afternoon with my great clients Ross, Mindy and their daughter Reggie. I got to the ramp and it was 96 degrees and waiting on the full moon to rise. We found some bait and went out looking for something to eat them. It was breezy which helped with the heat! We found some Snook and big Jacks but could not get them to react to bait or lures. We moved around and finally ran down to Government Cut only to find a really rough inlet. We gave it a shot but took a good one over the bow filling the boat with water, this might be a problem in some boats but not a Pathfinder. We kept the boat moving and all the water drained out the back. We ran inside and caught a few fish but it was tough, we waited on the moon but by then it was raining. We called it a night and sat at the dock talking for a while over a beer!

072320

I am at Flamingo today with Kathy Widener, her daughter Jackie and her husband Arron.  We started out catching bait and turned it into action on our first spot. We had a couple great bites on pinfish only to double the rod over and let go, we eventually caught one. Kathy caught a 24 inch Redfish and I was wondering if the baits were to big, which don't make sense. Jackie had a giant hit on a 6 inch pilchard, but lost it on the hook set.

I have been fishing with Kathy and her husband Rick since the beginning of my guiding career and she is a real angler. They are real strong on the hook set and I tell you her and her daughter can set a hook, sometimes to hard. The Snook bite wasn't really happening and I told them we had to wait on the tide and as soon as it started to come in. Guess what, The fish started to eat and the rods stayed bent the rest of the days. The Tarpon were everywhere and every time we drifted a bait pass a certain spot it got hit by a Tarpon. Meanwhile quietly on the back of the boat Arron is just getting crushed on every cast by big Jacks and up to 15 inch Snapper. Arron let the girls have the front and was happy back there. It was a frenzy for a couple hours and it just goes to show you have to be in the right place right tide phase. On this day this mother/daughter combined to catch .  "Back Country Grand Slam"

. Great job Ladies!

I just got back from my vacation and fishing has been "Red Hot" so I'm itching to get to the park. There are some great signs right now and  baits are pouring thru. If you are interested in fishing Flamingo or anywhere else give me a call give at 305 333 8149.

Capt. Jimbo,

www.caughtlookincharters.com

follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Find Bait Schools to find action!

I am fishing Flamingo with the Hernandez Family, Mario Sr., his son Oscar, his son Sebastian and cousin Mario Jr. These are some of my best friends and its becoming a tradition to fish the sons on their birthdays. I have been fishing with Oscar and his brother Mario for over 20 years as we are all members of the Miami Sport Fishing Club, its funny because now I'm fishing their sons.

We started out on a pretty good number of Tarpon rolling all around the boat, but we got nothing but a swirl behind the lure. We caught a few Barracuda's which were faster than the Tarpon. We ran out west netted some mullet and drifted Cape Sable where the Tarpon were rolling, they were not eating so we moved on. We eventually got on a bite and Grandpa Mario was hooked up to a big Snook. He told the grand kids watch him and learn, well he was constantly hooked up to something. Sebastian hooked a really nice Tripletail which were coming by us pretty good, we had a few hook ups. Mario Jr. hooked a decent Snook and Sebastian follow that up with a Tarpon. It was getting late and hot but we made a one last stop for some Trout on the way in.

I am at Flamingo today with my wife Lourdes and nephews Mark and Andrew and we are out for some action. The same Tarpon I started out on a couple days ago were gone so we moved on and caught some bait. It was an easy day because Mark is getting pretty good the things like rigging and throwing a cast net, it saves me a lot of wear and tear. We found some Snook and had 3 bites, then there was an explosion on the shore line. There was a 8 foot Bull Shark eating the fish we were trying to catch, this spot was done. We move around a little bit until we found some good action along the beaches, There was some Trout, Jacks and Ladyfish for constant action and Snook mixed in.

We got on some Tripletails and a few Sharks for Andrew and a few other species but action was constant all day. We had found loads of pilchards along the beaches and tried to put them to use. I had been on some feeding Tarpon on the incoming tide but it was hot and I decided to call it a day.

The fishing down at Flamingo is really good and should stay that way thru the next few months, if you would like to give it a try give me a call at 305 333 8149.

Follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Capt.Jim Hobales

Summer bait runs = Tarpon!

It is 4th of July today, so happy 4th and be safe. The fishing these past few days has been incredible. It seems that the bait fish are schooled up and the Tarpon are in the middle of them. This has occurred for me from Port of the Islands to East Cape Canal. There has been plenty of fish mixed in like, Snook, Mackerel, Tripletails and big Jacks. The baits have varied from Minnows, pilchards, silver Sides and finger Mullet but the one constant is the Tarpon are in them.

063116

I fished with Andy and his son Danny out of Everglades City, I hit a bunch of my spot until I found the bait schools outside. These were loaded with Mackerels, Jacks, Tarpon and we even got Snook mixed in. This was a short morningbut we wore them out!

070116

I am fishing Flamingo today with Ross his wife Mindy and Daughter Reggie. We started out by catching some bait and running to the beaches,  we have a couple issues, the winds are S.W., it's really grassy and water dirty. I ran until the water cleaned up some but still lots of grass. I reached into livewell and grabbed a bait, it happen to be the only Lane Snapper in there. It hit the water and the cork never came up. It pulled a good amount of line and finally jumped, it was a good fish. Mindy always has the lucky hand so today was no different. We landed the 6 Lb. Snook and took a picture and released it. It got tough after that with only a few Jacks and Ladyfish. We decided to run north and it paid off, we pulled five Snook and two 5 pound Tripletails off 1 tree. The Mosquitos found us so we moved on, as we were running along we saw a blow up and stopped. This stop paid off and turned into an incredible Tarpon bite. The Pilchards, Mullet  and Silversides were pouring thru and the Tarpon were crushing them. I thru the net and got 25 pilchards and a half hour later we were out of bait. This time I netted hundreds and we sat there for over 2 hours hooking up to 3 fish at a time. The Tarpon were striking it hard and quick and we were missing some but we eventually got them to stay hooked up. We caught several slot size Snook and some big Jacksbut this was a Tarpon Blitz.

It lasted until the tide stopped and then we made a move waiting for the tide to switch and get some water moving again. We caught a Snook or two while waiting but I needed to get Ross a better Tarpon. He was satisified with the little 10 pound fish we had caught but I had promised bigger. We had one last stop and it was full of grass. I rigged a weedless jerkbait and it worked, Ross got his hook up with a nice Tarpon. It was a good fight on light tackle so I broke out the net and scooped him up. We took some pictures and released the Tarpon, when the Tarpon swam away he knock Ross's Glasses off.  The bugs were getting worse and it was late so we called it day.

90 degrees and fish are biting!

Its getting hot but this is the time of year where it can really get good. The fishing down at Flamingo has been producing a good quality Snook bite with a few Tarpon thrown in. There is even a few fish left in the North Biscayne Bay area and Government Cut and waiting for the summer Tarpon to move in.

062416

I had a couple of interesting days this week, on Friday I fished with Pete Colbert and his buddy Billy. I have been back and forth with Pete for a couple months, he was e mailing me from Afghanistan. He is in the military and he along with his friends were coming here for a bachelor party . The second boat was with Capt. Alan Sherman who showed them a great day of catching Dolphin. We got into a nice school but weren't able to get one in the boat. We did catch some Jacks, Blue Runners and Bonita's. Pete had a big Permit just under the boat until the hook pulled after 25 minutes of battle.  It was only a half day so we headed in, they had a full night ahead of them.

062516

I am fishing Flamingo with my Friend Flen and his buddy's George and Roger. Flen is retired Army, we have been trying to do this for a while. We started out by catching bait and then ran out to the coast. The only issue this morning was it was a little breezy and the winds were wrapping around Cape Sable making the water a little on the dirty side. We ran until we found clean water and that's when we found fish. Flen had never fished before so anything he caught was going to be a first. It didn't take long and we had big Trout and Snook hitting our live pinfish. The bite slowed down so I made a run up north. It didn't take long to get the first bite, the key was I switched up baits. I had some giant Pilchards and man did they get slammed. The bite only lasted for about 30 minutes but it was good and Flen missed a giant Snook of a lifetime.

They wanted some fish for the cooler so we ran out front and put some Trout in the box.  The tide was slowing so I ran back in front of Flamingo and put out some live baits. We had a couple big Sharks and a Tarpon come up and play with us. It was hot and the bite had quit so we called it a day.

062616

I am with Gregg, Karl and Charlie today fishing out of Haulover Marina, I got out early because bait has been tough to find. I got lucky and found some small pilchards which were big enough to put on a hook and plenty of chummers. We had a couple good bites early on lures including a Small 30 lb. Bull Shark and a Black Tip. The Snook wanted to play and we caught a few of them on Rapala,s and a few on Pilchards. The bite slowed so we moved on and started to live chum, we had big Jacks, more Sharks and Cuda's

The beach fishing down at Flamingo is red hot right now, so if you would like to get a day in around the 4 th of July weekendgive me a call at 305 33 8149

Capt. Jim Hobales

www.caughtlookincharters.com

follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

West winds are tough but fish bite!

The fishing was effected very little after our first tropical system of the season, I am down fishing Flamingo with my nephews. We started out in Whitewater Bay where it was slow with weak tides. We made our way out to the coast and found some mullet on the way. This was good for us because the Tarpon were eating mullet. We saw a few blowing up mullet schools so we got on them with live mullet and it didn't take long. We hooked Tarpon and Sharks and then made our way to the middle cape beaches. We thru Rapala Shadow Raps and Gulp Shrimp jigs and hooked a ton of fish including Snook, Jacks, big Trout and Sharks . Once we had enough we headed back towards Flamingo but noticed the wind was calm and it got nice. We found big Jacks blowing up mullet schools,  Mark hooked a big one and then they were gone.  Next we found Tarpon rolling in the absolute most perfect conditions and thru a mullet out in front of one. It was a awesome bite the fish ate the mullet but didn't run for 20 seconds which is not normal. Andrew got on the rod and fought a 65 lb. Tarpon for 20 minutes. I let his brother Mark jump in and land the fish. This is a great picture and we ended the day on this one. Andrew had the hot hand and hooked several fish that were twice his weight.

I am fishing down at Flamingo today with Robert his brother and friend Carlos. We started out front but had low clean water. Once tide switched we made a run for the coast and found some decent looking water considering we had a west wind @ 15 mph. We had netted some pinfish on the way out and put them to work. We had 3 big Snook bites but it was slow, we managed a Jack and some Trout. We fished hard and the bite was non existent until 3 o'clock. I said lets hit one last spot hoping for a Snook or 2. I made a cast showing them where the lure needed to land and it was inhaled by a 40 lb. Tarpon. I handed the rod to Carlos, the Tarpon jumped 4 or 5 times and frayed thru the leader.  As I was looking at the leader Robert hooked up and then Larry as well. It was like this for 30 minutes we were 0 for 9 on Tarpon and we also had a few Snook blow up on their lures.  This made our day because it was slow earlier on . The guys were happy and really enjoyed the bite.

Capt. Jim Hobales

www.caughtlookincharters.com

follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Family tournament weekend

It was a nice weekend down in Islamorada fishing the Pace Spartan fishing tournament from the captains meeting on Friday night thru Sunday when it was time to come home, I got to see a bunch of friends that I only see when I'm down there.

I'm fishing a team consisting of my son James and his friends Johnny and Danny, we ran from Islamorada to Middle Cape only to be disappointed by dirty water. two day before it was clean and we had a bunch of tarpon and Snook there but it changed. I told them just keep casting until we find the Jacks and Trout and the Snook won't be far behind and it worked out just that way.

The only problem was we caught 75 Jacks and over 50 keeper Trout while waiting for more Snook to show up. I was waiting for the tide to get higher but the wind was keeping it from coming in and I couldn't get to my spots. the winds were fairly strong and I made a bad choice on where to go because all it produced were more Trout. The short fishing day didn't work for me this time as far as putting a few more fish into the boat which would of gave a chance at winning. Having a new team not familiar to tournaments they forgot to turn in score sheet any way, again my fault I should of done it.

Big storm came thru this week and once the water clears it going to get good, bait should be pushing thru and fishing will turn on.

follow me on Instagram @Caughtlookincharters

Flamingo is Hot!

We are getting into the warm summer months but that isn't hurting us. Soon it will start to rain everyday and cool off the water, the afternoon rains always brings good fishing. There should be a bait runs out on the coast moving from the north to south, when that's happens the coastal fishing gets red hot. 

The fishing has been steady for Snook some Tarpon and the Trout bite has been unbelievable. It has still been windy the last couple weeks which helps in the back country but not so much in Florida Bay.  On most recent Trips  good friend Raul  his son little Raul. They got some really nice back country Snook on Shadow rap Shads and Twitch n Raps.  Raul Sr. Also jumped a Tarpon and between us caught 30 Trout up to 23 inches.  There was also Jacks and Mangrove Snappers all caught on Rapalas.

I fished Flamingo with my son James and his friends Johnny and Danny, it was on the breezy side and they wanted to fish the back country.  Danny started us off with a couple jumped Tarpon on Twitch n Raps and then we had a couple Snook on Rapalas Skitter walks. The winds picked up to 20 plus mph so we started to fish the points along the rivers in Whitewater Bay. I was throwing a Shadow Rap and got hit hard the fish ran out to deeper water stopped and made shard run into the trees. As we tried to get close to it I released  the pressure and it ran back out and jumped. This fish was a monster and we had a hard time getting it into the net but eventually did. We got a few pictures, weighed (20lbs)and measured this big girl 44 "s then spent 10 minutes reviving her. It was my best fish in Whitewater Bay topping my last by 2 pounds. We spent the next hour catching Trout up to 22 inches 4 at a time.   The conditions were getting bad but we managed to hook 3 more Tarpon on the way in.

Im and with Jim, Lory and their son Cory today at Flamingo, conditions were ok this morning but couldn't get them to bite. We ran around a bit found a bunch of Trout, Jacks and Snappers. The tide in the morning was week but got stronger later in the day and that's when we found the Snook Stacked up. we had a few all on artificials which makes it way more satisfying.  The tide slow and the fished turned off so we called its day.  

060116

I am fishing Flamingo today with long time friend Steve Kallio, his son Steve and his sons Tyler and Bryce.  We started out catching some bait and some decent Trout while I was throwing the net. It was really about getting the kids hooked up but we caught a bunch of fish today including Snook, Trout at least 40, Jacks, Ladyfish, Snappers and a couple Barracudas. We caught most fish on Shadow Raps and Gulp shrimp. We had plenty of bait and finally had a couple big bites late in the day on them. 

Captain Jim Hobales
www.caughtlookincharters.com
follow me on Instagram @caughtlookincharters

Flamingo is Hot!

We are getting into the warm summer months but that isn't hurting us. Soon it will start to rain everyday and cool off the water, the afternoon rains always brings good fishing. There should be a bait runs out on the coast moving from the north to south, when that's happens the coastal fishing gets red hot. 

The fishing has been steady for Snook some Tarpon and the Trout bite has been unbelievable. It has still been windy the last couple weeks which helps in the back country but not so much in Florida Bay.  On most recent Trips  good friend Raul  his son little Raul. They got some really nice back country Snook on Shadow rap Shads and Twitch n Raps.  Raul Sr. Also jumped a Tarpon and between us caught 30 Trout up to 23 inches.  THere was also Jacks and Mangrove Snappers all caught on Rapalas.

I fished Flamingo with my son James and his friends Johnny and Danny, it was on the breezy side and they wanted to fish the back country.  Danny started us off with a couple jumped Tarpon on Twitch n Raps and then we had a couple Snook on Rapalas Skitter walks. The winds picked up to 20 plus mph so we started to fish the points along the rivers in Whitewater Bay. I was throwing a Shadow Rap and got hit hard the fish ran out to deeper water stopped and made shard run into the trees. As we tried to get close to it I released  the pressure and it ran back out and jumped. This fish was a monster and we had a hard time getting it into the net but eventually did. We got a few pictures, weighed ( 20lbs)and measured this big girl 44 "s then spent 10 minutes reviving her. It was my best fish in Whitewater Bay topping my last by 2 pounds. We spent the next hour catching Trout up to 22 inches 4 at a time.   The conditions were getting bad but we managed to hook 3 more Tarpon on the way in.

Im and with Jim, Lory and their son Cory today at Flamingo, conditions were ok this morning but couldn't get them to bite. We ran around a bit found a bunch of Trout, Jacks and Snappers. The tide in the morning was week but got stronger later in the day and that's when we found the Snook Stacked up. we had a few all on artificials which makes it way more satisfying.  The tide slow and the fished turned off so we called its day.  

Captain Jim Hobales

www.caughtlookincharters.com

follow me on Instagram @ caughtlookinchartersq 

Fishing was tough but we caught lots of fish!

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I  am fishing with Dave and Phil today at Flamingo, its  part of a 3 boat 3 day group trip. We started out good today, I thru the net once and loaded up on finger mullet.  We hit a couple close spots because of the high water as we pulled up a few small Tarpon rolled in front of us. We started out throwing Twitching Raps and had some action from Snappers ,Cudas and Jacks. Dave had a big blow up on his lure but the fish missed. We put a mullet in front of a Tarpon which didn't even look at it. We ran west hitting some spots along the way and stopped at Middle Ground where we caught 30 or 40 big Trout. We kept running looking for some Tarpon in the Gulf but never finding the mother load. Everywhere we fished today was loaded up with big Trout. I hit all my Snook spots but they only had Trout. We caught tons of fish today just never getting the glamour species.

042916

I am with Phil Sr. and Phil Jr. and we launched in the back country of Whitewater Bay. We started out in the Lane River area and had a couple really good blow ups on top water plugs.  We got into a small pond and found a bunch of fish but couldn't capitalize on it. We netted some mullet and went looking for big fish, with the exception of some big Sharks we didn't get them. I asked if the wanted to catch a few Triple tails, they said they have never caught them. We got out into the Gulf of Mexico and the were everywhere. Every crab trap had at least one and up to 5 Triple tails. Not sure how many we caught but somewhere around 20.  Very tough day, lucky the Tripletails played!

043016

I am with Phil Sr. and Dave today and wear running ay north today, but first I spotted some small Tarpon on the way out. I left my remote for trolling motor in my truck so couldn't get on them. Phil made the first cast and jumped a nice one. After running back to dock we are finally on our way to Highland Beach area. I'm telling you we had great conditions and the fish weren't biting. We had Tarpon rolling around the boat and great falling water over oyster bars but it was tough. We used live Mullet, Crabs and lures but again today it was Trout. Phil did manage a nice Snook that we worked so hard for. There was really no shortage of Trout they saved the day again.

This was as tough as it gets but we still caught fish and it will get better. Snook will start to show up on the coast in the next few weeks. If your interested give me a call at 3053338149

follow me on instagram - @caughtlookincharters