Don Cudney's Fishing Weblog: April 2009

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Fishing for Largemouth Bass in the Everglades

(top to bottom - left to right) One of thousands of canals in the Everglades, Jack with a Largemouth Bass, Average-size bass for that day, Bass on the fly, Marco with one of many bass he caught that day, an ideal bass environment aka Bass Heaven.

On April 25, 2009, my dear friend and childhood corhort, Jack Dunmyer, his friend Marco and I ventured out to Everglades Holiday Park for some "Everglades fishing." I call it "Everglades" fishing because you never know what you're going to catch! Peacock Bass, Snook, Gar, Oscar, Baby Tarpon, heck ... BIG Tarpon. Just about anything that swims in brackish water you'll have a chance to catch. The day started off fast and remained active with approximately 10 - 20 Largemouth Bass in the .5 to 1.5 pound size being caught and released. I was catching them on my 8 weight fly rod as well as a 7 foot light action spinning rod. The fly rod was rigged with my trusty #8 black pistol pete fly and we found that rigging the spinning rods with a wacky worm or jerk bait was the preferred pattern that day. I caught at least 15 Largemouth in the 1 to 2 pound range using the wacky worm method and 3 - 5 in the 3 to 4 pound range. Jack landed a 6, maybe 7 pound Largemouth using a live shiner and I landed a similar fish using a Rapala deep diver.At one point, I hooked, landed and broke off a 6 - 7 pound Mudfish probably the biggest fish of the day.
Although, Jack will argue otherwise. LOL.
P.S. In the Everglades, retrieving a rig caught in the lilly pads or brush is a whole new experience when there is a chance an alligator will bite your hand off!

Bonefishing in Cozumel

My very first Bonefish ever ! Laguna Xlapak

My second Bonefish ever ! We put the camera away after this one.
Finally tally = 5 on the fly rod and 2 on the spinning rod.
At one point, there were so many fish in the water that the guide was calling
9 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 1 o'clock ... 4 o'clock .... cast ... cast ... just cast !

(top to bottom - left to right) View from the marina, view of my cruise ship from the skiff, shipwreck at Punta Norte, skinny water full of Tarpon, a Mayan ruin in the middle of Laguna Xlapak, the guides, Enrique and ?.

This might be the most fun I've ever had fishing.
When I originally booked my Carnival Cruise back in February 09 (a working vacation), I had no idea there was bonefishing on the island of Cozumel. It wasn't until they day before I left for Miami that I even considered fishing during my 6 hour stay on the island. A quick internet search revealed Carlos Vega and AquariusFlatsFishing.com. One quick call and I was all set. "Bring $300 cash and meet me downtown at ........." I admit it, I was a little nervous. I had $400 in cash, $1800 worth of fishing equipment and a taxi cab driver that spoke no English .... what am I doing? I'm fishing .... that's what I'm doing. Long story short, I was picked-up by Carlos at his downtown office and driven to the marina where his guides, Enrique and ? whisked me away to a bonefish paradise. I speak very little Spanish and Enrique speaks very little English, but when you're fishing .... it just happens. This was my first time bonefishing and I had no idea if I could spot fish let alone cast into the wind to them. I held my own apparently and Enrique was always quick with a "good cast." The wind was a steady 8 - 10 mph out of the north and thankfully most of my casts were downwind or sidewind. When things got to heavy, I changed over to my spinning rod.
My gear that day: 8 weight reel on a 10 weight rod (windy conditions) and a 7 foot 8-12 pound test spinning rod. (keep that drag super, super loose ... I lost more fish than I landed). I used a Gotcha fly on the fly rod and a yellow Bucktail Jig with a small piece of squid attached on the spinning rod.
Let the guide tie your flies on!

Aquarius Travel Sport Fishing Rep's
Carlos E. Vega - Owner & Operator
www.aquariusflatsfishing.com
1-800-371-2924