Everglades Fishing – Captain Ned Small

It’s summer in the jungle and the small tarpon are cutting loose. Randy Maddox and Bo Jackson shared the foredeck today, loosing count of the number of tarpon they hooked and jumped. They are mostly small, five to ten pounds, but here’s a picture of Bo with the fish of the day. We also caught a bunch of snook using topwater gurglers, probably a dozen of them, running eighteen to twenty four inches.

Doug Erret and David Policansky on the foredeck sight shooting snook, red’s and tarpon, all day. With a waning moon and low tide at midday we had shallow water everywhere  and the opportunities came steadily throughout the day. We finished up with a double Grand Slam on fly; tarpon, snook and redfish, by both anglers.

A school of tarpon arrived in Lake Mysteriosa yesterday and we were there at sunrise to greet them. They were mostly 50-60 pound class but there were some older ones too, including one of about ninety pounds landed by Jeff Wyman after a 45 minute battle. Bill Chorske jumped four before the action slowed under the high sun. That’s Bill in the photo at left. Today Bill and I went back to the Black Lagoon to mess with the juveniles, (it takes one to know one,) and jumped a whole bunch, landed a few, broke a few off and picked up a couple of bonus snook. All the fresh water from Arlene has reduced the salinity, stunned the baitfish, and the tarpon love it.

 The guiding season is about to slow down even though some of the best fishing is happening at this time of year. I’ll be going to the Cape for stripers on July first, I’ll be back on the thirteenth, my friends are bugging me to go to Homassassa in late July for Giants and then down to Big Pine and the Content Keys for bonefish and permit. Mitch, one of my USA Shooting teammates, lives on Biscayne Bay and wants me to bring my skiff over there to chase bonefish, and I’m still dangling that Montana Worm in front of my brother Alan, for October. My friend Kris has offered me his Mountain Redoubt in the Delaware Valley for August, it would be great to spend some time on the West Branch, my old stomping grounds, fishing trico’s in the morning and the pale evening duns at sunset, not to mention the white fly hatch on the upper Susquehenna for smallmouth. So many fish, so little time! Once again it’s been a great season, we’ve probed deeper into the tarpon realm than ever before, it hasn’t been easy but it’s been rewarding! We’ve jumped tarpon on every go-out since the first of April, totaling nearly a hundred hook ups. Many thanks to my brother Alan, Tom Hartman, Tony Robertson, Jeff Wyman, Dr. Dan Newman, Keith Calhoun, Jerry McKnight, Shannon Norris, Tim Rutledge, Dino and ‘Big D’ Messina, Bill Chorske, Mike Rolek, and all the rest of you who toughed it out on the slow days. Thank you all for your dedication, your sportsmanship and your love of fishing “far and fine with the long rod.” Stay in touch because, despite the wealth of opportunities, on most days this summer, I’ll be right here in Everglades and ready to fish.

Mike Rolek has had the foredeck for the past two days, casting to rollers at dawn and hunting sleepers in the high sun. We’ve had some great fishing, jumping a total of twelve over the two day period. A few of those were juveniles from the Black Lagoon but the rest ran from fifty to over a hundred pounds. We also picked up this trash fish along the way. Here’s a picture of Mike, jumpin’ tarpon on fly, Everglades Style.

Well, we finally got blown off the water today by the rain, wind and lightning coming in ahead of tropical storm Arlene. Tony wrapped up his trip a day early but not before jumping two more this morning, one beast of at least 130 pounds, and another one in the 50 pound class. The giant we hooked this morning ran us through some spectacular leaps and runs before tossing the fly. We got 11 hooked in four days, 5 of them 100 pounds or more. We jumped them all on an eight weight rig.

It’s still raining, not too windy, but the weather has the tarpon in a blue funk. Still we’re getting them in the air, every day. Tony Robertson on the foredeck has jumped nine in the past three days. That’s Tony in the photo’s from this morning, jumping one just after daylight in Dismal Key Pass.

Day after day of relentless rains, torrential downpours, squalls, fog and tarpon. We’ve been out every day in this mess, at least until we’ve been blown off the water, and we’ve jumped tarpon on every go-out.