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 I apologize for the lapse in fishing reports lately but that happens when I am busy and that is the reason I have not written recently. Fishing has been very good despite the crazy weather we have had recently. I operate my business from a 22’ Pathfinder Tournament Edition Bay Boat that is powered by the most dependable outboard engine on the market. A Yamaha F-225 Four Stroke outboard engine! This boat and outboard along with my Continental Trailer and my Chevy Avalanche SUV allow me to go where ever the fishing is best so my anglers can get a shot at catching the fish that are most numerous in South Florida.  In the past three weeks I have fished as deep as 850 feet of water offshore of Miami to North Biscayne Bay, South Biscayne Bay and Flamingo and just a few days ago I was in Islamorada where I participated in a Media Event sponsored by Rapala, LaSiesta Resort and Marina in Islamorada, Flying Fisherman Sunglasses, Florida Sportsman Magazine and Jones and Company for three days. I am back in Miami now and ready to get out and catch some fish.

Check out my most recent fishing catches in the middle of this report. Some outstanding catches and action took place on most of these charters.

Fall like conditions continue to play cat and mouse with one week having strong winds caused by Tropical Storms and Hurricanes and the next week a cold front rolls in and temperatures drop into the 50’s. I am going out on a limb but I think we finally are out of the summer pattern that has been hanging on for so long. Look for fall like conditions to take hold in South Florida and migratory fish like the mackerels, bluefish, large jack crevalles, ladyfish, larger sea trout that are out of season, snook , tarpon, pompano, and snapper and grouper to be biting in North Biscayne Bay and South Biscayne Bay.

Offshore when the weather allows me to go offshore Spanish mackerel, kingfish, dolphins, sailfish and blackfin tunas should be waiting for us.

Flamingo is where I will be doing a lot of my charters due to the wide variety of fish that can be targeted and all of the sightings of numerous varieties of birds plus the manatees, dolphins, alligators and crocodiles. On the warmer day’s snook, tarpon, redfish, tripletail, trout, and jacks and ladyfish should be easy. On the cooler day’s sheepshead, black drum, cobia, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, pompano, goliath grouper and permit will be waiting for my clients on the fringes of the Park.

There is still plenty of time to take advantage of what looks like a great season of Fall and early Winter fishing in Miami and South Florida.

I want to take a moment to thank Bob and Mark at Shallow Water Customs at 4455 NE 10th Avenue, Oakland Park, Florida 33334   (954) 772-1172. I had a few issues with my electronics onboard my Pathfinder and these guys jumped right on the problems and in no time had me up and running. Thanks Bob and John!

RECENT CATCHES:

Today I am in Flamingo with Armando, Matt and Shaushang. We start out casting Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp on a grass flat and immediately start catching sea trout, jacks and ladyfish. The action is hot but I need to be at another spot to hit a tide. We set up at the next spot and right away hook a good fish that turns into an estimated 80 pound tarpon. The fish takes monster run jumps twice and the line gets cut by something. Many casts later and after releasing three snook lots of jacks, ladyfish and sea trout we move on. Next spot we catch a nice tripletail then on to the next where we release a nice permit, lose a big fish when the hook pulls and catch over a dozen mackerel.

Back on the water but it’s a local trip with one of my most favorite regulars Jerome C.  We start out in North Biscayne Bay and after catching some finger mullet we jump six tarpon and release two plus a 30 pound shark and a few sea trout. All of the fish are caught on Mustad Circle hooks and live mullet. A monster school of large mullet is holding on a flat next to us and 100 pound tarpon are crashing into them whenever they want. The action slows and we head offshore where we find two groups of dolphins and land seven in the 10 to 15 pound range on live pilchards fished on Mustad Ultra Point 4/0 hooks. A school of fish starts breaking the surface nearby and we land an Arctic bonito on a Rapala Skitter Walk. While cleaning up the boat we throw two more baits out and one closest to me gets hit and the fish is a 30 pound sailfish. Soon after that strike we hook another sailfish in the 50 pound class. We release both sails and the action dies off and we head inshore where we catch a mangrove snapper on the reef and now it’s time to head into the bay where we have a few minutes to fish before we head in. In the bay we hit a nice shoreline and for the next 45 minutes we get hit by one snook after another releasing eight out of twelve that we hooked.

The winds are starting to blow today and we are in North Biscayne Bay. I have Raffi and his buddy Gabriel onboard. Tarpon are on their mind and the fish don’t let us down. For the first two hours of the trip we release one out of seven tarpon that we had in the air. All on mullet! The guys seemed to enjoy watching the silver kings jump more than bowing to the king causing the hooks to fall out of the tarpons mouth. Next spot produces a bunch of trout and small snappers caught on live pilchards. Next spot its one jack crevalles after another. Raffi is catching his jacks on the Rapala X Rap and Gabriel is using live pilchards. Next spot we lose four more tarpon all on big live mullet. Last spot we catch and release two snook to 28 inches on live pilchards hooked to a 3/0 Mustad Ultra Point hooks.

Back in Flamingo with Keith and his brother John. It’s very windy today and we have no choice but to fish a wind protected area. Casting Hook Up lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp in three feet of very dirty water all day long the guys managed to catch and release close to 12 snook, lots of jacks and ladyfish and trout and land two redfish in the 22 to 27 inch range.

Back in Flamingo today with John and his buddy Russ in winds that are steady at 25 and gusting to 30. We stay with the same game plan as we had a few days ago. Wind protected shorelines and coves and ended up catching and releasing one small snook missing at least four others, released a redfish and many sea trout, jacks, ladyfish and catfish.

Last charter this week is again with John and Russ and today we are in North Biscayne Bay. The water is like white mud everywhere we go but we fish anyway. It’s a tough day producing a number of small barracudas, three nurse sharks and two mutton snappers of which one was 5.5 pounds.

On Tuesday I headed down to Islamorada to participate in the Media Event I mentioned earlier. On my way I stopped in on a meeting being held in Key Largo on Amendments 17A and 17B. If you have ever bottom fished offshore for snapper, grouper, amberjack or any other species you might want to check out this web site http://www.safmc.net/Portals/6/Newsletters/Fall09Update.pdf. These Amendments if passed will eliminate all bottom fishing from the Carolinas south to Key West and out to the Dry Tortugas. It sounds impossible but check out the web site to see for yourself what has been proposed. You have until November 25^th to comment on the web and to contact your Congressman to let them know what you think.

After checking into the Resort and having a nice time at the Happy Hour talking to many inshore and offshore guides plus lots of outdoor writers and the representatives of Rapala, Jones and Company, Suffix, Flambeau, Storm, Trigger X, Williamson Lures, Flying Fisherman, LaSiesta Resort and Marina and Florida Sportsman Magazine I headed for my room so I could get up at 6 AM for breakfast and the meeting that would last till 11:30 AM. Lunch was served and then we headed for the Marina where we were hooked up to our offshore and inshore guides. I got to fish with captain Matt Bellinger of Bamboo Charters, The winds were still blowing and the water was dirty so we headed to a basin and threw Rapala Clackin Raps, X Raps and Storm Curly Tail soft plastics. For the next few hours we caught and released lots of ladyfish, sea trout, jack crevalles, skip jacks and a nice cero mackerel. After another great Happy Hour and a fantastic meal and some more fishing stories it was time to get some sleep for day three. Today I am with captain Greg Poland and the weather is very stormy with a cold front on its way. We decide to stay close and fish for bonefish with Trigger X shrimp but before we can wet a line a rain squall hits and we take off for the nearest bridge. We wait the storm out and then hit a flat that has a nice channel between it and another flat. Casting a new Rapala Flat Rap we had hits by lots of barracudas, mangrove snappers and then I got the hit I was waiting for. The strike was hard and immediately I could tell it was a solid fish. After many long runs along the edge of the flat and going under the boat and engine three times the fish came to the surface. A beautiful snook! We high fived and took pictures in the water out of the water and then released the fish. As we got ready to resume fishing we realized we were surrounded by storms and about to get soaked. We ran for the dock just before the rains started.

That catches us up for now!

On a sad note I must take a moment and let all of my loyal readers and listeners of the Florida Sportsman Magazine Live Radio Show in South Florida know that my last radio show was last week and Florida Sportsman magazine Radio Live will air its last radio show here in Miami on October 31^st. I have been involved with the radio show for the last eight years, the show was on the air for 12 years and only because of a lack of advertising is this show and three others being discontinued as of Oct. 31^st. I want to thank all of our listeners for being there for us each and every Saturday morning at first when we were on WAXY at 8 to 9 AM and then from 6 to 7 AM and then when we left WAXY to go to WKAT at 7 to 8 AM and finally to WMCU from 7 to 8 AM. I want to thank all of our Action Spotters and Advertisers that helped make the radio show number one when were on WAXY 790. I for one am not happy about the show being canceled but the truth of the matter is if there is no income being generated by the show then the show cannot go on.  If anyone out there is interested in being a featured advertiser at the cost of $250 a show each week then we can bring the show back on the air. I have been offered a spot at a very good sports minded radio station that is willing to give us an hour on Saturday mornings and for that $250 ad that person would get there name or company’s name mentioned as the feature advertiser at the beginning of the show, after each break and at the end of the show. They would also have their name or company’s name mentioned on at least one of this radio stations sister station plus the one we were aired on and possibly on a third one as well during week day and weekend programming.

Check out my new web site and to read about the weekly catches and to see your pictures.

www.getemsportfishing.com

Check out my report in the Miami Herald's Sports section under Fishing Updates each Thursday, the Florida Sportsman Magazines South Florida Internet Fishing Report
(www.floridaspotsman.com), my monthly Action Spotter Fishing Report for the South Region in the Florida Sportsman Magazine each month.

 I have recently been wearing a lot of Columbia Sports Wear on my fishing charters and the new Blood & Guts shirts are amazing. I have had mackerel, cobia and snook just splatter me with blood and one good washing and the shirts are as good as new. Check out their web site at www.columbia.com

Sponsors: Yamaha, Bob Hewes Boats, Maverick, Minn Kota, Lowrance Electronics, Daiwa, General Motors & Chevrolet, Rapala, Mustad, Ande Lines, Pure Fishing, Gulp, Berkley, Precision Tackle, Cajun Thunders, Capt. Hank Brown's Hook Up Lures, Hydro Glow Lights, Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, Sal****er Assassins, Key Largo Rods, Lee Fisher Cast Nets, Smartshield, Master Repair in Stuart Florida, Power Pole, Stow Master Nets, superfishlight.com, Columbia Wear, Tempress Seating