Poling a Hell’s Bay skiff along the edge of the mangroves in Florida Bay’s Garfield Bight, Captain Benny Blanco was delighted with the large numbers of baby tarpon roiling the shallow waters. …
Bass Hitting On Summertime Patterns
23 Apr 20189:08 AM
While many parts of the country are still dealing with ice, snow, and ridiculously cold temps, here in Central Florida our bass are already in their summer patterns. And that means we are having a fantastic time catching them a variety of ways on both live and artificial baits.
Imagine the sight of working your favorite topwater bait back and forth, in perfect rhythm, across the submerged grass beds when the water explodes and it looks like someone sank a 5-gallon bucket the suction hole is so huge… you feel the weight of something really, really heavy, set the hook and your rod just doubles over like you snagged a stump… then drag is peeling off your reel as the fish is screaming across the lake, it jumps skyward and it’s The Biggest Bass you have ever seen! That’s the kind of scene that plays out quite often here, and we can’t wait to share it with you.
Whether we are fishing the Kissimmee Chain, or one of the other lakes close by, there is something for everyone. We cater to all anglers from the well experienced to the novice, families, and kids of all ages. With summer vacation approaching, grab the family, pack up the “Wagon Queen Family Truckster,” and come on out to see all that we have to offer!
Visit http://www.GuyHarveyOutpost.com/to book Captain Scott Taylor for your next Central Florida Bass Adventure!
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![](mailto:?subject=ENTER TO WIN: Fish for Tarpon in Tampa with Captain C.A. Richardson&body=He's one of the most recognizable and successful figures in sport fishing today--inshore guide extraordinaire; tournament champion; television host; and seminar leader. And YOU have a chance to go fishing for tarpon with him for free!
The grand prize in our "Tarpon in Tampa" contest includes a May 12th tarpon trip with Captain C.A. Richardson-- host of the popular Flats Class TV show--plus many other valuable giveaways: two nights' accommodations at Guy Harvey Outpost St. Pete Beach; Fish Hippie Yeti Cooler filled with Fish Hippie gear; three Williams Knife Co. specialty knives along with tee shirts and hats; a Hook & Gaff Sportfisher II MP watch with extra straps and accessories; Z-Man tackle bag filled with baits; and Hell's Bay/Yeti tumblers and accessory gear. Second- and third-places win prize packs stuffed with gear from our sponsors.
The contest is free to enter; it closes April 14. Go to <a href="http://www.tarponintampa.com">www.tarponintampa.com</a> and sign up for your chance to win.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TIT2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4614" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/TIT2.jpg" alt="TIT2" width="1200" height="628" /></a>
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/enter-to-win-fish-for-tarpon-in-tampa-with-captain-c-a-richardson/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=More Press Coverage of the Bimini Big Game Club Hosting the Bahamas Wahoo Challenge&body=News of major fishing tournaments returning to the <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> continues to generate press in the U.S. and International media. The latest coverage comes from <a title="The Tribune web site" href="http://www.tribune242.com" target="_blank">The Tribune (Bahamas),</a>which recently published an article about the Club's hosting of the <a title="Bahamas Wahoo Challenge web site" href="http://www.wahoochallenge.com/" target="_blank">Bahamas Wahoo Challenge</a> in Nov 2010. This is the latest in a <a title="Articles about the Bimini Big Game Club " href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/press.htm" target="_blank">series of print and online articles covering the return of the Bimini Big Game Club</a> to its rightful position as one of the world's premiere fishing/boating/diving destinations.
The Bahamas Wahoo Challenge article from the Sept. 17th edition of The Tribune (click to enlarge):
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bahamastribune1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-123" title="The Tribune (Bahamas)" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bahamastribune1.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="249" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/more-press-coverage-of-the-bimini-big-game-club-hosting-the-bahamas-wahoo-challenge/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Prime Time for an Inshore Super Grand Slam in Islamorada&body=From late summer into early autumn, the flats of the Florida Keys are prime territory for scoring an inshore super grand slam of bonefish, tarpon, permit and snook-- all caught in one day. And as if that's not enough, anglers and guides routinely pile on with sea trout, redfish, tripletail, and others.
"Everything is available fish species-wise," said noted South Florida light-tackle guide captain Andy Thompson. "The options are pretty endless. You can sight-fish on the flats. You can fish the island moats, the channels, spin fishing or fly rod."
Thompson, who runs a 17-foot Hells Bay Biscayne skiff, fishes the entire region from Biscayne Bay south to the Lower Keys, including Flamingo and Chokoloskee in Everglades National Park. He's especially fond of September-October because water and air temperatures grow cooler, tides are higher and the flats are not crowded with other guides and anglers.
"The permit fishing in September/October is really good," Thompson said. "With bigger tides, the back country banks behind Islamorada get a lot more water in the fall and that allows those fish to feed."
The best bait is a live crab (or a crab imitation if you insist on fly fishing) cast to fish feeding on the edges of channels and along narrow, rocky strip banks on the ocean side and bayside of the Keys where currents are strong. Permit also can be found around shallow wrecks and the U.S. 1 bridges.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Andytarpon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4218" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Andytarpon-1024x768.jpg" alt="Andytarpon" width="1024" height="768" /></a>
Continuing the inshore superfecta with tarpon may also be easier in fall than during the peak of the summer spawn. Thompson says plenty of juvenile tarpon can be found along the ocean side islands of the Upper Keys and in Florida Bay near Flamingo. In October, he often finds a resident population of 100-pounders that are "laid up" and easy to cast to with a live mullet or Deceiver-pattern fly. But some of the easiest fish to target are the ones following the fall mullet run all along the southwest Florida coast.
The seasonal bait frenzy also occurs on the ocean side of the Keys where huge schools of pilchards can be seen swirling and flashing. Just about anything can be found harassing these forage fish -- tarpon, sharks, snook, and jacks, among others. Snook are also plentiful on the crowns of the Florida Bay flats on an incoming tide, and often accompanied by redfish. Thompson goes after them using primarily pearl-colored soft plastic jerkbaits such as the D.O.A. C.A.L., but topwater plugs also can be effective if there's not too much floating grass.
Catching and releasing a bonefish is not as tough in Florida Bay as in recent years, according to Thompson. While their numbers are down considerably from the 1980s, Thompson says the torpedo-shaped silver speedsters are starting to recover.
"There's a lot of little fish in Florida Bay," he said. "The 2010 freeze put a hurtin' on them. But just this year, I started to see good numbers of them again around Rabbit Key and the Arsenicker Keys. There's a whole new class of fish showing up. It's encouraging."
The guide and his customers target them with live shrimp, small crabs, small skimmer jigs or shrimp-patterned flies.
To book a fishing trip with Thompson, go <a href="http://www.saltairoutfitters.com" target="_blank">HERE</a>. To book your stay at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada, visit the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost web site</a>.
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/dive-packages/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4200 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ad.jpg" alt="ad" width="737" height="301" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/prime-time-for-an-inshore-super-grand-slam-in-islamorada/){kind=link}
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