Compliments of Coastal Angler Magazine – Flahama Edition Bimini will be crawling with wahoo this month. The fish will be thick and of good size. The cold fronts in November worked their magic and this …
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=Red Hot Blue Marlin with Guy Harvey Outpost&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/duncanbrakeburningmarlin.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2061" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/duncanbrakeburningmarlin.jpg?w=300" alt="All Lit Up!" width="469" height="308" /></a>
Artist Bobby Little’s Burning Marlin sculpture at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost’s</a> Bimini Beach Bash Bonfire & Tournament. Above, Duncan Brake’s photograph captures the marlin in full furry. The event marked Guy Harvey Outpost’s return to Bimini after two years of growth around Florida, the Bahamas and Beyond. <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-bimini.html">Bimini Sands Resort & Marina, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge</a> hosted the three day event.
Barefoot skydivers from Island Extreme Adventures kicked things off, landing on the beach in front of the Infinity Pool. There was scuba diving with the legendary Neal Watson, fabulous food and ace fishermen. Captain Bouncer Smith, recently honored at the IGFA as a “Legendary Captain,” and young Victor Bermudez the event’s Top Angler teamed up to take top honors in the fishing tournament.
Stay tuned for more photos and details or check the latest on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost">Outpost Facebook page</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/red-hot-blue-marlin-with-guy-harvey-outpost/#more-2060" class="more-link">(more…)</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/red-hot-blue-marlin-with-guy-harvey-outpost/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Pro Anglers Expecting a Bounty of Big Fish for FLW Event at Lake O!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/steve-daniel-bass-fish.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2867 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/steve-daniel-bass-fish.jpeg?w=225" alt="Steve Daniel - Bass Fish" width="225" height="300" /></a>Despite the searing August heat, the largemouth bass fishing in Lake Okeechobee hasn't slowed down a bit. At a recent one-day local club tournament, it took a five-bass limit of 31 pounds to win.
"This is August. They can't do this anywhere else in the country," declared veteran Lake O guide and former pro tour champion Steve Daniel. "The lake has been awesome all summer long."
Some 300 anglers in the pro- and co-angler categories of the FLW Wal-Mart BFL Gator Division will be able see for themselves in the Aug. 29-30 'super tournament' at Okeechobee's Scott Driver Park. It's the fifth and final event of the 2015 Gator Division--the largest of the BFL's 24 divisions--where the top pro will take home $9,000 and $4,500 will go to the top co-angler.
Daniel predicts the winning two-day weight could be 45 pounds.
With water levels in the Big O hovering around 12 feet and a full moon on Aug. 29, Daniel believes the big fish will go for the spawning bluegill and shellcracker bedding on the edges of grass lines first thing in the morning. Anglers using large Senkos and swim baits in bluegill hues of green and orange will be successful, he says. As the sun rises, bass are likely to head for deeper water, such as the hydrilla beds of Harney Pond where slow-moving chatterbaits and spinnerbaits should do the trick.
FLW Tour pro Mike Surman says it's key to knock out a couple big fish of six pounds or larger right out of the gate.
"If you find the right place early in the morning, you can catch 20 fish in the first half-hour," Surman said. "If you catch two good ones early and one more later in the day, you've got a good chance to win."
Surman, who has won major tournaments on Lake Okeechobee in the past, said he plans to start the day with a YoZuri Nor-Z-- a large, jointed minnow-shaped bait with a propeller in the back-- then switch to a Gambler Big EZ minnow imitation or Gambler jig with a MegaDaddy trailer later in the day. He believes the tournament could be won anywhere on the lake --even ten minutes' ride from the boat ramp. Daniel believes anglers can also catch big fish in the Kissimmee River and adjacent canals.
At the last Gator Division tournament held on the Big O in April, Joshua Morfis weighed a limit of 34 pounds, 14 ounces in a single day to earn more than $6,300. Co-angler Hunter Abowd had the largest fish -- an 11-pound, 10-ounce monster. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/pro-anglers-expecting-a-bounty-of-big-fish-for-flw-event-at-lake-o/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Follow the Yellow Brick Road&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3226 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/p1010298.jpg?w=225" alt="P1010298" width="225" height="300" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
I can't think of too many outings more fun in winter than going patch fishing off Islamorada.
While you are almost certain to catch big numbers of yellowtail snapper, plenty of other species either hang out or pass through these miniature ecosystems at the same time.
On a late December outing with captain Greg Eklund and mate Cory Nelson on the charterboat Cloud Nine out of Bud n' Mary's Marina, our group of four anglers boated nearly 40 yellowtail and gray snapper, a handful of cero mackerel, and the broad head of a big red grouper that got cut in half by a suspected shark. We also released about dozen and half undersized mutton snapper. We couldn't lower our baits into the current without getting a hit.
"Yellowtail is one of the most important species we have," said Eklund, a 21-year veteran captain. "They're delicious. abundant, and fun to catch."
Check, check and check.
The fishing grounds Eklund chose was a sandy plain in the ocean off Islamorada about 20 feet deep with scattered patches of coral reefs to the north and south. He dropped the Cloud Nine's anchor in the sand up-current of the live bottom.
"You don't want to damage the reef by anchoring on it," Eklund explained. "You don't want to damage your tackle on the bottom and lose fish on the reef. You bring the fish to you."
Nelson deployed a chum bag on the transom and prepared a bucket full of raw oats mixed with the oily fish parts. For bait, Cloud Nine had brought live shrimp threaded on 1/4-ounce knock-off Hook Up jigs.
"Live shrimp is a very effective bait in wintertime because a lot of shrimp are going under the bridges," Eklund said, referring to the spans dotting U.S. 1 that separate the ocean from shallow Florida Bay waters.
The captain said fishing for yellowtail with live shrimp on the main reef tract further offshore doesn't work as well as it does on the patches because the fish aren't used to seeing them in wintertime. Most of those migrating crustaceans get picked off by predators long before they make it to the open ocean. Live pilchards, he said, are the preferred bait in deeper waters.
The captain tossed out a cloud of oats and chum from the stern of the boat, waited a few beats, then sent out another one. Within a few minutes, he pronounced, " I can see them; they're swarming."
Flashes of dingy yellow appeared in the green chum slick as Eklund baited my jig with a live shrimp. I lowered it into the water, watching for the line to start zipping through the rod guides. It didn't take long.
"You're on," Eklund said.
I slammed the bail of the reel closed, and came up tight on a feisty fish. It even made the drag sing a little. Within a minute or two, I swung a 14-inch yellowtail over the transom.
My fishing companions--Bud n' Mary's owner captain Richard Stanczyk, tackle shop manager Stephen Byrd, and North Carolina charterboat captain Dave Peck--all joined the action, which was constant and frenzied for several hours. Mixed in with the tails was a handful of mangrove snapper; quite a few muttons too small to keep; and several ceros. A heavy bottom outfit yielded the partial grouper.
The weather was bumpy the day we fished, so we pretty much had the area to ourselves. No commercial boats plied the area for yellowtail because NOAA Fisheries had closed that fishery Oct. 31, projecting that the total annual catch limit of about 1.6 million pounds would be reached. Commercial fishing re-opened on Jan. 1.
Yellowtail is considered a success story by both fishers and fisheries managers. Unlike some grouper/snapper species, the stock is not in trouble from overfishing.
Eklund said part of the reason is all the chumming that goes on in the area.
"It's like a small farm," he said. "[Yellowtail] will gorge themselves on chum, then go to the rocks and regurgitate and it feeds other fish."
We scored a cooler full before noon, and I went home with plenty of five-star entree fare to serve at holiday feasts.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/follow-the-yellow-brick-road/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bahamas Wahoo Challenge Coming to the Big Game Club!&body=The Big Game is On! From November 11-14, 2010, the <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggamclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> will be hosting the 1st Leg of the <a title="Bahamas Wahoo Challenge web site" href="http://www.wahoochallenge.com" target="_blank">2011 Bahamas Wahoo Challenge</a>. The BWC is the world's premiere Wahoo fishing tournament and is further indication that the legendary <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> has resumed its rightful place among the grand fishing tournaments.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bahamaswahoochallenge2011.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-114" title="2011 Bahamas Wahoo Challenge" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/bahamaswahoochallenge2011.jpg?w=232" alt="" width="232" height="300" /></a>
<a title="Contact info for Tony Albelo" href="http://www.oceanpromotions.com/contact.html" target="_blank">Tournament Director Tony Albelo</a> provided the following overview of the BWC:
"The Bahamas Wahoo Challenge is approaching its fifth year of competition. Since 2006, the Challenge has attracted the best wahoo anglers in the world to the Bahamas for the best wahoo fishing in the world. Each year, teams come from across the U.S. and Caribbean to compete for the title. The Challenge is made up of three tournaments. Each event is an individual competition, but also adds points to the overall series. Teams can compete in one or all three legs.
In 2006 the fishing was red hot. The top fish for the series was a 95-pound torpedo weighed in by “Nothin’s Wild” out of Homestead, Florida. The following years all saw increased numbers of fish and fish size, likely due to new rules and regulations enacted by the Bahamas. As a tournament, the Challenge also adopted new rules reducing the fish count to four fish per team. These small efforts in concert have made a noticeable impact on fishing.
In 2008, the Bahamian-crew on “Zephyros” hauled in a 105-pound behemoth which is the largest wahoo taken in any tournament in the Bahamas. Fish in the 80+pound range are routinely caught in the Challenge as fishing continues to be improving.
For the 2010-2011 season, the Wahoo Challenge kicks off the Series in the most talked-about resort & marina in the Bahamas, The <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>. In recent years the Club has fallen into a bit of disarray, but recently the team at <a title="About Guy Harvey Outpost" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/aboutus.htm" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts</a> took the property over and has brought it back to its original splendor. In fact, it is better than ever! The rooms have all been completely remodeled from the floors up. Everything is new and has the Guy Harvey flair. If the excitement surrounding the re-launch of the Big Game Club is any indication of things to come, then this promises to be the best season of wahoo fishing yet."
(<a title="Bimini Big Game Club on Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/BiminiBigGameClub?v=photos&ref=ts" target="_blank">Click here</a> to see photos albums of the newly remodeled & renovated Bimini Big Game Club)
To reserve your room and slip, call the <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> today at 800-867-4764. For more information on the BWC, visit <a href="http://www.WahooChallenge.com">www.WahooChallenge.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bahamas-wahoo-challenge-coming-to-the-big-game-club/){kind=link}
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