By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer [Everglades City, FL–] Yes, the weather may still be hot, muggy, and buggy in southwest Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands, but the fishing is …
Four New IGFA Records Set in Bimini
22 Nov 20103:06 PM
Bimini continues to live up to it’s reputation a the “Sport Fishing Capital of the World”. The IGFA recently announced FOUR new world records were landed in Bimini waters – all caught by the same husband/wife team during a 2-day fishing trip with Capt. Bouncer Smith! Angler Roberta Arostegui set three new women’s records – a 3 lb., 8 oz Black Grouper on 20#, a 2 lb., 12 oz Lane Snapper and a 3 lb., 8 oz Lane Snapper – and husband Martin Arostegui set a new 8# Tippet World Record for Amaco Jack! These are not the first records the Arosteguis have caught. In fact, they have caught a number of other records in Bimini. Just goes to show – good thing happen when you go where the fish are!
Pro team Member
Related Articles
Pro Team
Connect & Follow
Connect & Follow
General
Bon Appetit
Conservation Corner
Dive In
Got Photo
Get Hooked
Outdoor Adventure
SURF-UP
Travel Tips
![](mailto:?subject=Four New IGFA Records Set in Bimini&body=<a href="http://www.captbouncer.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-287" title="Capt. Bouncer Smith on a recent charter to Bimini" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/bouncers_dusky_evinrude.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="158" /></a>
<a title="Bimini web site" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank">Bimini</a> continues to live up to it's reputation a the "Sport Fishing Capital of the World". The <a title="IGFA web site" href="http://www.igfa.org/" target="_blank">IGFA</a> recently announced FOUR new <a title="IGFA World Records Database" href="http://www.igfa.org/Records/Default.aspx" target="_blank">world records</a> were landed in Bimini waters - all caught by the same husband/wife team during a 2-day fishing trip with <a title="Web site for Capt. Bouncer Smith " href="http://www.captbouncer.com/" target="_blank">Capt. Bouncer Smith</a>! Angler Roberta Arostegui set three new women's records - a 3 lb., 8 oz Black Grouper on 20#, a 2 lb., 12 oz Lane Snapper and a 3 lb., 8 oz Lane Snapper - and husband Martin Arostegui set a new 8# Tippet World Record for Amaco Jack! These are not the first records the Arosteguis have caught. In fact, they have caught a number of other records in Bimini. Just goes to show - good thing happen when you go where the fish are! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/four-new-igfa-records-set-in-bimini/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Fishing The Wild West in Florida's Ten Thousand Islands&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/eveg.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2943 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/eveg.jpg?w=300" alt="Eveg" width="300" height="225" /></a>By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
[Everglades City, FL--] Yes, the weather may still be hot, muggy, and buggy in southwest Florida's Ten Thousand Islands, but the fishing is what is truly smokin'.
Pending the onset of late fall/winter cold fronts, this remote region of jagged oyster bars, mangrove-fringed mud flats, and offshore wrecks and artificial reefs can be unmatched for rod-bending action and bountiful table fare.
Consider: on calm-weather days, anglers are free to motor 30 miles west of Everglades City into the open Gulf of Mexico to catch a limit of snapper, grouper, and whatever else deigns to stop by on rock piles, artificial reefs, and shipwrecks.
Or, those who prefer near-shore sight-fishing can battle big snook along the shorelines of most of those Ten Thousand Islands, especially the natural moats surrounding the mangroves and in the sloughs that ring the outside sand bars on lower tide stages. Redfish also are plentiful along those sand bars, as well as oyster bars and island moats. Large numbers of spotted sea trout patrol the sloughs and channels on higher tides and can also be found --(surprise!)-- on live, rocky bottom 10-12 feet deep several miles offshore. There's also a good chance of locating resident tarpon around island points and river mouths.
Fall is a great time of year to hunt for tasty tripletail, a mysterious fish found throughout Florida from near shore waters a few feet deep to miles out in the Atlantic Gulf Stream. But here in the Ten Thousand Islands, the search area is narrowed to crab trap lines strung a few miles offshore in the Gulf and dead tree stumps that have washed up in the shallows.
And there are several more species to be found cruising the region this time of year, including cobia, sheepshead, pompano, black drum, and Spanish mackerel. And don't forget sharks; they're pretty much everywhere and very satisfying to catch and release on all ranges of tackle. Lucky anglers might even catch sight of an endangered sawfish-- a very distinctive-looking member of the stingray family-- plying the flats or the sloughs, but they are closed to all harvest.
While it is possible to catch many of the region's fish on fly rod and on artificial lures such as plugs, jigs, and soft plastics, using live bait is far and away the best bet for closing the deal. Securing enough bait for a day's fishing is rarely a problem around the Ten Thousand Islands at this time of year.
Check out dimples on the surface revealing the presence of threadfin herring and pilchards. In open water, diving pelicans are very helpful guides. Mullet can be found schooling on the flats, especially in coves and creeks; single fish will be seen flipping for no apparent reason or else leaping en masse when chased by predators. Bait hunters finding no joy on the flats may find it necessary to head offshore to live-bottom areas to get what they need. Being able to throw a large cast net is a necessary skill. Caution: using live shrimp for bait will probably draw all kinds of unwanted interlopers such as ladyfish, blue runners, catfish, and who knows what.
Anglers not inclined to get wet and dirty throwing a cast net will probably do just fine purchasing live or fresh-frozen bait in Everglades City. A couple weeks before the Oct. 8 recreational red grouper closure, part-time Everglades City resident Lou Volpe and a companion caught their limit of four (and released 30 that were undersized), plus a dozen lane and gray snapper and a limit of eight sea trout using mostly dead finger mullet and pilchards on 'knocker rigs' where the egg sinker is next to the hook. The pair had a well full of just-caught pilchards, mullet, and pinfish netted by Volpe on his 22-foot bay boat, but they didn't really need all that live ammo. And despite fishing on a sunny, calm Sunday, they encountered perhaps four other boats the entire day.
Despite its proximity to Naples (45 minutes) and urban Southeast Florida ( 1 1/2 hours), the Everglades City-Chokoloskee region still has the feel of a fishing frontier.
Saddle up and check it out.
*****
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. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/fishing-the-wild-west-in-floridas-ten-thousand-islands/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Use Guy Harvey Outpost’s New Fishing App for a Chance to Win a Guy Harvey Florida Fishing License&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/flfishinglicense.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2875 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/flfishinglicense.jpeg?w=300" alt="FLFishingLicense" width="300" height="200" /></a>Be sure to set a reminder on your phone (or circle your calendar) for Sept. 5. On that Saturday, you do not need to buy a fishing license in order to wet a line in any saltwater body in Florida. You can fish from shore, on a boat, on a pier or a jetty in the ocean, Gulf, bays and canals license-free for that one day.
Here are several good reasons to take advantage: you can teach a kid to fish or introduce a non-angling friend to the sport at no extra cost, or --best of all-- you have a chance to win prizes, courtesy of Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts.
Anyone who logs a catch of ANY fish on the Guy Harvey iGHOFISH app --(a free download on Iphone and Google Play)--will be automatically entered in a sweepstakes to win a one-year I DO! Guy Harvey saltwater/freshwater fishing/hunting combo license and a $50 Guy Harvey merchandise gift card. Also in this special, one-day tournament, your catch information will be instantly shared with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission through the IAngler program, which helps fisheries managers and scientists conserve and protect Florida's saltwater fish stocks.
The license-free day applies to all saltwater recreational species such as crabs, lobsters, and scallops. But all bag and size limits and seasons still apply, so make sure you check out the regulations before harvesting.
If you don't have a license and want to fish the rest of the year, you can purchase one online at myfwc.com/license/ or at any county tax collector's office and some retail outlets. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/use-guy-harvey-outposts-new-fish-app-for-a-chance-to-win-a-guy-harvey-florida-fishing-license/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Billfish Invitational Day 2 – Big Marlin, Big Whales and a Big Honor!&body=During this week’s Billfish Invitational tournament, Fred Garth, Editor-In-Chief of <a title="GHM web site" href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com/" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Magazine</a>, will be filing a series of dispatches from tournament headquarters at the Bimini Big Game Club.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bbgcwhaleshark.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-750" title="Team Tag Line takes a break from billfishing to swim with a whale shark!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/bbgcwhaleshark.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="389" /></a>Team Tag Line takes a break from fishing the tournament to swim with a whale shark!
Bimini – day two on the water was as much of a Big Game as it was a Billfish Tournament. Six billfish were hooked and almost every boat saw fish for the second day in a row. Also, two boats came in with amazing stories of swimming with whales.
<a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a> spent the day riding with Tedd and Tammy Amberg on the Hillary Lynn where they had a front row seat watching an aerial display of a blue marlin on the vessel Southside, which was fishing nearby.
Three of the fish hooked were reported over 500 pounds and two of blues on the line were in the 200-300 pounds. Also seen were a tailing white marlin and several free jumping billfish.
“It’s been a good run of nice sized fish,” said Tournament Director Ned Stone, “and we’ve had good fishing. Of course, there’s always the challenge of getting big fish to the boat.”
The tournament has been blessed with sunny skies and light winds providing excellent conditions for sighting other big beasts. In the spirit of Guy Harvey’s passion for marine conservation and swimming with large marine animals, one team was able to get into the water with a pod of pilot whales and another team swam for a half hour with a whale shark.
Erik Akins and Robert Collins of the Last Dance Team spotted a pod of pilot whales and hailed Chris Peterson from the <a title="Hell's Bay Boatworks web site" href="http://www.hellsbayboatworks.com" target="_blank">Hell’s Bay</a> Hopper Team on the radio. Peterson’s team swam with the whales and said that they were eating a big blue fin tuna.
“One of the whales swam by with the tuna’s head in its mouth,” Peterson said. “Another had the body of the tuna. They were sharing the fish. It was pretty incredible.
Gaston Legorburu’s Tag Line team came back to the dock with stories and photos of swimming and riding a 16-20 foot whale shark.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/frankstribute2.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-745 " title="Presentation of the Frank Johnson Perpetual Trophy" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/frankstribute2.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="295" /></a>Left to right: Bill Shedd, Tim Choate, Shelley Johnson, Ed Pang, Frank Johnson, Mark Ellert, Guy Harvey, Charlie Forman, Kent Ullberg and Frank Johnson Jr.
The day ended with a fabulous tribute dinner for Frank Johnson, creator of the iconic <a title="Mold Craft web site" href="http://www.moldcraft.com" target="_blank">Mold Craft</a> soft head lures. Many stories were told, some not to be repeated herein, and artist Ed Pang presented his perpetual trophy to Frank which displays a bronze Mold Craft lure a top of a jumping marlin.
VIP guests in attendance were Tim Choate, Bill Shedd, Kent Ullberg, Guy Harvey, Charlie Forman, Frank Johnson, Jr., and of course Frank Johnson and his wife Shelley. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/740-2/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Register to Win: GHO Fishing Trip with Guy Harvey Outpost&body=Ready, Set, GHO Fish with the "Wild and Crazy Guys" on the Zinn Dog. Win a fishing trip for you and up to 5 friends on the Zinn Dog enter at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/sweepstakes/">GuyHarveyOutpost.com/Sweepstakes</a>. <a href="http://www.lunkerdog.com/captain-jeff-maggio">Captain Jeff Maggio</a> and <a href="http://http://www.lunkerdog.com/">Lunkerdog</a> did not get to be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lunkerdog">YouTube stars</a> sitting at the dock. They know how to FIND YOUR FISH.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/capt-jeff-contest.png"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2307 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/capt-jeff-contest.png?w=550" alt="Capt Jeff Contest" width="550" height="269" /></a>
Or enter at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">Guy Harvey Outpost</a> booth at <a href="http://www.showmanagement.com/fort_lauderdale/event/">Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show</a> (Booth #27) in the main tent (6A) at Bahia Mar. So if you want to have some fun and fish for Sailfish, Tarpon, Kingfish or Tuna give the prize wheel a try at our Boat Show booth. Also included is a set of six fully rigged killer marlin lures from <a href="http://www.bostlures.com/">Bost Lures</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/3703624_20110901091254_5_large.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2299" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/3703624_20110901091254_5_large.jpg" alt="The Zinn Dog underway." width="550" height="428" /></a>The Zinn Dog underway. Run that Dog!
Capt. Jeff had the Zinn Dog custom made in Maine. She is built on the hull of a Wesmac Lobster Boat. They fish year round in Maine and in all kinds of weather. To say that the Zinn Dog is a stable platform understates the obvious. For more information on the <a href="http://www.lukebrownyachts.com/46-wesmac-sportfish-zinn-dog/">Zinn Dog</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com">www.ghofish.com</a>
More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/GuyHarveyOutpost">http://www.youtube.com/user/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/register-to-win-gho-fishing-trip-with-guy-harvey-outpost/){kind=link}
TRAVEL DESK : 800.513.5257
Connect & Follow