MARCH SOUTH FLORIDA FISHING with CAPT> ALAN SHERMAN of GET EM SPORTFISHING CHARTERS

Report Date: March 17, 2010

Finally the weather is starting to warm a bit and the inshore waters as well. South Florida continues to get hammered by warm fronts, cold fronts and low pressure areas associated with these cold fronts. It seems that the jet stream is sitting right on top of South Florida and ushering in the bad weather.

Check out my web site at www.getemsportfishing.com and see the pictures of my client’s most recent catches and don’t be surprised if it’s you in one of these pictures!

Fishing the Patch Reefs on Saturday once again we catch hogfish, yellowtail snappers, and mutton snappers, red groupers and grunts.

Monday we are fishing out of Crandon Park Boat Ramp and are targeting anything that will bend the fishing rods. The great fishing in the Finger Channels has gone dead with the cold water that we have had recently and unless you target the patch reefs on the Oceanside of the channels the fishing in this area has been dead.

I have Marty, Joy and Mike on board and fishing the bottom the trio catches and releases porgies, black, gag and red groupers plus a few snappers and a blowfish.

On Tuesday I was chartered by an Engineering Company to be part of a bidding process to build a few dams or plugs in Everglades National Park. I met my people at 8 AM and took them to the site where they took pictures and took notes to take back to their headquarters where they will put together a bid to present to the Park. While on the water the group saw three American crocodiles plus plenty of birds. No fishing today.

On this day I am fishing a three boat charter out of Crandon Park Boat Ramp. I have Dave, Ken and Ed onboard and we have tarpon on our minds but the wind is blowing and we will have to stay in the Bay and see what we can come up with. We hit a small grass flat but no action and move on to fish another grass flat where we catch three small trout and one nice one before heading a bit further north. At this spot fishing with Hookup lures tipped with Gulp shrimp the guys catch one sea trout after another before heading back to the boat ramp.

Today I am fishing a half day charter starting at 9 AM in North Biscayne Bay. Once again the wind was blowing like crazy but we found plenty of action from jack crevalles of 2 pounds, eight pounds, 10 pounds and lost a fish estimated at 15 pounds after a 20 minute fight that took us into Haulover Inlet and very close to eight and 10 foot waves. The fish eventually wore through the leader and that battle will become a great fish story for years to come. We also caught sea trout to 18 inches and a nice bluefish before heading in.


Back in North Biscayne Bay today with one of my favorite repeat clients. The weather forecast is for deteriorating conditions as the day goes on but I think we can get a full day in if we’re lucky. Pilchards today are scarce but I mange a few dozen that may help make our day better. We start out in a spot where the jacks have been holding and manage to chum a few to our baits. Unfortunately we get only one solid hook up and the fish manages to cut the leader on a piling so we move on. We head out to the beach were lots of tarpon are rolling and slapping their tails on the water. It looks good that we should get some action and put the large shrimp out. After an hour of slow drifting the area we get three hits and catch two nice Spanish mackerel but tarpon and head back into the Bay. Fishing a few grass flats we get lots of action from trout ion the 15 to 20 inch range plus a few bluefish for added spice. These fish are eating our Hookup lures tipped with a Gulp shrimp. The storms intensify so we head in early.

After cleaning my boat up for tomorrow’s charter I get a call from another guide who needs me to fish two of his clients that night. The weather is clearing and I agree to the charter. Tarpon is all that is on Andrews and Johns minds. We head to Government and get there just as the sun is setting. The west wind has the water in and around the inlet quite calm and as we round the south jetty the guys are full of excitement because large tarpon are rolling everywhere we look. John is the first to get a shrimp in the water and before Andrew has a chance to cast his shrimp out John’s reel is screaming and a large fish is on the other end. We get Andrews line out of the way and start the 45 minute battle that ends with the 100 pound tarpon that never jumped. I grab the leader and we snap a few pictures before we release the huge fish. Ready for action now but the fish are gone so we head to the bridges where Andrew quickly hooks into a 50 pound tarpon that goes ballistic. Andrew does the best he can but this fish heads between the pilings and cuts the 50 pound leader at the hook. Another hour of fishing produces just one more strike and that fish turns into a three pound ladyfish and our night is over. After seven unsuccessful tries to land a tarpon John has finally added another chapter to his life.

Next up is Joel and Steve and we hit the North Biscayne Bay area once again. After looking for baitfish schools we hit the mother load and after two casts we have two full live wells of bait. We head to the area that the large jacks are holding and once the chum goes out the fish start busting the chum right to the boat. After an hour or more the guys have hooked six large jacks and landed two. One a 10 pound fish and the other a 12 pound fish! The guys lost four fish due to the eight pound tackle we were using. We could have gone heavier but it would not have been as much fun. Now we head for the beach where the tarpon have been holding. The tarpon seem to be everywhere but after an hour of fishing for them with live shrimp and pilchards all the guys have caught is a nice Spanish mackerel.
We lost many mackerel to short strikes and cut offs and head back into the bay where the guys have a ball catching lots of trout to four pounds plus a few bluefish.



Last trip I have Gene, Frank and Bill on the boat. These guys have fished with me for many years and we always have a blast. The baitfishes are a bit tough today but I was able to get enough to fish all day from Lester the Bait Man at Haulover Inlet. The wind is down a bit and there was a great kingfish bite offshore the day before. After we take a vote we head offshore to give it a try. An hour and a half later we give that idea up after having only one bite and hearing reports of slow offshore fishing. Back into the Bay and once again we try the jacks out but no takers. This is a half day charter and it’s getting late so I hit a grass flat for some sea trout and the guys catch nine trout to 19 inches plus six or eight bluefish before in a short hour and we head in. These fish were eating live pilchards suspended under a Cajun Thunder float and hooked to a 1/0 Mustad long shank hook.


With weaker cold fronts expected water temperatures should continue to rise and our fishing will finally get back to where they we would expect it to be. Spring is just around the corner and so is the great fishing that we expect during that time.

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

www.getemsportfishing.com
shermana@bellsouth.net

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, Saltwater 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

Capt. Alan Sherman
"Get Em" Sportfishing Charters
786-436-2064
w ww.getemsportfishing.com.

I expect the fishing to be pretty consistent for the next three or four months with lots of SEA TROUT, JACK CREVALLES, LADYFISH, SPANISH MACKEREL, BLUEFISH, GROUPER, BARRACUDAS, SNOOK, TARPON and some POMPANO in NORTH BISCAYNE BAY and OFFSHORE of MIAMI KINGFISH, MACKEREL, SAILFISH and DOLPHINS available on the calmer days and in SOUTH BISCAYNE BAY lots of action from a wide variety of fish like the SNAPPERS, GROUPERS, JACKS, BLUEFISH, MACKERELS, POMPANO, LADYFISH, PORGIES, GRUNTS, SNOOK and BLUERUNNERS keeping anglers busy catching and releasing fish most of the day. FLAMINGO in EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK will have a huge amount of wildlife like the WHITE PELICANS, ROSEATTE SPOONBILLS, SKIMMER BIRDS,GULLS, OSPREYS, EAGLES, TERNS, EGRETS, HERONS, ALLIGATORS, CROCODILES, BOTTLE NOSED DOLPHINS, MANATTEES, SHARKS and TURTLES and of course the wide variety of fish that migrate into FLORIDA BAY and the GULF waters during the cfgcooler months of the year. SNOOK, TARPON, REDFISH, SEA TROUT, SHEEPSHEAD, TRIIPLETAIL, BLACK DRUM, SNAPPER, GOLIATH AND GAG GROUPER, POMOPANO, COBIA, MACKEREL, BLUEFISH and I'm sure I am leaving a few other fish species out will be available to all anglers at one time or another throughout the rest of our FALL and into WINTER FISHING SEASON.

Target Species:

Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, Sea Trout, Snapper, Grouper, Mackerel, Cobia, Pompano, Kingfish, Sailfish, Dolphins

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