Capt. Rey's Fishing Report Archives

This area is dedicated to archiving my weekly fishing reports on trips and includes information on the fishing conditions, types of fish seen and caught, tackle used, flies that are worked and other things of interest. If you have any comments about my reports you can either  email  me or comment in my  guestbook. Click here to go back to the  current report.

Week Ending - June 13th, 1999 

Well, first of all, I want to apologize for my delay on my fishing reports for the last two weeks. Being so busy takes a lot out of you, and my energy level seems to be going down as I get older, but that won't stop me from doing what I love best, being out on the water.

The seasonal weather pattern has kicked into full force, and the fishing for species like snook has become very reliable. The beaches are packed with linesiders ranging from 4lbs to 25lbs. Redfish has also become reliable, and with angler, Mike Hurst, I explored a favorite flat of mine. We fished an 8lb line on the open flat and caught several 8lb reds, we also found some nice snook later in the day. Along the beaches, the snook were taking flies in the incoming tide, small bait fish imitations worked very well.

I had several anglers trying to catch their first tarpon on fly. This is one of my biggest rewards when it comes to guiding , the thrill is contagious. Steve Dobrin came all the way from Canada for his opportunity. We hooked up early in the day, but the fish got off on his second jump. There is always next time, Steve.

Rhodes Fishburne and his wife, Lindy had fished with me a couple of years ago.
During their trip, Lindy was the one who hooked up, so this time, Rhodes was ready for his redemption. It was a windy morning, and we were not very sure what our chances were for catching fish. After about 1 1/2 hours of searching, the tarpon showed up, there they were in plain view, with their fins and tails out of the water, while others were rolling, and not another boat in sight. For the next 2 hours we had shots at tarpon, we had some flash at our fly, and a miss on the fly, making things even more exciting. Finally, Rhodes hooked up, he put a too much on the hook set, causing the 20lb tippet to break. I think we had 4 bites of fish between 60lbs to 100lbs. We didn't land any, but what a sight to see.

Be very patient when looking for tarpon, take time to search with your engine off, then ride around a little, and when you get to an area, turn your engine off, and look for them. Tarpon fishing can be tough, so patience is very important, after all, it's not everyday you have a shot at a 100lb  tarpon. You will be rewarded by the greatest shallow water battle of your angling life.

God Bless,
Many tight lines
Capt. Rey Rodriguez