As some of you may have read my offshore report, you may know that my friend Jason Stapleton of Missoula Montana was just in town to do some fishing, and we did very well. Our second adventure was to pair up 3 bow hunting freaks, for some fishing and to talk about hunting. The ‘freaks’ were Jason, myself, and Everglades Angler guide Capt. Doug Hanks. The plan was to fish jigs out of Everglades City in the morning until the tide dropped out, and then do some sight fishing with the fly. Doug suggested that we stop in a spot were he had been seeing some tarpon rolling in the mornings, and so we did. We did see a couple of fish roll, but we were only able to produce a ladyfish, and a small shark on plugs. So to the outside we go…
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Capt Doug had been having great success lately fishing jigs on outside bars and points so that was the plan. He explained the area we were fishing, were we should be casting, and how we should be presenting the jig. Since this was a ‘fun’ trip for Doug he was fishing with us, which allowed us to have 3 jigs in the water, but also have three different jig patterns. We all started to make casts, but when my jig landed in a certain spot Doug got very excited and said “ Oh yeah, that’s a really good spot!”. When your guide gets excited, hang on because they know the water like the back of their hand, and know when it’s a sure thing! Well, I got pounded but couldn’t get the hook in the fish, so I reeled it in and re-cast to the same spot and got throttled again! After a ten minute fish fight, I had the first game fish of the day in the boat- A 15# snook!
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Five minutes after I landed my snook did Jason groan as he set the hook on another good fish. After another ten minute fish fight, he had his fish in the boat, and this fish was almost 17 pounds! Jason and I looked at each other and exchanged glances that said, about Doug “Is this guy for real?”
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<img src="http://www.evergladesangler.com/portal/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/Internal/jasonsnk200.jpg" align="left">
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As we kept working the bar I was thinking to myself, how can Doug fish an area so thoroughly that you can’t see? We were hundreds of yards off of the nearest shoreline, you couldn’t see the bottom, and he doesn’t have a bottom machine, but then it dawned on me-He has been fishing down there for his entire life. Doug managed to catch some good snook up to 12 pounds out of the back of the boat, as well as a couple of reds.
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<img src="http://www.evergladesangler.com/portal/modules/My_eGallery/gallery/Internal/doughanks12snook.jpg" align="left">
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We moved in a little bit and began to work some lines, and continued to catch snook and reds on the jigs. I couldn’t get a hook in a redfish to save my life, and I probably had 10 hits, but Doug sure had them wired. After the reds we decided to go fish the fly, because were about to get some nice sun after it had been overcast all morning. We moved some fish, and missed one, but it didn’t matter much because coming from the southeast was the summer afternoon black wall of death. We packed it in at about 2 o’clock and headed for the ramp. As we drove home and continued to reflect on the days fishing, we were still blown away by the size of the snook that we had just encountered, and add to that the fact that they were taken on artificials made it that much more enjoyable. I can’t thank Capt Doug Hanks enough- If you want to experience Everglades National Park at its finest, he is your man. Remember, this is the time of year to catch your snook of a life time, and the guides have the availability to take you unlike the winter when the fishing is slower, but the are all booked up. Thanks again Doug!
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Fish On
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Henley