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Choko March 1st


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Hey guys,

I'm heading to Choko March 1-3. The water temps are rapidly rising down here with air temps in the mid 80's and  the forecast is for the mid 80's for the next 10+ days. Currently, the water temp is 70, but I'm guessing if there's no more significant cold fronts that make it down here the water temps will probably in the mid 70's+ by March. 

I've only fished here in the middle of winter and have always targeted mainly winter snook. Can anyone give some general advice on tarpon? I'm assuming they will be moving in and out of the outside mouths and may be laid up in some of the outer bays? I think snook and will be pretty easy to target as they should moving on the outside looking for whitebait. 

Appreciate any comments. 

 

Also, check this out. "George" a 10' Great White tagged shark was located in the Everglades. Check out this article. Guess  I need to bring the Goliath rigs and very large buoy's!!! 

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/02/07/great-white-shark-named-george-tracked-gulf-mexico-near-everglades/318342002/ 

 

 

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I posted that earlier.....

Tarpon should be moving around just off the beaches in March if we don't get another good cold snap (under 50*) by March 1st. The guides will be all over the place looking for them as usual. They're definitely in the backcountry because I spooked some giants while running near Rogers Bay a few weeks ago. I will probably be at my place in Choko March 1-5 so maybe I'll see you down there. 

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11 hours ago, conocean said:

I posted that earlier.....

Tarpon should be moving around just off the beaches in March if we don't get another good cold snap (under 50*) by March 1st. The guides will be all over the place looking for them as usual. They're definitely in the backcountry because I spooked some giants while running near Rogers Bay a few weeks ago. I will probably be at my place in Choko March 1-5 so maybe I'll see you down there. 

I know. I posted that and then saw yours later that day. 

Thanks for the info. We are going to start on the outside and work are way in from there this time. We are staying at Parkway. Thanks for the input. 

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On 2/9/2018 at 9:04 AM, conocean said:

My boat is all ice blue & I'll probably be the only skiffs you'll see over there without a huge GPS on the console. Holler if you see us! 

That's funny. I definitely will holler at you if I see ya. When you know what you know you don't need the fancy stuff! I've got a guide who live in EC and the Keys so I'm going to reach out to him next week right before I leave and see what the local guides are saying. I'll keep you posted, but sounds like you don't need any help if you have a place down there. 

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On 2/9/2018 at 9:04 AM, conocean said:

My boat is all ice blue & I'll probably be the only skiffs you'll see over there without a huge GPS on the console. Holler if you see us! 

What Paul has forgot about the 10K's....most of us will never learn.....for sure he knows every bight, tide, river entrance, etc....

he's taught me alot....

DC

 

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You're too kind, Dino.

I've learned a lot the hard way in the ENP & I've had many good teachers along the way. Definitely cannot take much credit for doing anything great other than listening & remembering. 

Running aground. Getting stuck while poling on an outgoing tide. Being forced to spend the night on my boat. Those are the things I will never forget! And there's more to come, I'm sure. 

The legendary Captain that I work for has told me this many times......."if you haven't hit something, gotten lost or run aground then you haven't gone very far." I've done all 3!!! xD 

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Tarpon were frolicking Fri-Sun with the warm weather. Dozens of bay boats fishing for them. Saw some nice ones being fought near the river mouths. My neighbors slayed the big cobias on the wrecks. Fishing out front stunk, except white & spotted trout. Huge patches of cruddy water. I went deep in the backcountry 2 of the days; 30+ snook each day on lures and not a sign of human life......epic!  Didn't see a red all weekend out front though; only two small ones in the back along with a bass. 

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3 hours ago, conocean said:

Tarpon were frolicking Fri-Sun with the warm weather. Dozens of bay boats fishing for them. Saw some nice ones being fought near the river mouths. My neighbors slayed the big cobias on the wrecks. Fishing out front stunk, except white & spotted trout. Huge patches of cruddy water. I went deep in the backcountry 2 of the days; 30+ snook each day on lures and not a sign of human life......epic!  Didn't see a red all weekend out front though; only two small ones in the back along with a bass. 

wow and I was thinking only to fish out front. I would think that with the water temp in the mid to upper 70's the snook would be out on the beach and outer islands??? How far back/deep did you go if you don't mind me asking? I'll be in a skinny boat so no offshore for us this trip. Definitely want to target snook and tarpon only. Did you see bait? Thanks so much for the info. I'm crazy excited to go. Hope the weather hangs on like it has been. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks again conocean and rubble for the great insight. It was a tough few days with crazy tides, wind and cool front. However, Saturday turned out to be a great way to finish up. Slams and oversize reds and snook. Also caught over 20+ small snook which were a blast on light tackle way back from Willy Willy out. 

 

 

 

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On 2/12/2018 at 1:57 PM, conocean said:

You're too kind, Dino.

I've learned a lot the hard way in the ENP & I've had many good teachers along the way. Definitely cannot take much credit for doing anything great other than listening & remembering. 

Running aground. Getting stuck while poling on an outgoing tide. Being forced to spend the night on my boat. Those are the things I will never forget! And there's more to come, I'm sure. 

The legendary Captain that I work for has told me this many times......."if you haven't hit something, gotten lost or run aground then you haven't gone very far." I've done all 3!!! xD 

Oh and yes we ran aground twice on that crazy low tide heading into rivers from out side. Lucky we were able to get out and push off back into some deeper water. 

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You guys killed it given the weather! We fished this past weekend out of everglades city (rod and gun) and the fishing was slowwwww. Saw one red fish in 3 days and there was a tournament going on with a bunch of boats, of which only one boat brought up 3 reds (they ran down to flamingo and go their *** handed to them on the way back) and one over slot snook. I also haven't fished there since the hurricane and it has changed a good bit from what i saw.

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14 hours ago, Johnny Tsunami said:

You guys killed it given the weather! We fished this past weekend out of everglades city (rod and gun) and the fishing was slowwwww. Saw one red fish in 3 days and there was a tournament going on with a bunch of boats, of which only one boat brought up 3 reds (they ran down to flamingo and go their *** handed to them on the way back) and one over slot snook. I also haven't fished there since the hurricane and it has changed a good bit from what i saw.

It wasn't great the first two days that's for sure. The Tarpon sucked us in free jumping around Pavillion Key. We spent too much time on those guys. We went way south on day 2 & 3 and took the wilderness trail back each day due to the nasty wind. We stayed at Choko so it wasn't  too far. It's been such a warm February that fish were both way way back and at the mouths. We caught slot fish all the way back in Rogers bay area and slot & over slot reds and snook at the mouth of the Huston & Chatham rivers. You had to fish and move though due to the tide. We learned a lot and received great insight from guys on here that's for sure. I want to fish the summer down there as I usually only fish the winter. 

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