Biscayne Bay Winter-time Bonefishing
Winter-time bonefishing at times can be very tough. Strong cold fronts along with cool to very cold water temps send bonefish off to deep water, by deep I mean out to 6 maybe 10 feet at times. What do you do then you ask? Well I’m going to give you a few tips on how to catch a few more bonefish on those nasty winter days.
Read the full Biscayne Bay Bonefishing Tip
THE TARPON SEASON NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT
By Capt. Joe Rodriquez
Do you think tarpon season begins in March and that by June it’s time to put away the 12 weights and break out the smaller sticks? Well, I’m here to tell you June is only the beginning. As long as the weather is warm and the conditions are right in South Florida you can successfully “sight fish” for tarpon – and not the babies, but the big ones. Here are a few pointers that will help you target and catch these fish.
The purist’s way of catching a tarpon is on a fly and in clear water on the ocean side. In July, schools of tarpon migrate north from the Florida Keys to Miami. These tarpon are a lot easier to catch than the big southbound schools we fish for in April, May and June. Don’t get me wrong. South-bounders can be caught. North-bounders, however, are usually a lot easier to catch because they have already spawned, are more strung-out, and are on their way up the coast to their winter homes. There are no secret spots to find them. The same places we fish in April, May and June are the same ones you will find fish in July and August.
(Click to View Full Article on WorldWideAnglerMag.com)
Reel Beeg Feesh
If the snakes or caimans or microbes don't get you, the jungle adventure of a lifetime will
By Sam Eifling
Published: December 8, 2005
Joe Rodriguez was racing upriver in an aluminum skiff when he began to grasp the folly of hunting wild pig by moonlight in the Brazilian Amazon rain forest packing the fishing camp's only .12-gauge shotgun shell. Joe is a fishing guide by trade, accustomed to handling sharks and rays in the brackish flats between the Florida Keys and the Everglades with amateurs at his side. But in matters of big game, he defers to a man named Rob Fordyce. Nearly 6 feet tall and 240 pounds, with what Melville would have described as a heathenish brow, Rob sat beside Joe on that night last month on the Unini River examining the shotgun. When hunting pigs in the Everglades, Rob would normally tote a box of shells. As Rob thought through the likely scenario of coming on a troop of pigs, blasting the one in the rear and then fending off a frenzy without the luxury of extra bullets, his apprehension passed almost airborne to Joe and the others in the boat.
"One shot?" said Marty Dashiell, a television producer taping the hunt. "I have five shells in my nightstand."
"I guess we should be glad to have the one," Rob replied. Then he noticed that what he assumed was a Remington shotgun was actually made in Brazil. "Great," he said. "I'm in the jungle with one shell and a pretend shotgun."
Click for full article on New Times - Broward Palm Beach |
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Have I Got a Bone To Pick...
By Capt. Joe Rodriquez
Cooler weather means better bonefishing
Summer is over and the days of 90 degree or higher temperatures are dwindling. Remember the days you spent wondering where all the tailing bonefish go after eight in the morning? Bonefish are not very tolerant of hot water. If the wind is up, bonefish will often mud in water from three to six feet deep. But, not so in the “fall,” which marks the beginning of the best bonefishing period from Cape Florida to Islamorada to the lower Keys.
Water temperature is a major factor when bonefishing. By September, air temperatures should be in the 80’s instead of the 90’s as they were in May, June and July. Also the sun is out a lot longer in those months, which means the sun is baking the flats for longer periods of time. There are days during those hot, humid, calm days that only provide a couple of chances for hooking a bonefish the entire day. This is not the case during the fall.
(Click to View Full Article on WorldWideAnglerMag.com)
ESPN Record Hunters - Peacock Bass
Two anglers. Two weeks. Hundreds of huge peacock bass.
The Unini River in Brazil is a tributary to the greatest river in the world — the Amazon. It's unique and sometimes dangerous waters also spawn some of the biggest peacock bass on record. Rob Fordyce and Joe Rodriguez set out to search the black water for a world record and in the process they learned life lessons about their abilities, their friendship and themselves.
Every day the two old friends placed a wager with the payoff ranging from catching an alligator by hand, to swimming the river with the piranha to serving the winner as houseboy. While they never lost their sense of humor, they sometimes lost their pride.
The two anglers caught over 40 fish heavier than 15 pounds. But they also made a new friend. Their companion for the week was a modern day Tarzan; a man raised in the jungle who could call the jaguar, track the wild pigs, and cook the native fish over an open fire streamside. You'll fall in love with Gonzega, just as we did. He will remind you of another era in our own country, when men survived by instinct and skill.
Click for full coverage on ESPN, including video, photo galleries and a serialized account by Sam Eifling |
