Last month I took a busman’s holiday – a holiday or vacation during which one does something similar to what one does at work. I went fishing in the Florida Keys, and, as usual, I fished with Captains Rick Rodriquez and John Gargan in Islamorada, FL. “The Sport Fishing Capital of the World” lived up to its reputation by yielding a mixed bag of tarpon, snook, barracuda, snapper and even a juvenile goliath grouper.

On day one we glided across Florida Bay in Capt. John’s flats boat at daylight. The crossing to Cape Sable, thirty-plus miles, to the southernmost point in the Everglades National Park, was awesome. The water is so shallow in places that the boat must run on plane to keep the propeller from stirring up the turtle grass covering the bottom. Along the way are countless mangrove islands, each, of which, provides habitat for a host of rare birds, including osprey, eagles, brown pelicans, flamingos and roseate spoon bills. Once there, we pitched live pin fish and shrimp under the mangroves in hopes of hooking tarpon and snook. We landed and released a half dozen snook and jumped off a one hundred pound tarpon, which is not unusual when fishing in the Everglades National Park. At the end of the day, we hooked, landed and released a forty pound tarpon that leaped completely out of the water five or six times.

The second day, Capt. Rick and I trailered his Hewes flats boat north on Highway 1 to the Aerojet Canal, the southernmost freshwater canal in Florida. Our goal was to catch peacock and largemouth bass, which we did with a variety of jerk baits. The long, slender artificial lures move erratically under water when twitched and jerked. The butterfly peacock bass were small; none over three pounds, but they fought five times harder than Lake Norman’s spotted bass. We also landed several largemouth bass on Rapala lures.

The last day we opted to fish the Everglades National Park again, this time with artificial lures. The first mangrove island we fished was loaded with barracudas. These toothy, hard fighting predators will test your skill and the quality of your tackle. Like snook and tarpon, barracudas are noted for long runs and high leaps out of the water. The dozens we caught didn’t disappoint us.

Moving from island to island, we hooked snook, grouper and snapper by using curly tailed jigs and gold weedless spoons. Our last stop was to fill up with gas at the Everglades National Park Visitors Center in Flamingo, Fl. As we motored into the boat basin, we were teased by dozens of tarpon rolling on the surface. But before I could make a cast, Capt. Rick pointed to a sign on shore that read, “No Fishing in Marina during Daylight Hours.” Some might say that’s a bummer, but the memory of seeing so many tarpon will stay with me until I return next year.



Photo: Capt. Gus holds an Everglades’ snook taken on a weedless spoon. A mangrove island is pictured in the background.

Upcoming Events:
The public is invited to the 6^th Annual Lake Norman Wildlife Oyster and Shrimp Festival at 5 p.m. on Oct. 10^th at Langtree of Lake Norman, Exit 31, Mooresville, NC. Tickets are available at www.eventbrite.com. For more information, visit the organization's new website at www.LNWC.org.

Join Jake Bussolini at Gander Mountain, Exit 36, Mooresville, NC at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14^th for a free fishing seminar on “Fishing Myths and Other Considerations That Effect Catch Rates”. Jake will also examine the best methods to catch cool weather hybrids, stripers and spotted bass. For more information, call 704- 658-0822.

1^st Annual Lake Norman Open Fishing Tournament, scheduled for Oct. 17, 2015 @ Beatties Ford Access in Denver, NC. This will be Lake Norman’s only multi-division, multi-species tournament – bass, stripers & kayaks! Call 704 996 0946 for information.

Tips from Capt. Gus: Always bring plenty of bug repellent, since the profusion of mosquitoes and other biting insects can make outdoor pursuits uncomfortable.

Hot Spot of the Week: Water temperatures in the seventies have activated Lake Norman’s game fish. Bass are hitting throughout the day and into the night. Best lures to use are top water poppers, jerk baits and soft plastics. Schools of hybrid striped bass are surface feeding upriver, mainly at dawn and dusk. White perch are hitting minnows and Sabiki’s just off the bottom throughout the day.

Lake Norman’s water level is about 5.0 feet below full pond and 4.0 feet below full on Mountain Island Lake. The surface water temperature is in the mid-seventies in waters not affected by power generation.

Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an Outdoor Columnist and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his website www.Fishingwithgus.com or call 704-617-6812