by John Kumiski
"There are two tarpon." Bob Branham reported from atop the poling tower. "Three. Maxx, get the other rod out. Hurry!"
While I got myself out of the way, my son Maxx did as he was told, and quickly dropped the epoxy fly in front of the fish. Three strips and the young man found himself hooked up to fifteen pounds of furious silver that repeatedly cartwheeled through the air.
Biscayne National Park, sitting right next to metropolitan Miami, boasts slightly less than 173,000 acres. The vast majority of that acreage, fully 95 percent, lies under Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. In order to see the park, in order to search for the piscatorial riches that it holds, one needs to have a boat.
There are truly piscatorial riches, too. Tarpon are one jewel, from little babies like the one Maxx caught to jumbo oceanside fish that run north outside of Elliot Key at the start of every summer. Permit love the shallow banks that extend north and south the length of the park, as do bonefish. Barracuda, seatrout, snapper of various kinds, snook, and many other species can all be found in the warm, clear, shallow waters of the park.
Capt. Bob Branham has been a fixture in Miami’s guiding scene for over 25 years. He is what’s commonly known as an “acknowledged expert.” He enjoys fishing the Park's waters for permit, bonefish, and tarpon, during the day when he can see what’s going on, and he has strong opinions about the way he does things. Here’s what he had to say about his favorite fish species:
“In Biscayne Bay I don’t fish for tailing bonefish very often. I like to start around 8 AM and fish until about 4 PM, so I have fairly good light all day. I fish mostly for mudding fish. We generally have deeper water than in the Keys.
“In the Keys you can usually find tailing depth water all day long if you keep moving, where Biscayne Bay fills up all at once. In the Bay you might get three hours at low tide where you can fish tailers. After that you either go in, or fish for mudding bonefish, or permit.
“My favorite tides to fish are strong incoming tides in the morning, which are around the full moon and new moon. I like the tide to be high between 10 and 11 AM, and then have falling water the rest of the afternoon. That way you have the sun at your back in the morning and in the afternoon. Those are also the best tides for permit. They seem to school up better when the current runs stronger, and they definitely take better when they’re facing you, bringing the fly against the current. I think the neap tides are better for bonefish anyway.
“I like quite a bit of wind (10 to 15 mph) and a lot of current, and good strong sun. If you’re on a big flat with only a little current that’s usually not a very good permit spot. They might be there but they’re hard to get. The best spots have hard bottom and a lot of current. The epoxy flies I use come up near the surface in the current, especially when they’re stripped. Even though the hook point is down they never hang the bottom. I don’t even put weedguards on.
“You have to get some shots. Permit fishing is an acquired skill, especially if you use Merkins. They’re hard to fish, because when you throw a Merkin out there you can’t move it, you want it just to sit there, especially if it’s in the zone.
“We have pretty good tarpon fishing. Tarpon used to be my fish of choice, but I’m getting away from them. It’s hard for most of my anglers to catch tarpon. They don’t bite as readily as they used to. We sometimes find small ones and they still bite good, but the big fish that migrate in the spring are really hard.
“When we see them we throw to them. It’s hard to ignore 50 big fish swimming by. But it gets frustrating. You’ll get 40 or 50 shots and not get a bite. You have to really be good. You have to know when to strip it, when to leave it, when to wiggle it, and most of all where to throw it. It’s hard for me, the guide, to explain quickly exactly where the fly needs to land. I can’t will the fly to land in just the right spot. If you miss by just a foot they won’t take. It’s kind of sad really because they’re such great fish.
“For bonefish my favorite fly is an epoxy fly I call the Razberry, after Raz Reed. It looks like a wiggle jig with a fox squirrel tail. I make them in different weights, real light for tailing fish and heavier for mudders. I like to strip it as well, make it hop a lot.
“I find the mudders in 18 inches to three feet of water, although in the summer they’ll be even deeper. The mudding fish are a lot friendlier than tailing fish. They’re harder to spook and they’re easier to get bites from.
“When it’s calm and the fish have their backs out of the water they’re almost impossible. They’re spookier than permit. The deep water fish are never like that.
“Bonefish really like to eat flies. You can make a permit eat a fly, but bonefish like to eat flies. If you’ve got the right color and sink rate they’ll eat a wide variety of stuff. They’re pretty fly friendly.
“I like to start with brown. If they don’t like that and the bottom is real light then I’ll go to white or a very light tan. If it’s real cold and they don’t like the brown I’ll go to a pink as my second choice. If it’s cloudy and brown doesn’t work I’ll go to yellow or chartreuse. That’s my rule of thumb. I try to keep it as simple as possible.”
One November Capt. Jim Weber showed me a huge school of bonefish along the western side of the park, at least 200 fish in a large black mass. I'd like to report that we caught fish after fish. What actually happened is that we hooked one, and while we were playing it the rest of them headed out at high speed to parts unknown. That one fish we caught was fat and healthy though, weighing in at over nine pounds.
On my most recent trip with Jim Weber we found a flat covered up with big barracuda. As Jim rigged a rod with a chartreuse plastic worm he said, "I think 'cudas are the most under-rated fish we have. They get big, they're aggressive, they're unbelieveably fast, they make incredible jumps. You couldn't ask for a better light tackle fish." I took the rigged rod from him a proceeded to catch one of about 12 pounds. He was absolutely right. It was as exciting a fight as you could ask for.
Capt. Alan Sherman (786.436.2064) lives in Miami Shores and fishes Biscayne Bay extensively. He's one of the few guides there who concentrates on seatrout. He says, "Finding trout in Biscayne Bay is pretty easy. They like to hang out around seagrass beds. The bottom of Biscayne Bay is covered with seagrass from Baker's Haulover Cut all the way down into the Keys.
"I usually fish between the Haulover Cut and Government Cut. There are lots of flats in this area. I prefer water between three and six feet deep. The fish will go out into water as deep as ten feet if the water is clear, but usually in the summer it gets discolored.
"I look for bait- glass minnows, pilchards, sardines, or finger mullet. On big flats individual large fish will lurk around potholes in the grass, but the schools of fish I prefer to target generally stay near the edge of the flat. I find that on these large flats, lower tide stages are better because it forces the fish to the edge of the flat where they are much easier to locate.
"The smaller flats are better on higher tides. Because the flat is small it's a lot easier to locate fish, especially schools of fish, on top of them then.
"As far as tackle, my favorite way to fish trout is to use a Cajun Thunder float with three feet of 30 pound monofilament underneath it. Some fishermen use a DOA Shrimp under the float, but I prefer natural baits such as shrimp or pilchards. It works incredibly well on everything.
"I usually use a 1/0 or 2/0 (depending on the size of the bait) long shank hook when I fish this way. The 30 pound leader is heavy for trout, but it doesn't seem to bother them, and we also get snook, tarpon, Spanish mackerel, and bluefish taking our baits. The heavier leader lets us land most of these fish, and the long shank hook reduces the number of cutoffs from the mackerel and the blues. That long shank hook is much easier to get out of the fish than shorter shank models, too.
"When I'm using lures I like Hank Brown's Hookup Jigs with a soft plastic Bass Assassin tail, especially the shad or shrimp tails. We blind cast these and bounce them along the bottom through the grass. Trout are ambush hunters. They usually lie in the grass waiting for something to swim overhead so they can nail it. We find when we fish this way that most strikes occur when the jig is falling back towards the bottom.
"I use surface plugs sometimes, too. The 5M MirroLure is good, and so is the Yozuri Banana Boat, but my favorite one is a red and white Rapala Skitter Pop."
There's more, much more, to fishing in Biscayne National Park. Follow the advice above and do some exploring in its watery wonderland and you won't be disappointed.
Accommodations and Eating
Since you are literally at metropolitan Miami your choices for food and accommodations are practically unlimited. For those who prefer a more natural approach, the park service provides campsites on Elliott Key and on Boca Chita Key. You can call the park at 305-230-7275, or visit the website (which contains all the information you might need) at http://www.nps.gov/bisc/.
You can also contact the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau for information about food and accommodations. Their phone number is 800-933-8448, and the web URL is http://www.gmcvb.com.
On our most recent visit there Maxx and I stayed at the Miami River Inn, which is a lovely facility that I recommend highly. An historic building located in Little Havana, it's like visiting another country, with all the amenities of home! Their phone number is (305) 325-0045 and the web URL is http://www.miamiriverinn.com.
Guides for the Angler
About 165,000 acres of water lie within the boundaries of Biscayne National Park. This could intimidate some anglers, especially if they're hoping for immediate gratification in the way of bent rods and singing reels. There are many excellent guides working here. The ones I've had personal contact with are:
Capt. Bob Branham, 954.370.1999; phishpeople199@aol.com.
Capt. James Weber, 800.982.3110; www.captainjimweber.com.
Capt. Alan Sherman, 786.436.2064.
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This article was written by John Kumiski of John Kumiski Outdoors and Travel. Contact him at his website www.johnkumiski.com or via email at john@spottedtail.com. Copyright 2007 John Kumiski.
John Kumiski 's most recent fishing guidebooks are How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System (Argonaut Publishing Company), and Fishing Florida's Space Coast (Argonaut Publishing Company).
John Kumiski's newest book is Redfish on the Fly- A Comprehensive Guide.
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