Back and a little sunburnt but had a stellar time with my pops and appreciate all the input. Wasnt able to make it to all the recommended locations but made the best of the time we had.
The trip started a little odd with calling the rental car company to arrange a shuttle and having them tell me they didn't have the car we had reserved and would need to upgrade and upcharge us. This sounding crazy we opted to go speak in person. Sure enough, this was the case, and the only option was a highlighter yellow Camero convertible. This would have been a sweet upgrade if only they didn't upcharge us for it and the lack of any additional space for two kayaks bags and fishing gear looking like the Beverly Hillbillies but as the representative said: " you can either take this or I can take you back to the airport". Apparently, this company is a third party run rental service upon my recent calls to their company (located in Hong Kong) to try to clear up this upcharge. They still have not answered but seem to have time to send me messages asking how my experience was... I would not recommend Easirent rental cars to anyone in the future regardless of how enticing the rates may seem. BUT ON TO THE FISHING!
The first night we stayed in Homestead to prep for a trip with captain Jim Hobales out of Flamingo for tarpon in the morning. Fortunately, we were able to arrange this outing seeing that by the time I looked for booking a guide most everyone was booked up for months but was fortunate enough Jim had an opening for us.
Awesome trip with Jim looking for the big silver fish with 5mph winds and the occasional cloud for relief from the 90 degree temps started out of Button canal around 7:30 working Whitewater and Oyster body for some ladyfish for bait but had a consistent bite from reds, snook and nice seatrout ( interestingly to me the seatrout apparently commonly have worms due to the warm temps so no fish were put in the cooler for later but this was no big deal due to the constant action). Once we had made gotten a dozen or so ladies in the boat we worked out way out to Ponce de Leon and Little Shark to look for some big boys. We never located any big schools of tarpon at either location but saw a good number of singles free jumping while working the banks for snook with plugs. Got a solid knockdown on a live mullet but didn't manage to get the hook set due to the bail flipping, but upon inspection of the mullet confirmed it had been a tarpon. Upon the tide change, we worked our way up into some of the feeder creeks on the gulf and managed a red, snook, lady or trout every cast to get the spirits back up from the missed fish. We then motored up to check Lake Ingram to see if the Tarpon were schooling there. No luck for schools but again saw a good number of singles free jumping so we stationed out self along the bank and drifted mullet again with one hit and miss. With the day coming to an end we worked out was back another feeder creek to locate some larger snook, trout and some big sharks in some shallower water. We then motored home on the gulf side making the full circle in the area which was pretty cool to see all the different areas. Ended the day with probably 10 species including those above jacks, blue runners, and a variety of snappers. A solid day with Jim and highly recommend him, he works hard to find them for you. The bait of the day was gulp white swimming mullet, 4" and the 3" ( i had never used the smaller size but worked very effectively on short striking fish)
Tuesday we migrated to the Islamorada area and paddled and fished Tavernier creek out of the back Hotel and caught barracuda and snapper on plastics which exploring the mangrove near the deep channel. None were kept but many were legal and provided endless entertainment. We ended the day by paddling out to a small key on the Atlantic no biggest that 50ft that provided a sweet sunset location. We then paddled in at night and worked the dock lights covered in snapper, super cool to watch your lure hit the water and see the typically somewhat timid snapper destroy any soft plastic placed in the water.
That was the last of the light winds as some "cooler weather", 70-80's, and a little rain hung around the rest of the trip, along with 20 mph wind and gust that could put your kayak on plane.
Wednesday we had a slow start from the late night light fishing and the poor weather but left the house to find refuge from the wind up in flamingo again. We decided to put in at Cootbay pond and try to work our way to Mud Lake. Letting the morning winding push across Cootbay was a nice until about halfway across the wind speed picked up significantly pushing white water everywhere. our collapsable kayaks might also be doubled as some nifty kites. Never making it to Mudlake we held refuge on a nearby point and decided to toss some lures and wait till the wind died down. This was a great choice in that we ended up finding a nice school of snook and caught probably 30 fish off the point. This was fun but the wind wasn't letting up so we decided to push up closer to the launch against the wind to ensure we weren't paddling back in the dark. It seemed all he skies thought the same and there was a steady line of boats running back to Button Canal. We debated to paddle the Canal and hitchhike back to the car but decided to keep trucking as we now had a little more protection from the gusts. Taking a few breaks at every point we managed a few snooks at each and ended back at the launch with a nice sunset, less angry winds, and a single redfish to end the day. The bait of the day was my goto white pogyz on 1/8 oz weedless
The last day we worked our way back from Homestead working canals and ponds along the highway on the way to the airport for an afternoon flight. Not the most successful day in the fish category but it wasn't as difficult to cast in a 20mph wind from a bank as it was a kayak. We managed a few LMB and a few spotted tilapia but no Peakcock but saw plenty but never got any to take. Finished off the trip gator hunting in the yaks at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and manages a few more LMB, after snagging a pick of the Camero in front of Trumps Miralargo for kicks.