Looking for Goliath Grouper (Jewfish)
On the southwest tip of Florida, just north of Cape Sable, is a small saltwater mangrove creek named Turner Creek. It meanders back into the land of mangroves and mud flats for about two miles before it opens to a huge open area, too shallow to navigate. This is one of the creeks in which we fished for Goliath Grouper (jewfish) with Calcutta cane poles. This open flat is covered with wonderful bird life at low tide - spoonbills, egrets, herons, and all manner of wading birds walking the mud flat in search of food.Waiting for the Tide
Fishing for jewfish meant waiting for a high slack tide. We arrived about an hour early this day and for lack of anything else to do, we idled back in the creek to see just how far we could go. To this day I can't remember why we decided to put a line out, or which of us came up with the idea. But somehow a white bucktail jig ended up out the back of the boat as we moved up the creek.Surprise Hookup
Before we moved more than 100 yards, a tarpon jumped on the bucktail. He was small, about 10 pounds, but he thought he was a lot bigger! Two jumps later, the jig came flying back in our direction. Figuring there had to be more, we turned around and headed back the way we came. In a few minutes we had another tarpon hooked. This one stayed hooked, but as he took line and headed around the bend, we lost him in the mangrove tangle. The winding creek didn't leave a lot of room for fish fighting.Trolling the Creek
We spent the next hour or so trolling up and down the creek, catching a total of ten small tarpon and two snook, and loosing probably twice that many. We tried stopping and casting a variety of lures, but for some reason the fish preferred the trolled bucktail bait to one being retrieved from a cast. It was an amazing day! [Anyone Can Do It!
Turner Creek is still there, a part of Everglades National Park, but not fishable any longer. Boat traffic has been stopped in the creek by the National Park Service because this particular estuary creek is a nesting area for the American saltwater crocodile. But the fish must still be there! Other creeks are fishable and fish are certainly in them as well.I never caught another tarpon or snook trolling, but then again, I don't think I ever trolled for them again!!
