# 51031: Subject: Gulf of Mexico, Florida

Submitted by Capt. Larry Cohen - Key West Flats Fishing (ip 68.153.102.238)

• Fished on 1/6/2004

• Report received: 1/9/04

Water Temperature: 72
Water Clarity: clear
Seas: little choppy
Weather: .
Fishing_for: anything that comes across
Boat: Key West Flats Fishing
captain: Larry Cohen

Report:
Hit or miss!

Well, we are getting a lot of short notice inquiries with the questions: 1. how is the weather and 2. how is the fishing right now. Well, Larry just did not know what to write anymore. So I took over and here are my five minutes of fame:

There is no real pattern with the weather and fishing right now. Every day is different from the day before. Larry had some days with only little visibility due to the clouds and the choppy waters. Needless to say that the results weren't good with only 1or 2 cudas landed. On the other hand Larry and I went out for a boat ride. I haven't been on the flats since my return from Tennessee before Christmas and wanted to charge my batteries and get some sun. (Fortunately we took some rods with us).

We didn't see much, one permit and one big cobia that came fast towards the skiff.....and got away even faster. But little later, when I saw another cobia about 60ft away from us, I grabbed the rod, made "the picture perfect cast" right behind him, started reeling, he followed and BANG! got him hooked. Yee-haw!! Larry did not even have the time to tell me what to do. I already had him hooked and it took me about 15 minutes to get him to the boat and we now have a few bags in the freezer. Good eatin'! I was holding my head pretty high for the rest of the day, as I don't have the chance to go out fishing with Larry that often. Either the weather is bad or he is booked. So I am a real amateur. But I know how to eat!

I placed the fillets on a baking pan lined out with aluminum foil, sprinkled the fish with some lemon juice, seasoned it with salt, fresh ground pepper, fresh diced garlic and some olive oil. I like to broil it for about 20 minutes, then I sprinkle a good layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top of it and broil it until it has a golden brown color. With a nice romaine salad with cherry tomatoes, broccoli slaw, avocado and a balsamic vinaigrette it is very tasty, healthy (and low carbs) meal we both enjoyed.

Enough girly stuff! Yesterday we got a cold front in and we are expecting the next one this weekend with cold air from the North. That spooks the fish away and we need again 2 days of sunshine to warm up the waters and for the fish to come back. We even have our customized thermometer in form of two baby tarpon which moved right next to our houseboat and Larry feeds them with shrimp every day. They leave when the water temperature drops and when I see the "twins" though my kitchen window as they swim around our boat, we know that the water temperatures warmed up and it is time to take a look at the flats. So basically we are fishing the "windows" between the cold fronts and there are not endless chances to land a fish. So, get it together because if you don't hit, you'll miss!

Isabel Cohen

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