KEY WEST -  Fishing in the Lower Keys had some ups and downs this week. Great conditions both inshore and offshore during the first part of the week let to some great catches while the weekend weather left many folks preparing to watch the Super Bowl instead.
            February and March are two of the best months to fish for permit on the flats of the Lower Keys.  They are more sizable fish too, some weighing in excess of 30- pounds. These beautiful silver fish spend a fair amount of time hunting the shallows for crustaceans. They seem to have the desire feed more aggressively during these two months because in April and May the permit take a hiatus and head for the offshore waters to spawn.
            Captain Sean O’Keefe and angler Rob Gerzsenyi of Belmar, NJ landed a large permit this week estimated to weigh close to 40- pounds.
            “I’ve been fishing for them for 25- years and have only landed two bigger than that,” O’Keefe said.
            Gerzsenyi seemed to realize how fortunate he was to have bragging rights to such a large fish caught in shallow water. It was his first permit.
            O’Keefe mentioned that they were fishing on a backcountry flat just east of Key West. The fish was hooked on a live crab and made a few strong runs, enough for O’Keefe to fire up the motor and chase the fish down.
            “The fish did the right things, he made one good run and just stopped for us,” O’Keefe said.
            O’Keefe had a feeling this fish was big and when Gerzsenyi got it up close to the boat he realized that it was a very monumental fish. O’Keefe commented that it took both hands and plenty of strength to land this fish and get a photo of him.
            Captain Sean O’Keefe has been fishing out of Murray Marina in Key West for 19- years. You can reach him at 305-304-7935.
            The Gulf of Mexico has been kind to us this week yielding some great fishing for grouper, mutton snapper and cobia.
            Captain Jack Davis out of Sugarloaf Marina had a great catch of cobia. Davis was fishing with angler Larry White from Sugarloaf Key.
Davis and White were fishing just outside the Sugarloaf backcountry islands where they landed several cobia the largest weighing 46- pounds. Davis said they released several other cobia.
Captain Alex Canalejo has had similar luck finding cobia in the Gulf.
“They are pretty much everywhere we stop,” Canalejo said.  Canalejo uses live bait to entice a cobia to bite but also says a jig with an 8- inch curl tail grub sometimes works better than bait to get a cobia to bite. The jig head should be light enough so it does not sink too fast but needs a larger stronger hook to prevent straightening. Canalejo suggests using a 6/0 double-strength hook.
Captain Alex Canalejo runs Showtime, a 31- foot Yellowfin out of Murray Marina in Key West. You can reach him at 305-797-5146.
Besides spending time in the Gulf fishing for king mackerel, snapper, grouper and cobia, many guides had the opportunity earlier this week to get out in the Atlantic waters for some blue water action.
Several sailfish releases, more wahoo on the calmer days and smaller mahi mahi were the highlight of action in the blue water. Yellowtail snapper, larger grouper, king mackerel and mutton snapper were the highlight in the waters near the reef and End of the Bar.
Several guides admit that bait has been easy to find but the fluctuation in our wind and water temperatures has spread that bait out and therefore it may take more than just a few throws of the cast net to fill the bait well.
Captain Steve Rodger on Spear One found some of the black fin tuna that have been basically missing from our offshore catch this season. Black fin tuna need a more constant temperature and the winter weather has been so warm with a few waves of shocking cold that it has sent these fish elsewhere.
The general consensus is if there were some consistency in the water temperature for any given amount of time there would be a lot more fish around.