Key West Fishing Reports

Updated fishing reports from the Lower Florida Keys & Key West

Finding a good Key West fishing guide

There are plenty of fishing guides to choose from here in the Florida Keys. With the ability to put up a webpage and a dozen photos of caught fish, you may think everyone is an expert. Think again. There are plenty of reasons to do your research and hire a seasonsed fishing guide, one reason is that you know you will get the most out of your guide fee, which can be upwards off 500.00 per day for shallow water fishing, more for offshore deep sea fishing.

Independant fishing guides take pride in their profession and have an obvious passion for fishing. Ask your potential guide how he got started and how long he has been fishing in the area. Many of the guides not only fish for a living full-time but will also fish on their day off and avidly look for new water and new ways to catch fish. Speak to your guide about the trip. Be sure you will be fishing with the guide you talked to. Several outfitting businesses will sell the trip and then subcontract to another guide who may be inexperienced and brand new to the area.

Your guide should be able to tell you exactly what tackle to bring, especially if you plan to fly fish. Tying flies and rigging tippet and leaders is something you should be in tune with before you come. It not only gives you more knowledge of the sport but increases your fishing time as the guide doesn’t have to stop searching for fish to tie on a new fly.

If you plan to fly fish and consider yourself a beginner or intermediate caster, practice as much as you can perfecting your double haul and your accuracy. The flats offer conditions that make fly casting much more difficult than what you may have experienced on a stream or river. On the flats the wind is blowing, the boat is moving and the fish is moving. You may have only one shot to present the fly where it needs to be. Making sure you have brushed up on your casting just makes the entire experience more rewarding.

Your guide should be able to tell you what time of the year would be best for what type of fish you wish to fish for. Tarpon season in Key West can be most active in April, May and June. Tarpon, however, enhabit the lower Keys year-round but may move offshore into deeper water when the temperature fluctuates too much in the shallows. The same goes for bonefish and permit. Each of these sought after gamefish have a threshold for water temperature and will vacate the flats if the water drops much below 70 degrees during the winter months.

If you plan to visit Key West there are many places you can pick up fishing gear or tropical clothing for your trip. Florida Keys Outfitters in Islamorada has a complete selection of tropical clothing plus fishing gear and fly patterns for the area. Another great resource is Urban Angler out of New York City. Urban Angler can assit you in packaging fly patterns and a fly rod & reel to suit your fishing needs. If you are just planning to try fly fishing, don’t worry - any seasoned Florida Keys guide will have both fly fishing and light tackle equipment.

Here are a few shallow water guides that have been fishing the Keys for years and really know their stuff:

Captain Doug Kilpatrick - 305-745-2824 - tarpondoug@aol.com Sugarloaf Key, Key West, Marquesas

Captain Bob Paulson - 305-744-8291 Sugarloaf Key, Key West, Marquesas

Captain Justin Rea - www.tarponfishingkeywest.com - Sugarloaf Key, Key West, Marquesas

Captain Steve Freidman - 305-393-FISH - www.afishingguide.com - Islamorada, Key Largo