Key West Fishing Reports
Updated fishing reports from the Lower Florida Keys & Key West
Archive for Florida Keys Fishing
April 2, 2006 at 9:25 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
KEY WEST – Fishing in the Lower Keys this week has been a challenge compared to last week. Our mild weather pattern dramatically changed over the weekend dropping the temperature by ten degrees and leaving us with some tough fishing.
“It’s been pretty quiet,” explained Captain Rich Houde on the Southbound out of Charter Boat Row. Houde has been varying his fishing locations from just off the reef to a few hundred feet of water and even though the fishing has been a bit tough, he’s had not a lot of fish but some nice fish. His anglers have been privileged to have a captain with nearly 22 years experience fishing in the Keys. Houde reported having some luck with larger mahi-mahi earlier this week landing a few in the 20- to 30- pound class. “This time of year the dolphin aren’t out real far.” Houde said. Next month and into May we’ll start seeing the larger dolphin move through in loose pods.
Houde described how this time of year really brings the sailfish within reach. According to the N.O.A.A. website, which Houde was looking at when I talked to him, the gulfstream is just a mere 7 miles off Key West. That’s surprising since we’ve just had some harsh north winds for a few days. There has been an east current but according to Houde it’s not enough to bring the large number of sails in close to the area. If the current picks up it could change the conditions enough to turn the bite on.
Houde has been doing what he can to get the sailfish to bite. Slow trolling with live threadfin herring or ballyhoo on the outriggers is generally the method used on both light tackle and large sport fishing boats.
Captain Damon Santelli on Outcast Charters also out of Charter Boat Row in Key West, has had some luck with sailfish this week. I caught up with him briefly this week and he was very happy to have released a sailfish that morning on his charter. Santelli had seen a couple more but it was tough to get the bite. Santelli had been fishing the color change just outside the bar off Key West. He explained that small blue runners had been working well for him.
Besides the hope of a better sailfish bite just around the corner as we head in to April, there has been some good action on patch reefs and wrecks on the Atlantic side of the lower Keys. Tuna and bonito have been showing up at the end of the bar and further to the south on the Sub, which is in around 240 ft. This wreck is not much structure on the bottom but tends to hold a plethora of fish in the winter months. It’s a hit or miss situation for tuna out there this time of year though. One day they are there, the next day they are not. Other species that share space on the deeper wrecks in the lower Keys are wahoo, kingfish, amberjack and mutton snapper.
Captain Tony Murphy on the Key Limey out of Murray Marina got a taste of the good wahoo bite a few days ago. Murphy boated a fat 38- pound wahoo and also brought in several blackfin tuna. Captain Chris Lembo on Incognito also had some luck with the speedy wahoo. Lembo was fishing further offshore near the wall in about 650 feet of water. He was trolling with a couple flat lines on the outriggers and one artificial down deep. Lembo’s catch included a nice 20- pound wahoo, a 38- pound dolphin, and some smaller schoolie dolphin.
Since the wind has picked up, Lembo says he’s been fishing just outside the reef in calmer waters. “The temperature goes from 70 degrees just inside the reef to 75 degrees on the reef,” Lembo explained. Fishing just off the reef in a north wind lends its advantages. The reef and the shallow water surrounding it offer protection and don’t allow the sea to build up as much. There is plenty of hard bottom just outside the reef edge in 40-60 feet of water and small structure that holds grouper, mutton snapper and yellowtail.
The flats have been the hardest hit by this last cold front. The fishing has been super tough with the temperature drop but this week the forecast looks good for warmer weather.
Permit fishing has remained good and several guides reported some fabulous days of permit fishing in the lower Keys. Enjoy fishing for these permit now because they’ll be heading offshore to many of the wrecks and patch reefs to spawn next month. There have already been reports of some schools off Western Dry Rocks.
March 20, 2006 at 11:33 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Nothing to complain about here in the Florida Keys this week. March weather has been cooperating nicely and the fishing has been exceptional. For those of you awaiting your turn for a cast at a tarpon, bonefish or permit, they are here and they’ll be around for a while now.
This past week has been a quest of hookups and breakoffs for my angler. He’s a good angler and has seen and hooked more fish this week. Redfish on the flats of the Lower Keys - you’d think “no way” but we’ve managed to hook a few on fly after they were so skiddish for days prior to that. To add to the list of fish, tarpon, bonefish, jacks, barracuda and permit. That’s an active day and and active week for this guy. I’m happy to say that we finally landed him a couple of very large tarpon yesterday to round out the day.
We spent a large amount of our time avoiding the 23 boats entered in the first annual March Merkin tournament. The tournament was out of Hurricane Hole Marina and was hosted by Jon Ain and Dave Horn. The tournament was created because of the popular demand for a permit tournament in March, since the Del Brown was moved to July by popular angler vote. Historically the weather has been windy and therefore tough fly fishing for permit. Many of the anglers who normally fish the Del Brown were delighted to be able to fish this week.
Anglers competed for bragging rights and some great prizes in the March Merkin. At the end of three days of fishing, only a handful of boats actually managed to land a permit on fly. Largest Permit and First Place went to Jon Ain with guide Doug Kilpatrick. Ain caught 2 permit during the 3 day tournament, one weighing 28- pounds, the other 18- pounds. This tournament was unique in that permit were counted by inches. Each inch earned 4 points.
First place went to Jon Ain who was guided by Capt. Doug Kilpatrick. Second place went to Moe Slayton who was guided by Capt. Mike Guerin, and Third went to Tom Rowland who was fishing with Capt. Ernie Maynard.
March 6, 2006 at 7:23 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
This week in Key West has been a productive one for me. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many new anglers, some of which have never experienced the flats before. Since each trip is custom tailored to the client, we’ve had a lot of fun doing all types of fishing.
Fishing in the backcountry has been pretty productive for all types of fish. In fact, this past Friday I caught more sea trout, ladyfish and look downs than I’d ever even seen since I’ve been fishing here. It was a lot of fun for my anglers and for me too. We had some great luck just blind casting into mullet muds. There were a few large ones in the backcountry. The sea trout were on the larger size, ranging from 1- to 3- pounds. It provided lots of action to say the least.
Next day we got a little more serious with more traditional flats fishing. March is historically great for permit and there have been some large ones around lately. We ended up casting to quite a few permit with a live crab, and we landed one 17- pound fish on light tackle. Permit are probably my favorite fish. They fight hard and they are pretty sneaky on the flats. Always aware of any preditors in the shallows.
Tarpon have been rolling in the channels and deeper flats. I’ve mainly had permit anglers the past couple of days and I’m just holding out for some better tarpon fishing to come. The weather has been so cooperative that it is to be expected the tarpon will bite better than they have been. Today the winds are light and variable and the temperature should break 75. Tarpon really get active after the water temps break 71 but any degree above that makes them even more active.
The annual tarpon migration is usually in April, May and June. For those of you who are reading this, don’t rule out July or early August if you are a serious fly rodder. July is a perfect time for a grand slam and the fish are certainly here. The mid-day might get a little steamy but it’s all worth it when you return to the dock with a story to tell.
February 21, 2006 at 7:46 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Recent warming weather has left us with nothing but beautiful sunny days and clear skies. This is why I live and work in the Florida Keys and I really do love it. Following our previous cold front the waters have warmed over 10 degrees on the flats making the fishing come alive.
In the past week I have fished solid each day with many opportunities at permit fishing, some that we think even tipped the fly but the angler stripped to fast and the fish spooked. All in all, it’s still a wonderful sight to see. Permit are probably my favorite fish. I’ve got quite a few in the past 5 years fishing here and I constantly tie new crab pattern flies to try and mimic the food of the day for these elusive permit. They are spooky creatures but if you can get a cast to one and put it right in front of his nose, most days he will eat the fly or live crab and your on!
Barracuda were a great catch this week on fly. There were so many of them out sunning themselves on the shallow flats. We landed quite a few barracuda each day of my last 3-day charter.
The buzz around town is certainly how many and where the tarpon are at. I’ve heard reports of a couple sightings out west of Key West, and a few caught at night while night tarpon fishing. I think they are going to push in today or tomorrow and hopefully our next cool front will not scare them away.
February 16, 2006 at 8:09 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Our waters have experienced a pretty cool temperature drop over the past week. Fortunately for us the forecast calls for warming weather and it will most likely hold off the next cold front.
What does this mean for the fishing? It means that all the fish that ran for deeper waters to get away from the shock of changing water temperatures will finally start coming back.
Late February can be a turning point for our fishing here in the Lower Keys. The flats may even get warm enough with a few consecutive warmer days to bring the tarpon in. This is what we look forward to is a little taste of tarpon season before the migration that usually commences around April.
I managed to wrestle with a nice 140 pound tarpon a couple weeks ago. The weather had been warm and mild enough to push a few schools through the lower Keys and it made for a sensational day and a half of fishing until the cold weather moved through again.
Look for more permit on the flats now through the end of March. Permit are one of the most difficult species to catch on a fly. They can range from 5 pounds up to 40 pounds and their wide body makes them a great fighting fish on both light tackle and a flyrod.
Bonefishing in the lower Keys will remain kind of dormant until the temperatures warm up. There are a few bonefish around but they may be skiddish and in very shallow water trying to stay warm.
February 9, 2006 at 10:54 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Watching the temperature drop in Key West is nothing we ever really want to see. I moved here for the year round fishing ability and lately the temperatures are dipping so low that I am getting flash backs to winter in New England. The good news is that skies are clear and it’s perfect visability for flats fishing.
The past couple days we’ve gone through a dramatic change in our fishing and weather. Last Friday I was fighting the largest tarpon I’ve ever hooked and it was the first one of the season! It presented a great fight and barely jumped from the water because he was so large. I hooked him in pretty shallow water and notoriously the area we were fishing was very difficult to get close to tarpon because they get so skiddish in shallow water.
Saturday afternoon we got slammed with an impressive line of storms and then the cool weather settled in. The first couple days were calm and beautiful and yesterday the wind picked up quite a bit. Despite everything the barracuda fishing has been excellent. Folks that don’t know this toothy creature intimately… they are a great gamefish and on the flats they put on almost as good a show as tarpon do when they jump. Barracuda are ravenous and during the winter months they are just itching to eat just about anything you put in front of them. My anglers the past 3 days have had some great luck with barracuda on fly. It’s one of the largest fish on the flats this time of year and they were on every flat we poled. In the mix this time of year are plenty of jacks, sharks and even cobia. Cobia come onto the flats in January and February.
February and March also mark some great days for permit fishing. If you are a permit fool like I am, I’ve got a few days open in February and early March. The winds can be a little tough so if you need to practice your double haul, do so. March is one of the best times for permit because they are ’stocking up’ by eating a lot before their yearly spawn on the deeper wrecks and reefs around the Lower Keys.
February 4, 2006 at 7:29 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
We spent last weekend at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ. Not doing a trade show ever in my life left me kind of wondering what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to see many familiar faces from our small close-knit fly fishing community. The last show I attended was in 2003 so we were due to show our faces and tell some great fish stories. I met a lot of very nice people from the tri-state area and some of the best guides on Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. If you happen to be an avid fly fishing enthusiast, I suggest a visit to this show someplace in the country. You can learn more about the industry, places to go fly fishing and try out some of the newest in fly rod and reel technology.
I came back to Key West late on a Monday night and the next two days would be very challenging. I was priveledged to be part of a television production this week that will air in April as far as I’ve been told. It was a different kind of television show that put the “best of the best” fishing celebrities from Florida up against each other. One of them fished with me on the flats for two days. Day one we missed a couple nice fish, but that is to be expected. The second day we had a banner day and even landed a bonefish which put us in the money spot for advancing to the next day. Besides a bonefish we also had some very large sharks to the boat, great barracuda, jacks and some shots at permit. It was a new experience for me, TV land is much different than real life. We fished hard and if you tune in to the Outdoor Live Network sometime in April you can view the “Ultimate Playground” and maybe see some footage of me fishing.
Yesterday was a landmark day for me. My first tarpon of the season and he was a whopper! 140lbs. and fighting hard. I think I know why they have the term “Tarpon Belly,” because my entire stomach is red from the butt of the rod lodged in it for the fight. For a guide who doesn’t get to fish much, this put me in a very good mood for the entire season. The tarpon are around and I just hope after this next front blows through that they will still be making the rounds on the flats. It would be great to have an early run of them.
January 13, 2006 at 7:53 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Freezing temperatures throughout the country have been driving more visitors to our area since the turn of 2006. We are thankful that our hurricane debris is gone and things are pretty much getting back to abnormal, as Key West goes.
I’ve had the opportunity to do a great variety of fishing in the past couple of weeks. Tuna and false albacore fishing has slowed down to almost a hault. This year was different than recent years because the large bait balls that had formed just off the reef were keeping the tunas active and moving around. Normally they hold over deeper wrecks and the end of the bar to the west of Sand Key.
Our mild wind and weather has brought the blue water in close, to around 200 feet. This has given the sailfish a ‘highway’ to cruise looking for something to eat. I had hooked one the other day on a pinfish but after a few aerobatic jumps, he was off. Unfortunately for me, when the real sailfish run is on during the month of April I am already pounding the flats in search of migrating tarpon. Although I wouldn’t give up guiding for tarpon too easily, I’d love to get out there and get a sailfish on a flyrod one of these days. I can certainly suggest a couple great offshore guides who can get you out there for a shot at a sailfish.
We’ve had some great days fishing for cero mackerel, jacks and yellowtail this past weekend. A little bit of chum and live bait to get them up to the surface and we had every opportunity to hook these fish on a fly. It was non stop action all day. I have a few friends visiting who really got a kick out of it. It was one of my most memorable days on the water, and one of the most productive offshore fly fishing trips.
The weather has been very calm, a little cool (in the 70s)and perfect weather for barracuda and permit fishing. I’ve had a few great days west of Key West to the Marquesas and we’ve landed several large barracuda on fly and had a few great shots at permit yesterday with one hook up.
December 28, 2005 at 8:02 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Probably my favorite time of the year to be offshore fly fishing is December and January here in the Keys. We’ve had some great weather this Christmas week. It’s been a bit brisk outside (68 degrees) but the fish are biting and the winds are calm.
I got wind of some good news from a few local captains that the tuna were biting real good and I headed offshore yesterday with a good friend of mine, Captain Edward Michaels. It didn’t take long to find live pilchards and we headed offshore to join the rest of the fleet already chasing a large ball of bait. This sight was difficult to miss with a flock of birds overhead and the sea exploding just below them. We hit it on a day where it was a mix of tunas and false albacore. We both had many strikes and a lot of great hook ups on a fly rod.
One of the false albacore that Captain Edward landed tipped the scale at 17lbs. It was a great fighting fish to say the least. We ended the day with two nice blackfin tuna, one weighing in at 24 pounds!
I hope this trend of fishing continues offshore for at least a few more days until the next front blows through. It’s been fabulous weather and great fishing.
December 18, 2005 at 7:25 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
The holidays are in full swing here in the Keys. The recovery from Hurricane Wilma has been phenominal. Many businesses scurried after the storm to clean up and get back to business for the busy season to come.
We’ve had some cooler temperatures here lately. And for all you folks shivering in the north someplace, cooler to us means below 80 degrees. The temperatures have touched low 70s in the evening and kept the days mild with mostly clear skies. I don’t mean to rub it in but the weather has been perfect for whatever activity.
Fishing started out slow a couple weeks into December but since then it’s really heated up. A tough decision for me is whether to go offshore and try for tuna on a fly or fish the flats for the toothy barracuda and the elusive permit.
For fly rodders this area of the Keys gives so many opportunities to fish for so many different species. I feel fortunate to have these fishing grounds as my home.
For those looking to get away in the coming months here’s an outlook for what to expect:
January: Tuna, bonito (false albacore), wahoo, sailfish, amberjack and cobia are the best targets for someone wishing to hook something offshore on a fly. Other bottom dwelling fish include snapper and grouper and are best taken on light tackle spin gear. The flats offer great chances for barracuda, sharks, jack crevalle and permit. There have been some snook around to but the lower Keys don’t hold them in large numbers like the Everglades and Upper Keys do.
February: Kingfish, tuna, bonito, sailfish cobia offshore. Inshore and flats will be hot for barracuda, sharks, jacks, cobia, permit and possibly some tarpon. Fishing deeper flats and the edges of channels for Tarpon is a favorite of mine this time of year. The weather has to be right for the Tarpon to show up but when they do it’s a welcome addition to the flats fishing menu.
March: Excellent permit fishing on the flats. This month is historically when permit feed the heaviest in preparation for their hiatus offshore to spawn in April and May. The Del Brown Invitational Tournament used to be held in March but it moved to July and a new tournament will have its debut this March in the Lower Keys: The March Merkin. Offshore fishing will continue to produce kingfish, cobia, sailfish, mahi mahi for fly rod interests. Some Tarpon may move into the harbor as well but this type of fishing is more likely to be a light tackle spin fishing experience.
Happy Holidays to All and best wishes for a prosperous New Year!
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