Key West Fishing Reports
Updated fishing reports from the Lower Florida Keys & Key West
Archive for Florida Keys Fishing
July 13, 2005 at 1:26 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Last year in mid-August we had our first close call of the season with Hurricane Charlie. Charlie passed to the west of Key West and the eye of the storm went directly over the Dry Tortugas. It was a deadly storm for the national park at Fort Jefferson and it damaged the park to the extent that it was closed for nearly a month.
Fishing before a hurricane can be very productive. This is only provided your storm shutters are up, you have your provisions ready and still have time to spare. Somehow the fish just know it’s going to be bad for the next couple of days so they eat like crazy. Prior to Charlie I had the opportunity to fish with a good friend who was eternally visiting for 20 days in August. We spent the late afternoon in the calm before the storm fishing for bonefish. The clarity of the water was pure and the sky was so blue with not a cloud to be seen for miles. If only every day could be just like that afternoon with bonefish and permit tailing and even a few passing tarpon.
Hurricane Dennis took us more by surprise and it seemed as though I got off the water after breaking down and being towed back to port and there was an endless line of cars and trailered vessels making a mass exodus of the Keys. We landed 3 out of 4 permit that afternoon while waiting for our tow in. Again, the theory in place that the fish just know, we took advantage of it and got a few monster 20lb permit to eat live crabs. I can only imagine if I had the chance to throw the fly what it would have been like.
Prior to Hurricane Dennis my wife and I spent the 4th of July holiday in Key Largo. We stayed at a wonderful place called Azul Del Mar. I suggest it for anyone looking for a secret spot in the Keys to go. Wonderful suites with living area, kitchenette with dishwasher and comfortable bed. Their website is www.azulkeylargo.com. We enjoyed fireworks from the private dock and were away from the crowds which is exactly what we both needed.
The highlight of the trip is my wife caught her first permit on fly. It was a healthy 6lb fish and was caught while fishing the oceanside of lower Biscayne Bay. It seems that in saltwater fly fishing there is no other greater single accomplishment than landing permit on fly. They are difficult and spooky but when they decide they are going to eat there is no stopping them.
Visit my website for more photos of this season at http://www.stingreacharters.com.
June 26, 2005 at 3:49 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
No matter how much I try and remind myself that the Keys fishing is always really good, it doesn’t compare to this time of the year where all the planets align and the fish are on the flats and feeding very well.
Since my last report the fishing has had it’s ups and downs but certainly more in the up area when it comes to tarpon, bonefish and permit. I’ve even had a few great days to fish myself and personally landed a tarpon and two permit on fly. For a saltwater fly fisherman like me, that’s just the best thing that can ever happen in a day of fishing. I have my friend Randey to thank for his superb guidance and skiff poling abilities. He’s not a guide here in the Keys but really has it in him to find fish and do it with a little bit of relaxation and fun.
Over the course of a few great memorable weeks I’ve managed to guide some of my regular visiting anglers to permit, tarpon and a whole slew of bonefish. The bonefishing has been spectacular the past couple of days. Some points during our day of fishing yesterday were just scrambling to rig up another fly rod after one guy was already hooked up with a bonefish. We had a couple double headers and hooked 12 bonefish in all. The best part of all was it was my father and his good buddy who were here fishing for a couple of days. To show someone fish is one thing, to show your Dad fish and have him make the perfect cast was just very memorable.
I’m looking forward to summer as my guide calendar gets a bit lighter. That only means that I can get some time off to relax and get out there and fish for myself and learn some new water too.
June 10, 2005 at 9:48 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
The Palolo worm hatch here in the Keys is a semi-predictable event. If you are out there on the water every day like I am you will know when it is getting ready to happen. It takes a full or new moon, a late outgoing tide, and some daytime tarpon action that just doesn’t make sense. The tarpon must have an alarm clock that goes off that sends them like zombies to the oceanside flats to wait for these worms. Most often they don’t want anything else to do with your bait or your fly unless it possibly resembles a worm.
Classic worm patterns used to be easily accessible at many of the local fly shops around the area. Borski’s Worm was the best pattern that was manufactured and unfortunately I have not been able to get any for a few years now. I’ve got a few different patterns with a sparse marabou tail and a greyish dubbed body and blue thread for the head of the fly. Tie a lot of them, they are quick and easy. Most worm hatches only last a short time so we have more fun jumping these fish, breaking them off and then tying on a new fly and leader.
We are coming off the new moon now by a few days and possibly tonight may be the last night of worm hatch fishing for this season. Many of the spots to find these worm hatches are on the South side of the Florida Keys. From Man Key to Fort Zachary all the way up to the 7 Mile Bridge in Marathon, it happens at one point or another. If you plan to try and fish a worm hatch check your tide and moon charts carefully and book your guide way in advance for next year.
June 3, 2005 at 9:31 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
For many years a certain group of good friends visit Key West during the first weekend in June to participate in their own private tournament, the Smitty & Al’s Tarpon Bonanza. I have had the pleasure of fishing this tournament for two years now and it’s probably the most fun you can have while fishing a tournament anywhere.
These guys come down here to get together and enjoy Key West and all it has to offer and fortunately they’ve come down during a great tarpon season.
The past two days have been overcast and yesterday it rained for the better part of the day. At some points the rain was dumping down and does not make for a very good fishing day. We gave it a good shot, heading off to a spot I wanted to check out and pre fish before the tournament anyway. Tomorrow is the start of the competition and I have a feeling the sight fishing will be minimal due to the clouds so we need to come up with another tactic to get a tarpon to the boat.
That is the only rule that is a must for this tournament, a tarpon must be landed or no other fish you have caught counts.
In the end there are awards and great cheers to these guys for coming up with a fun way to get all your buddies together in one spot for a few days.
June 1, 2005 at 9:26 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
I have to say this is one of my favorite times of the year. Tarpon season is grueling and we are not only on the cusp of summer, it just dawned on a new day and whala! it was summer! Hot, hot, hot and sweaty. But with the summer heat comes the glory of flat calm days, rolling tarpon and the best action for fly fishing you can ever imagine.
This week I had the pleasure of fishing with a gentleman from New York. He and I had a lot of fun and I saw some very large fish gulp his fly. We had a couple super great days of fishing with one day racked up at 14 tarpon hookups and 5 fish landed. We had some other great days under our belt too but that was the best.
If you have ever heard anyone talk of a “guppy hatch” in the Keys, I believe that is what we witnessed. It seems as though thousands of small baitfish come off the flat and seem to have a lack of oxygen from the water that they are dying and foundering everywhere. The tarpon stay in deeper water just off the edge of the shallow flat and gulp these baitfish by the mouthfuls. We had the right color fly on to replicate a small baitfish and the tarpon just loved it.
May 26, 2005 at 11:00 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Well I finally got a day off in the midst of all this tarpon hoorah. It’s a good season to be here… winds are fairly light, and the clouds are not getting in the way too much of seening giant pods of tarpon.
These tarpon can be found anywhere from the Marquesas through the Florida Keys and all the way up the coast of Florida. They are migrating and they are eating. The name of the game now is tie the right fly to tantelize them and make them turn and eat it. I have personally ended up at the vise almost every night tying something new and slightly different to entice these prehistoric creatures to eat.
So many anglers visit the Keys during tarpon season with the quest to land one of these giant fish. Some are small, maybe 20 lbs. and they can get as large at 200lbs. Many anglers forget that we can’t just catch these creatures, we have to hunt and get the fish to eat. Particularly in fly fishing, the best advice to any one coming to the Keys to fly fish for tarpon is to practice. When you think you have the double haul down and you can punch it out there fifty feet in front of a fish, practice some more. It all changes when you are casting at a moving target and the wind is not in your favor and the boat is moving and… well you get the idea. Believe it or not, your guide really, really wants to catch fish too! I am a fisherman because I love it and I love to see my anglers year after year come back striving to do better at fly fishing.
So my day off is filled with tying flies, fixing anything on the boat that needs fixing, and holding down the couch.
May 18, 2005 at 9:16 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Key West Updated Fishing Report:
May 18, 2005
Tarpon Season 2005 Fishing this spring has been pretty great and compared to last season. Although tarpon have been not as strong as recent years for May, it’s been good and fly fishing for them is a great way to get them to eat when they are not feeding like crazy.
Tarpon can be found migrating from the Marquesas Keys all the way up the Florida Keys island chain. Typically the migrating fish travel along the oceanside flats but there will be layed up tarpon just about everywhere in the backcountry. Tarpon will hang around and move through the Keys for another month or so and then the rest will hang around in the shallower flats and channels throughout the summer.
Bonefishing and Permit fishing are still great. Lately my anglers have wanted to concintrate on tarpon fishing while they are here. I’ve seen permit on deeper flats while tarpon fishing this season but the majority of them are still offshore spawning for a few more weeks. The population on the flats has been stronger than I’ve seen in recent years.
The Palolo Worm Hatch is something tarpon anglers and guides look forward to during the Full or New Moon phases in May and June. This Atlantic Palolo Worm Hatch is one of the unexplained rituals in saltwater fishing and until you see it with your own eyes, you will not understand.
The Palolo Worm hatches from hard coral rock that mainly covers the bottom of the Atlantic side of the Keys. These tiny worms look like a red and white earth worm. They hatch and head for the surface of the water. The neatest thing is that they all travel in the same direction, towards the reef located offshore. Meanwhile the tarpon gather together and eat these worms. It seems to have an intoxicating effect on the tarpon and the only time I really hit a hard worm hatch, I could see tarpon rolling as far as I could see.
I’m sure there are more scientific articles about this worm hatch. I kept one in a glass of saltwater for two days. It just kept swimming in circles and eventually it’s red color faded. I have done some research on this ritual and the tarpon fishing that follows, but not many articles are written on it.
If you are fishing the flats this year in May or June and happen to stay out for the sunset, take a look off the beach and maybe you will see some tarpon shining in the water munching on worms.
September & October are spectacular for bonefish and permit. If you can’t make it down here in the summer, try our fall fishing. The winds are light and despite our hurricane season the weather is pretty nice.
Warm Regards from the Florida Keys Capt Justin
May 5, 2005 at 10:00 am · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Tarpon fishing is the name of the game from now through June as the migration continues. It’s a touchy time of year as there are so many guides competing for space on a flat with migrating tarpon. They mostly come across the ocean flats this time of year and the days of poling deeper flats in search of the silver king are far from over.
I got my anglers up early yesterday and headed out to the Marquesas. The wind and tide were with us on our 8 mile crossing of Boca Grande channel. It was still dark when we got there and it seemed as though I was the first boat out there at long last. We casted to rolling tarpon as the sun was coming up. Third cast and my angler was hooked up. Hooray! We fed a lot of fish early and then the wind was starting to howl. Tarpon fishing has been spotty this year. Great days and then okay days, the fish are here they are just being ultra picky. It brings be back to the vise every day to tie something new for them to look at.
We worked our way back from the Marquesas through the ocean side flats and into the backcountry before finding some giant tarpon that would eat. My angler casted out and had one giant fish follow the fly, eat it and spit it out all in one continuous motion. He just stood there in awe, not setting the hook. Ah well, tomorrow is another day…
May 2, 2005 at 2:04 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
Tarpon season is getting to be in full swing. The weather yesterday around Key West was a little bleak with a front bearing down on us and overcast skies. Still I decided our best shot at tarpon on fly was in the Marquesas. The Marquesas atoll is 22 miles from Key West harbor and can be the best place to fish for migrating and layed up tarpon during the season. It’s a long ride and the 8 mile stretch of Boca Grande Channel is no party when the wind and the tide are not agreeing. Most guides have at least one horror story from the crossing but when you get there you will see it is all worth it.
Don’t get me wrong though, the Marquesas is a great place to fish but so are the lakes, backcountry and oceanside flats of the Lower Keys. The Marquesas is very fragile and for it to be there to fish for years to come we need to be careful with the fishery now.
Lately there have been many articles written about the Keys and the Marquesas. Many can provide a mothership to spend a few days out there fishing in comfort. There is also great reef and wreck fishing a short trip away. It is no doubt a magical place and if you fish and if you fly fish, be sure to visit.
My angler ended up jumping 12 fish on fly yesterday and landed 3. It was a pretty good day of fly fishing if you ask me.
April 30, 2005 at 3:11 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing
April 30th
Key West fishing has been a bit tough due to some prevailing southeast winds this week. The tarpon are here (so don’t fret) but they are not biting as good as expected. We had a couple good days of tarpon fishing in the harbor and jumped eight fish and landed two of them.
For the entire month of May I will be fly fishing for tarpon and I am very excited about it. We’ve been fishing them in the early morning and later evening for them with flies and getting them on darker patterns. For added action try a tarpon bunny with a rabbit strip tail. The movement seems to be something that the tarpon cannot resist.
Bonefishing has improved quite a bit as the water has warmed up. Air temps have been in the 80s all week and it has been great for bonefishing the flats. If you are wanting to try and get them on a fly, a Foxy Clouser or tan and white clouser minnow with light barbel eyes has been working well. Some of the bonefishing we do in the lower Florida Keys is real shallow and therefore not as much weight is needed.
There are still some nice permit on the flats. This time of year the permit take some time off and leave the flats to spawn offshore. They can be found in schools of a hundred or more on shallow reefs and wrecks.
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