Key West Fishing Reports
Updated fishing reports from the Lower Florida Keys & Key West
Archive for Key West Flats Fishing
March 20, 2007 at 7:09 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
The psychology of permit fishing
Capt. Kris Suplee of Marathon is unwinding behind a table at Hurricane Hole Marina. He looks wind-burned and sunburned like the other captains, and yet, there is a certain glow. The look tells me there is no need to rush over to the scoreboard to check the results of the second-annual March Merkin Permit Tournament that concluded Friday.
“I always wanted to see what we’d be able to do with good weather,” Suplee says. He’s referring to his years of guiding Warren Hinrichs, an investment portfolio manager from Jacksonville with an uncanny knack for fooling permit.
In a sport where catching even one permit on fly is considered an achievement, Hinrichs has just caught and released six of the beautifully awkward animals in three days of fly fishing with Suplee. They are the easy winners of the 24-team competition.
Unlike bonefish, whose green torpedo bodies look like they sprang from a marine architect’s CAD program, permit have broad bodies with pointy black fins that are less than optimized for disguise. This big reef fish can’t help coming into the shallows to root for crustaceans, usually crabs. They’re more nervous and wary than bonefish, and harder to fool with a fly.
A stiff breeze, slight chop and bright sunshine are the optimal weather conditions for permit fishing. The chop makes it harder for the permit to see or feel an approaching boat; and for the angler the sunlight creates a convenient contrast between their black tails and the grassy background.
“It was a 7 out of 10,” Suplee says of the tournament weather.
That doesn’t mean it was easy, which is fine by Hinrichs. Permit fishing is exhilarating, he says, precisely because it’s hard.
“The permit game is a psychological game. You experience highs and lows very fast,” he says.
Missed casts; hooks that don’t stick; the wandering mind. They happen to Hinrichs too, believe it or not, or maybe thank goodness. The difference might be that he keeps the past out of the present better than most. He credits Suplee with more than finding the fish: “He did a really good job of keeping me focused.”
As for the choice of flies, most anglers, including Hinrichs, target permit with homespun versions of the Merkin fly. With these bits of fibers, feather and rubber strings are trimmed to resemble a crab darting for cover. Some anglers break out secret patterns in especially hard times, but most will rely on the Merkin.
Hinrichs and Suplee are on a roll that probably has nothing to do with the choice of fly. They won last July’s Del Brown Invitational Permit tournament too. It would be unwise to imply they’ve somehow solved the permit riddle, however. Every permit angler knows there will be dry spells, and in fact seated just a few feet away from Suplee is a living, breathing example.
He is Jon Ain, a part-time resident of Sugarloaf Key and a highly-successful permit angler. Ain helped create this tournament when the organizers of the annual Del Brown competition shifted that event to July. Conventional wisdom says March is a good month for permit fishing because the fish are feasting up before spawning offshore in April and early May. Ain was skunked over the three-day event after winning last year’s inaugural competition.
There’s no denying that Suplee and Hinrichs had the most spectacular fishing, but others at the dock are glowing too.
Loren Rea of Sugarloaf Key caught her third permit on fly while fishing with Capt. Edward Michaels of Yankee Town. Rea will go down as the first woman to catch a permit in the event. Her husband, Capt. Justin Rea, guided Brian Byerly to a permit.
In a role reversal, Capt. Peter Heydon of Key West stood on the bow while his long-time friend Bill Heindl of Richmond, Va., poled the boat. Heydon caught his second permit on fly, a 30.5-inch fish that weighed 24 pounds on the handheld “Boga Grip.”
Heydon and Heindl were edged out for the largest fish by David Dalu, an emergency room doctor from Charleston, S.C., who fished with Capt. Scott Collins of Marathon. Their fish also measured 30.5 inches, but they caught it earlier to earn the honors.
Heindl, who is 66, is okay with that: “Being the oldest guide, I don’t care,” he says.
Call it the winning permititude.
Ben Iannotta is a freelance journalist and flats fishing guide. He can be reached at biannotta@aol.com.
For complete results please visit www.marchmerkin.com
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March 1, 2007 at 2:05 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
All we needed was a few warm days to push the first wave of big tarpon into the Lower Keys. They are literally everywhere in the basins and deeper channels and on the deeper flats too.
This time of the year is best if you wish to fly fish for layed up tarpon. They swim just below the surface and are eager to eat a fly if you put it close to their nose. The tasty toad works well plus many other patterns in Chartreuse and black and purple in the early part of the day or at night.
Fishing should be good from Bahia Honda Bridge too for those who just want to fish at night from land or by boat.
The tarpon run may be short lived with a potential cold front coming on Monday but we’ll enjoy it while it lasts!
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February 26, 2007 at 1:21 am · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
Were tetering on the edge of March and probably the best part of the season for permit. Today was a picture perfect Florida Keys day. Minimal clouds and just enough wind to get near the fish that roam the flats.
Congrats to Jon Ain of Sugarloaf Key on his 251st permit in fly. Ain is co-founder of the March Merkin permit tournament that will be held March 14-16th at Hurricane Hole Marina in Key West. Ain was fishing with Captain Justin Rea.
Offshore waters have been productive on deep wrecks and just off the reef for big black grouper. These fish are being hooked on live pinfish or on a dead ballyhoo on a downrigger.
The Mad Fin Shark Tournament will be filmed this week in Key West. Participants include Capt. Steve Rodger of Spear One, Captain Tony Murphy on Key Limey and several other notable Key West fishing guides. Look for the series to premier on ESPN this spring.
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February 24, 2007 at 6:47 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing, Key West Sport Fishing, Florida Fishing Weekly
KEY WEST - Key West weather was certainly a factor for all types of fishing this week. Cloudy skies, fronts moving in and out, and rain kept some boats at the dock. There are always a few brave souls who need to feel the tug of a fish on their line. Those few were rewarded with some good fishing offshore.
The wahoo bite has tapered off but there are still some healthy fish being caught on the calmer days.
Captain Bennett Taylor on the Outer Limits had an action packed day of fishing offshore this week. In his medley of fish were two sailfish, a 45- pound wahoo, king mackerel and tuna.
“We had four fat blackfins over 20- pounds,” Taylor said.
There have not been too many large tuna in the area since late November so these fish were certainly a welcome sight.
In addition Taylor’s anglers landed a few dolphin that were worth keeping.
Captain Chris Lembo on Incognito out of Murray Marina has been spending his time on the reef edge and inside the reef. Lembo runs a 27- foot Contender and for several of the rougher weather days fishing inside the reef proved both comfortable for his anglers and productive for fishing.
“There has been a lot of current inside the reef,” Lembo said.
Lembo has been taking advantage of this unusual current fishing for yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper and grouper. He also mentioned there have been some cobia near by and they have landed a few of them.
This is one of the best times of the year for cobia. They are caught in the Lower Keys all year long but school up in the winter months. Their prime water temperature seems to be close to 72 degrees.
Lembo has been splitting his day between the reef and offshore waters when the weather permits. Slow trolling for sailfish and deep dropping for tilefish are among his afternoon activities.
Captain Jake Perry on Mean Green has a similar program for his full day charters. Perry joined with several other light tackle guides out of Murray Marina have been entertaining a group from the Shimano corporation. Each year Shimano field tests some of its new products in one of the most versatile fisheries in the United States, right here in Key West, FL.
Perry noted he has had some good luck fishing on the reef edge for yellowtail snapper and cero mackerel. He’ll fish this way for the early part of the day and then move offshore to 130- feet and anchor.
“The blue water has been doing some crazy things,” Perry said describing the water clarity.
“Conditions seemed to change fast; blue powdery water was quickly replaced by clear blue water,” Perry said. “The clear blue water came with a ripping current,” he added.
Perry explained that he had seen these conditions before but very rarely. The current was almost kicking blue water up onto the reef in swirls.
The end result, a good sailfish bite. Perry hooked two that day and landed one on a live pilchard. He noted that several other boats reported hooking sailfish on live thread herring while fishing the rips in 130- feet or less.
For more information on fishing with Captain Jake Perry visit his website at www.meangreenfishing.com.
The inshore waters and flats have been the most challenging this week since the skies were mostly overcast. The best way to make this type of day productive on the flats is to fish where a flat drops into deeper water. Blind casting a tube lure or artificial will nearly always get eaten by a barracuda or a lively jack crevalle.
The water temperature registered 70.1 degrees in the backcountry off Sugarloaf Key yesterday. That is a bit cold for tarpon and bonefish but there is always hope that a few sunny days will get the game fish moving up on the flats again.
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February 24, 2007 at 6:46 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing, Florida Fishing Weekly
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.
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February 24, 2007 at 6:45 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
KEY WEST – Back to back cold fronts brought some windy weather and temperature change to the Lower Keys this week. Our mild winter weather was swept away by brisk north winds that sent temperatures into the 60s. To many of you that is nothing, but to this Keys dweller for more than ten years it sends me frantically looking for what could be the only sweater I own.
The last real calm day we had was beautiful. If you did not know better you’d think it was July by the calmness and warmth of this January morning. I know you are probably tired of hearing about wahoo in Key West, especially if you are not here catching them. But I’ve been told by many seasoned captains that wahoo like calm weather, and someone should certainly took advantage of this day out in the Atlantic waters off Key West.
Captain Joe Mercurio on the Triple Time had a banner day of wahoo fishing this week. Mercurio reiterated that almost true fact that wahoo like the calm sea.
“When it’s rough they get lock jaw, they just don’t want to bite,” Mercurio said.
Mercurio said these fish hit all throughout the day. They ended up landing nine wahoo that weighed between 30- and 45- pounds.
Captain Joe Mercurio runs out of A&B Marina in Key West. For more information visit his website at www.fishtripletime.com.
The 11th Annual Hog’s Breath King Mackerel Tournament participants were left with a weekend of rough weather to contend with. Many of the 164 boats would run as far as the Dry Tortugas to find their smoker king mackerel. It is uncertain how many boats actually went that far since the seas were an angry 5 to 6 feet.
Team Yo-Zuri reigned victorious in this years’ tournament. The team caught a 61.78- pound fish on the first day of the tournament. Let by Captain Ozzie Fischer this team from Ft. Myers had the win secured after their first day of fishing.
Complete results and photos from the tournament will be available on the Southern Kingfish Association website at www.fishska.com.
The sailfishing is expected to improve after this last cold front. There have been a select few reported this week. Sailfish like rougher weather but conditions and the bait supply still have to be right. The ballyhoo supply has not been as good as it should be, and this may be one of the results of it. The hope is that with this cool-down will prompt the bait supply to venture further south.
Captain Steve Rodger on Spear One reported some exciting action offshore. He was fishing the Atlantic waters with live bait. His anglers hooked 3 blackfin tuna, a sailfish and several bonito. The surprise of their offshore adventure came when they were reeling in one of the bonito and an estimated 400- pound marlin started thrashing the fish with its bill.
“The fish never even knew he was hooked,” Rodger said. Rodger throttled up the boat and chased this fish while his angler reeled trying to gain line and get an angle on the fish. Before they could catch up to the fish and possibly tie on another reel with more line, the marlin spooled them.
Rodger noted that he has never caught a marlin personally but has hooked quite a few.
The near shore waters continue to produce cobia, snapper and grouper. Cobia are being caught in the Gulf waters near any patch reef and smaller cobia can be found cruising the outside edge of the flats in the backcountry. Cobia are especially a good target for light tackle anglers and fly rodders in February.
The shallow water fishing took a bit of a shock with the cold snap this week. Prior to the first front there were several reports of large permit caught on the flats near Key West.
Since permit are more temperature sensitive than some of the other flats species, it may take a few warm days before we start seeing them actively feeding in shallow water again.
In leiu of the permit activity there are still plenty of fun species to fish for on the flats. Captain John Smouse on Shadow Caster out of A&B Marina has found his best fishing action in the backcountry basins near Key West. Smouse has been fishing for sea trout and catching plenty of them.
There is a slot limit on sea trout being between 15- and 20- inches. There is also an allowance of one sea trout over 20- inches which would be considered a trophy.
Smouse says there are plenty of large jacks and ladyfish working the mullet muds with the sea trout.
“You almost have to weed through the jacks and ladyfish to get to the sea trout,” Smouse said.
He’s been using a popping cork made by Cajun Thunder and it has been producing great.
For more information on fishing with Captain John Smouse contact him at 305-587-7669 or visit him at the A&B Marina behind the Commodore Restaurant in Key West.
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February 20, 2007 at 1:18 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
The March Merkin will be held this year at Hurricane Hole Marina in Key West from March 14th through March 16th. This fly fishing only permit tournament is host to 25 anglers and guides fishing for the elusive permit with a fly rod. Many great sponsors from the fishing world help make this tournament a success and proceeds go to the Don Hawley Foundation to benefit Keys fishing guides in need.
The March Merkin currently has two open slots for angler/guide teams. This is because of last minute cancellations. If you want to fish a fun fly fishing only tournament please contact Jon Ain or Dave Horn. Information can be found on their website www.marchmerkin.com.
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January 22, 2007 at 5:35 pm · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing, Florida Fishing Weekly
KEY WEST – High pressure that lingered over the Lower Keys for most of the week helped keep the fishing active.
Captain Gene Chrzanowski on the Fatal Attraction out of A and B Marina splashed his newly renovated 53- foot Davis sportfishing boat just in time to catch the tail end of a great wahoo bite.
You have to be in the right place at the right time, explained Chrzanowski.
Several boats including the Fatal Attraction were finding wahoo near the Toppino buoy in 170 to 200 feet of water. The following day some of these boats went back to the same spot only to find there were no wahoo. Instead the wahoo had been replaced by a school of sleek king mackerel. Chrzanowski tried the waters a little further west the next day and landed a 30- pound wahoo.
Wahoo take the bait and run, success with wahoo fishing is landing 2 out of 3,Chrzanowski said.
Wahoo can crash a bait with such force and run so quickly that many times the line breaks. Several boats reported hooking 20 wahoo but only came home with five fish they actually landed.
For more information on the Fatal Attraction visit their website at http://www.fatalattractioncharter.com/.
King mackerel are surely going to be the focus for the next few weeks in Key West. The 11th Annual Hog’s Breath King Mackerel Tournament starts on January 26th and this intense two day tournament will have anglers running the distance for a winning fish. Last year the winning fish weighed 66.77 pounds. Team Lured Away conquered the rough seas making the 80 mile run to the Dry Tortugas fishing grounds.
The Gulf waters have been a good bet for king mackerel and Spanish mackerel. Several of the larger sport fishing boats drag dead baits for these fish. For tournament participants it is more likely they will be slow trolling a live blue runner.
Sailfishing has improved with our slightly rougher seas during the latter part of the week. Captain Rush Maltz on Odyssea reported landing two out of five sailfish hooked. The sailfish were hooked on live thread herring.
Maltz spent some time out at the reef during the rougher days fishing for grouper and snapper. He reported catching some sizable mutton snapper and red grouper up to 14- pounds.
Duncan Connelly Jr. of Atlanta, GA certainly celebrated his 13th birthday in style. Connelly received a fishing trip from his parents as a birthday gift. For a kid whose largest fish to date was a 5- pound brown trout, Connelly was certainly amazed to see a 20- pound permit up close.
“It fought hard,” Connelly said. He had never felt the pull of a fish like this ever.
Connelly did a great job listening to Captain Justin Rea as he instructed him where to throw the live crab in order to lead the fish. Permit prove to be an absolute sucker for a live crab.
Connelly landed not one, but two permit that day. In addition he tested his fly fishing skills in several of the mullet muds landing ladyfish, sea trout and jacks on fly.
I was fortunate to get some precious time on the skiff this week. In the days preceding our latest cold snap I had the opportunity to cast at several permit with my fly rod.
Permit have to be one of the most challenging fish to hook on a fly rod yet there are professional anglers who make it look like any every day occurrence. Not for this gal. I was staring permit number three in the face just a few days ago. He ate my fly so fast that I didn’t have time to strip the line tight in time.
It was certainly great to see these permit feeding. It is very apparent that they were feeding hard because they know that in cold weather there will not be much to eat.
For more information on permit fishing with Captain Justin Rea visit his website at http://www.flyfishingthekeys.com/
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December 27, 2006 at 1:44 am · Filed under Key West Flats Fishing
December fishing has been hot in the offshore waters. Anglers can expect a little bit of a bouncy ride out to the reef and beyond but the reward will be great.
This Christmas several boats from the A&B Marina gave the gift of wahoo including the Outer Limits, Mr. Z and the Triple Time. Wahoo are being found offshore anywhere from 120 to 400 feet of water. These wahoo are ranging from 30 pounds to 60 pounds plus!
Mahi-Mahi (dolphin fish) are being found in closer to the reef and bar around the lobster buoys. The current has kept the bait hanging in close and the buoys offer them a little shelter since there is no real weed line to be found.
There have been some sailfish caught by both trolling charters as well as live bait boats. Sailfishing will remain consistant throughout the winter months and into spring. This years World Sailfish Championship is in April. Check their website at www.worldsailfish.com for more information. This year the tournament hopes to break one million dollars in charity dollars. It is a very successful tournament with tremendous results in the waters off Key West, FL.
January is going to offer some great fishing both inshore and offshore. Look for giant barracuda on the flats, jacks, sharks, sea trout, ladyfish, redfish, snook, permit, bonefish, and maybe if you are lucky a tarpon or two.
The Hog’s Breath King Mackerel Tournament is slated for January at Murray Marina on Stock Island. This is an SKA sanctioned event with great prizes and some of the best anglers and guides in the south east.
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December 9, 2006 at 12:50 pm · Filed under Florida Keys Fishing, Key West Flats Fishing
Winter time in Key West on the flats can be action packed. Sometimes the weather dictates what type of fishing we will do for the day but in the end there is always someplace to find fish.
Some of the top species from now through February will be large barracuda, Crevalle jacks and sharks. All of these fish are a tremendous catch on the flats and they put up a great fight on light tackle or a fly rod.
Barracudas in particular are one of my favorites. They like a tube lure to chase because it resembles a needlefish or fast swimming baitfish. A good tactic is to throw the lure out past the barracuda and let him take notice of it by retrieving it at a quick pace. Once he takes interest in it speed up the retrieve so he never gets a real good look at the lure. Often times the barracuda will chase the lure right to the rod tip and either take it right at the bow of the skiff or turn off and swim away. Once these fish are hooked you can expect them to make long runs and even aerobatic jumps trying to get that lure out of their toothy mouth.
Fly fishing for barracuda is a good sport for beginning to expert fly anglers. There are a variety of flies that work for barracuda on the flats. The flies are all long and slender and are tied with plenty of material will past the hook. Flashy material such as polar flash will get their attention.
Both flies and tube lures must be tied with a wire leader to the line. This ensures that we have a chance of landing the fish.
Barracuda hang out on the flats in the winter to warm up when the water temperature is cold. They will sometimes sit almost motionless in a deeper pothole on a flat awaiting the next baitfish to swim by.
Barracuda are found throughout the Keys and there are plenty of them in the lower Keys, Key West and Marquesas areas on the flats.
For more information on winter fishing please contact us at www.flyfishingthekeys.com.
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