We felt the first of our winter weather early in the week. Monday the high didn’t even reach 80 in some parts of the Keys. Regardless there have still been some fish caught on the flats, but it has slowed down for the moment.
Permit are the choice fish this time of year on the flats. There is a small window of opportunity this month and into November to get some big permit on the flats. Bonefishing remains good but if the water warms up it will get even better. For those anglers looking for tarpon, you may have to just wait a bit for some warmer weather. Juvenile tarpon will be around but may not be willing to eat.
Some of the other species that make a strong comeback to the flats in the fall after the water temps drop a bit are the barracuda. Fly rodders should take aim at this species for their acrobatic jumps and reel screaming ability. They are powerful fish. For beginning fly rodders it is a good species to get your line wet with. They will often crash a fly without hesitation and many times they take the fly right at the boat.
In addition to barracuda there are Crevalle jacks that can get up into the 20- pound range, blacktip sharks, mutton snapper, redfish, snook,ladyfish (sometimes called the poor man’s tarpon) and sea trout. All these species spend the winter in our area and give us lots of opportunities with a flyrod or with a conventional spinning rod.
Offshore fishing has equally changed but for the better. Sailfishing has been super this week. Sailfish do like a little rougher weather and our winds being 15- to 20- knots have made that possible. This is not the prime time for sailfish but it is certainly a good time to get down here if you want to hook one.
Reef fishing has been good too for yellowtail snapper, grouper and mutton snapper. Deeper wrecks will hold amberjack, wahoo, and blackfin tuna. We are getting into our prime time for blackfin tuna. It will last into January and then die off until April and May when the tuna can be found behind the shrimp boats in the Gulf of Mexico.
If you are getting away from the cold this winter, think about a saltwater fishing trip to the Keys.
