KEY WEST – The end of October marks the beginning of a new fishing season in the Keys. The local radar already shows a strong line of storms dotted in red and yellow quickly approaching from the west. Could this possibly be our first cold front? I hope so.
            The best sign of changing weather is when a local captain calls you out of the blue to give you a laundry list of fish species that he’s wrangled in on a half day morning charter.
            Capt. Bennett Taylor on the Outer Limits couldn’t talk slow enough from his own excitement for the morning catch. Three sailfish, dolphin, tuna and wahoo all caught before 11 AM.
            Taylor had been running to the east for his last few charters but noted the action was directly south of Key West just past Sand Key Light.
            Generally the fishing becomes very active in our inshore waters and no boat has to go very far past 180- feet to find fish. Right now there is not a clear color change but that does not seem to matter.
            Capt. Tom Ault on the Time Out reported an equally good catch this week. His anglers released 3 sailfish and caught 3 wahoo ranging from 18- to 35- pounds. Ault was fishing the waters off Sand Key to the end of the Boca Grande Bar.
            “All the action has been in pretty close lately,” Ault said.
            Ault was trolling both bare and skirted ballyhoo for these fish. He mentioned that two of the wahoo hit surface baits while one was hooked using the downrigger.
            Much of our action for blackfin tuna will start to concentrate to the west of Key West on the Sub. This area will get populated by light tackle boats that anchor and throw handfuls of live bait to bring the blackfin tuna to a feeding frenzy. The larger boats like the Time Out and Outer Limits will often troll the area hoping to pick up a few tuna in between.
            This area will start to be a hot spot in November and December.
            The flats have had their fair share of good fishing too. Bonefish have been at the top of the list this week. There are plenty of good size schools available and the fish are plump, most weighing in around 7- to 8- pounds.
            Scott Frost from Chicago, IL had a great day of fishing with Capt. Justin Rea out of Sugarloaf Key. Frost landed 7 bonefish using live shrimp.
            Capt. Diego Cordova reported a great morning of fishing the flats in Marathon. Cordova’s anglers Phil and Donna Stevenson of Indiana hooked four permit and landed three. The couple also caught several other species including jacks and sharks.
            Cordova has been fishing in the Keys since 1978. He operates his charter services from Marathon to Key West on his 21- foot Keyhopper skiff. For more information on Capt. Diego Cordova, visit his website at www.floridakeysflats.com or give him a call at 305-395-1228.
            Another flats captain who is quickly becoming a bonefishing expert is Capt. John Smouse. Smouse operates the only flats skiff located at the A&B Marina. His charter service, Shadow Caster, has been busy this week due to the influx of visitors for our annual Halloween celebration.
            Smouse has been targeting bonefish as well. He generally specializes in bait fishing for tarpon, bonefish and permit.
            Smouse has been utilizing the incoming tide this week on the backcountry flats east of Key West.
            “The biggest struggle is learning the tides and trying to follow them around to get a slam,” Smouse said.
The tides vary by close to an hour each day. Smouse says that in some areas around Key West the tide will flow out to the north, while in other areas it will flow south.
The early morning tarpon fishing is also thinning out. Although there will always be resident tarpon around the Key West Harbor area, the baby tarpon spots that many guides have memorized will be less populated as the fish move on.
For more information on fishing with Capt. John Smouse, contact him at 305-587-7669.