KEY WEST – Keeping our fingers crossed and praying for a the first real cold front to roll through is all we can do this week in the Lower Keys.  It’s October and although Mother Nature gave us one bite of fall, the sweaty weather is still here.
This week the conditions offshore were not favorable for any small craft so many captains used the protection of the reef to their advantage to catch some nice fish.
“We stayed tucked up on the reef,” said Capt. Rush Maltz of Odyssea Fishing Charters.
The reef fishing has been very good lately with just the perfect amount of current. The water color is a little dirty on the reef which makes for perfect conditions for yellowtail snapper fishing.
Maltz also reported that the bait supply is plentiful right now. He has been netting pilchards in the morning before heading offshore. Maltz did mention that it may take some time to find the bait because there are not as many birds around. Diving pelicans are a dead giveaway to a school of bait traveling in the shallows along the south side of Key West.
Although Maltz utilizes live bait on a daily basis for bending rods on his boat, he also has been having some great success using artificial lures. Tsunami swimming baits have been working very well on the reef for these 2- to 3- pound yellowtail snapper. Tsunami baits are gummy and come rigged with a weighted head and a strong Mustad Ultra Point hook.
Capt. Brice Barr on the Double Down out of Key West’s Charter Boat Row also spent some of this weeks rougher weather days hugging the reef in search of calmer water. Barr reported having some good luck also with yellowtail and mutton snapper. His anglers this week also landed a 35- pound cobia and release three other cobia that were undersized.
Although Barr has not tried to mess with catching live bait in the early mornings just yet, he says the time is almost here to start netting bait and head offshore in search of tuna and sailfish.
Tuna have been moving through the area again this week but as Barr explained, they were simply on the move.
“We tried everything to get them to bite,” Barr said.
Barr explained that once there is even more bait in the area and the water stays cooler the tuna will hang around longer and be more willing to bite.
The first few tuna that do show up here in the Lower Keys are more apt to bite a dead bait that is being trolled rather than a live pilchard. Therefore the larger charter boats tend to do better early in the season on tuna before the fish get conditioned to seeing pilchards in the deep water.
So far most of the captains have said the fishing to the east of Key West has been more productive. Later in the season a lot of the action will turn to the west near the end of the Boca Grande Bar.
For more information on fishing with Capt. Brice Barr, contact him at 305-304-2314.
The offshore waters seem to have all the right ingredients for a terrific fall season underway. The inshore flats and bays have had their fair share of great fishing too.
The shallow water fishing can be very under rated during the latter part of the year. So much focus has always been on the staple months of April, May and June for tarpon that the rest of the year just does not get enough visiting anglers.
Fact is the fall season can pack some of the best shallow water fishing available and without the pressure of high season.
Tarpon should not be your prime target in October, but they are certainly still available. Some guides are still hooking some monsters in the deeper channels around Key West Harbor. We categorize these as ‘resident’ tarpon.
Permit and bonefish on the other hand should be on the top of an anglers list. Permit are a more prominent species in the Lower Keys and for a change we are also seeing a lot more large bonefish.
In addition to the big three, there are plenty of fun fish on the flats for anglers of all abilities. Barracuda, various species of sharks, redfish and snook are available.