The Keys are humming with the sound of blustery northeast winds right now. The seas are pretty rough but despite the wind, the fishing is not half bad.

The flats are holding plenty of barracuda along the south side of the islands. Not only is this area protected from some of the winds, but it holds a lot of life.

Some nice sized permit are being seen west of Key West along Calda Bank and in the Lakes Passage. This is the time to be here for some of the best permit fishing. It will last though March and into the beginning of April. The first full moon in April will trigger the spawn and these permit will vacate the flats for the most part and head to deeper wrecks and patch reefs to spawn. Hit them while they are here on the flats first.

Yes we did have some great tarpon fishing nearly a week ago. The cooler waters are at best 71- degrees in some spots. We’ll need a warm up of a few days to get the tarpon bit going again. It won’t be long before it will just be hot every day and we won’t need to worry about another cold front. Hang in there tarpon anglers!

Offshore waters are rough to say the least. Sticking to inshore waters might be the safest bet for a few more days. The sailfishing has got to be good though. They love the Northeast wind and will run right down the Keys in search of a bait to eat. Many can be seen almost “surfing” the waves - we call this tailing conditions for sailfish. It is the ultimate if you get to fish for them this way - sight fishing for sails!