It is summer now in the Florida Keys and from the looks of the Weather Channel, it’s cooler here than in most parts of the country. The island breeze keeps us cool but so does a slushy Mango Daquiri at the Sugarloaf Lodge after a day of fishing.

Tomorrow is Lobster Mini Season here in the Keys. It’s a time that most locals here love and dread because of the thousands of visitors who are just here to rape the waters of the spiny crawfish we call “bugs”. I find that most visitors here for Lobster season not only bend the rules and laws about taking them, they flat out break them. Just the other day we saw an entire family pull in and ring a whole pile of lobster tails and it wasn’t even season yet! They must have heard that old redneck saying, “Season… well season is just for cookin.”

Back to the fishing…
Hurricane Dennis really messed things up here for us and the water got clear and the fishing was good, then it got worse. For the end of July this is not good since most of us guides finally have a few days off to go fishing and the fish are scarce. Sometimes I really have to think hard where they could have gone since I’ve already visited a lot of my regular fishing areas where the fish would just be marching across the flats this time of year. It has definately been tough but being out on the water and on the pointy end of the boat instead of poling it around makes a big difference after a long season of guiding for me.

This time of year the Keys have some great fishing. Summertime is a great time to be here fly fishing. The winds are light, the water is calm and the fish are generally pretty willing to eat. Permit fishing is a little tougher if the water is glass calm. Permit are very spooky and the only shot you’ll have with a fly will be a very long accurate cast where you can lay the fly down well in front of them without scaring them with it. Migrating tarpon have moved out of the area by now and what’s left is some happy baby tarpon that are tucked away in various holes and mangrove island coves. A baby tarpon spot is like gold to a guide and each year you find different ones and each year I find that my older spots the tarpon are now grown and moved out of their tucked away spot. These prehistoric looking creatures are in danger from what I understand. They are being killed in Mexico for a roe they produce. You can read more about it at the Saltwater Angler website where they have a notice posted.

I’ll be participating in mini-lobster season this year. My brother has some friends here so we’ll be out there with the other ten thousand snorkeling fools just trying to chase the “bugs” around the ocean. I am looking forward to the Keys quieting down after that and hopefully the fishing will improve!