Fishing in Key West just does not get better than the months of May and June. Above is Eric after fishing on the ShadowCaster. This is Eric’s 3rd year in a row with me and there aren’t many flats species that he hasn’t caught. If calm water, light winds, warm temperatures and Big Fish is what you are after, then this is the time of year to come to Key West for some flats fishing.
Tarpon season is really just getting heated up. Throughout the month of April Key West was experiencing 25-30 mph winds for days and days. It is finally laying down and the fish are Happy!! This is the time of year that we get the light winds out of the SouthEast and that really warms up the water and gets the fishing Red Hot. If you are wanting to catch The SilverKing, May and June are my two favorite months. We have been getting multiple shots every morning. Above is a great picture of a Tarpon right before release. This is also the time if year that the Permit start making their way back onto the flats after their annual spawn in the deep water. I have been doing alot of Permit fishing on the oceanside flats and have been finding some hungry fish, a well presented live crab will usually get the job done.
Big Barracudas and Lemon Sharks are also scouring the shallow water in search of an easy meal. It is really quite a site to see a 6ft. shark cruising in 2ft of water. I haven’t been doing alot of bonefishing yet this season, but I will bet that is going to go-off any time. There are still some open days in June on the ShadowCaster, so give me a call to catch some of these fish that make the florida keys one of the best fishing destinations in the world.
This is the time of year that you really have to take fishing on a daily basis. One day it might be cold with a north wind blowing 25 mph and the next it is sunny and 80 degrees. These types of rapid weather changes keeps the fisherman on his toes. Finding warm water is the key to success this time of year and that water has been on the oceanside flats of the Lower Keys. These flats have been holding alot of barracuda and jacks. When I say alot, I mean alot. Last Saturday I had a father and son from Ohio and we had to see over 100 big Cudas laying up. Not all of these fish were cooperative, but I bet we managed to entice 10 or 12 to eat our tube lures. The Jacks have also been ferocious, and what fun they are on a light tackle outfit in shallow water.
February is here and this is the time of year we start to look for the Tarpon that migrate through our waters in the Spring. Just yesterday we found a large school of the Silverkings rolling in one of thier favorite channels near Key West. Although they wern’t interested in our offerings it was a great sign to see so many fish this early. I think the warm days of February are going to provide us with some great Tarpon action. Permit is another fish that we begin to see in February, above is one we caught this week on an ocenside flat. So fishing is definitly on the rise and I am looking forward to a great Spring. I stiil have some days open in February, so if you want to catch some Big fish on light tackle give me a call.
I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Down here in Key West we had some beautiful weather and great fishing over the holidays. The sight fishing on the flats has been productive for Barracudas and Jacks. The next couple months I really like for the Big Cudas, this is a great species to target on the flats with spin or fly rod. In my opinion Cudas are as exciting to stalk as any other species on the flats and frankly just easier to catch. They are not as spooky or boat shy as other flats species and you can often get multiple shots at them. Trout fishing in Key West has taken off the last couple years. Every year I am seeing more and more boats targeting them. They are alot of fun to fish for and not bad eating either. This is not a fish that you are going to fill up coolers with fillets, but if you are looking to have a great time catching fish and keep a couple for dinner this is for you. I have been seeing alot more of my repeat customers requesting this type of trip because it is not that technical but yet very productive. While you are casting for trout you are catching all sorts of other species, Jacks, LadyFish, Bluefish, Sharks (mainly the super fast BlackaTip), etc.
January and February are great months to be in the Florida Keys, drop me an email or give me a call and we can talk fishing.
Here are a few photos of the guys from North Carolina. We had a great time catching all kinds of fish on light tackle. Will caught his first ever bonefish, while his bro Griffin was battling barracudas, blacktips and lemon sharks. The gin clear waters of the backcountry provided us with a front row seat to watch all the bites.
Thankfully, for us in Key West, the hurricanes of September only brought us a couple days of wind and rain. We did not experience any major damage, just a few days of dirty water. Now all the storms have past, the water has cleared up and flats fishing is great. Yesterday, I had a couple from New York on their first flats fishing trip. They both managed to to land a couple beautiful Florida Keys Bonefish. The incoming tide has been bringing bonefish on the flats to feed in the cooler water. We are coming to the end of the Tarpon fishing here and as the cold fronts move in these fish will head out. But right now there are juvenile tarpon rolling in the back country channels. These fish are very temperamental and react poorly to overfishing. It is very important NOT to fish an area day after day. Another great fish, and my favorite, to target is the Permit. Pictured above is a couple fish we caught just the other day. Permit fishing should only improve during the Fall months. If you want to do some “hands-on” fishing then the Shadowcaster is for you.
The summer months are here!! Light winds, clear skies and hot temps are the norm. August is a great time to fish in the backcountry. Being the “slow” season means great rates and light boat traffic. You can fish all day and see very few other boats.
The bonefishing continues to be great in the early morning hours and following an afternoon rain shower. This will be a target species for the next few months.
Permit fishing has been very good, with fish showing themselves throughout the day. Even midday, with the water temperature high Permit are scouring the flats in search of a meal. A well presented crab has been the ticket to hooking up with one of these trophies.
Small tarpon are around in some of their usual spots and eager to eat an artificial. These fish are great fun to catch on light tackle, as their aerial show is very impressive.
The deeper channels that meander through the backcountry have been holding BIG sharks, barracudas, and the occasional goliath grouper. If you are looking to hook up with something big and bad on light tackle these fish will test you.
Looks like we have beautiful weather in the future and I have some open dates in September so drop me an email or call 305.587.7669.
Tarpon continue to be our most sought after fish here in the backcountry. During the new moon at the beginning of the month, we had two nights of the Palolo worm hatch. For those who love to fish for Tarpon and have never experienced this phenomena, it is quite a sight. If you time it just right you will see more Tarpon than you can shake a stick at. The fish are gorging themselves on these small worms. This is a great time to target a Tarpon with the fly rod. After the “hatch” it took a couple days for the Tarpon to get back into a routine, but they did and we are now catching them in good numbers again. Another species that is great right now is the Permit. They are making thier way back to the flats after their springtime spawn. I love fishing for them, but you have to be alert and ready at all times. You are not going to catch one sitting on the cooler. Above are a couple nice fish we have caught recently. It is a great time to fish in the backcountry and we still have some dates open so I hope to hear from you soon.
Tarpon fishing continues to be great. I had the pleasure of having David Weaver, a wildlife artist, onboard today. He is an outstanding artist and his work can be seen on his website http://rodandbrush.com/. He released two tarpon, two barracudas, and his first ever permit. That is what is so great about the spring and summer months in Key West, there are just so many different species to target. His first tarpon was caught in a deep channel and what a stubborn fish this one turned out to be. After close to an hour we finally got the release. We found his second Tarpon “laying up” on a shallow flat. These fish in the shallows can be very finicky, but this Tarpon slurped up that jumbo crab as soon as it hit the water. After realeasing two cudas we found a large school of permit. After several perfect casts by David we finally got one to eat our offering. That rounded out a great day for both the angler and guide.
The Tarpon are HERE. There is no doubt that this is what alot of anglers have been waiting for. Here are a few of the tarpon we have been catching aboard the Shadow Caster this past week. The fish have been all sizes from the scrappy 30 pounders to the brutes, 100+ pounds. Whether it is your 1st or 101st, these fish always impress. So if you want to tangle with the strongest, most acrobatic fish in the shallow waters of Key West, there is no better time than May. June and July.
