FISHING REPORT ARCHIVES

June Fishing Report

It is tarpon time in the Florida Keys!!

Schools of tarpon are migrating though the Florida Keys. These fish are traveling in 4 to 8 feet of water. This is my favorite type of fishing.

With the right visability these schools can be spotted coming 100s of yards away. (dark patch is a school of about 150 tarpon)

125 lb. fish can put a big hole in the ocean.

The permit have returned to the flats from their off shore spawnning excursion. It is good to see them back.

Most skiffs have been ocean side targeting tarpon. The back country bonefish flats are deserted...well except for the occasional large bonefish..

Clint holds a big cuda he caught in a foot of water. These fish go crazy when hooked that shallow...no were to go but up and out...

May Fishing Report

It is prime time for tarpon in the Florida keys. This is my favorite time of year to fish the keys. Winds are generaly calm..water temps are warm and schools of happy tarpon are migrating though the keys.

Steve Blake and I just finished up 3 days of tarpon fishing.
LOTS of tarpon migrating though the keys. Weather had been perfect.. One day we seen well over 500 fish..
Here are some shots of one of the fish he got to eat yesterday.. Lots of things can go wrong fast once you hook a tarpon. Steve had more then his share of problems.. Fly line developed a huge knot as it shot out of the stripping basket on that first run.. This knot came in and out of the guides 4 or 5 times during the fight.. If that was not enough the reel handle fell off.... fortunatly Steve had a swiss army knife with the right tools, and we managed to fix it while a 100lb fish pulled on it.

April Fishing Report

GOT TARPON???????

We do! It is tarpon time in the Lower Florida Keys! Schools of tarpon have moved on to the flats. Right about the same time the snow birds pack up to head home and the tourist season has died down

We have been catching them on a little bit of every thing. Plugs, live bait and flies have all worked this last week. As always the presentation is crucial.

Sam and Paris fished with me today. We had dozens of shots at laid up tarpon. Did get 4 tarpon to eat a live pinfish. One 6 footer ate and jumped at very close range, missed landing in the boat by inches. My angler said "There is two wet spots on the inside of my glasses from my eyes popping out of my head

Brandon and his wife Yie came down from the oil fields in Prudhoe Alaska to fish tarpon for a couple of days. We put several big fish in the air each day.... Brandon had a nice 125 pounder the boat several times, before it finally abraided the 50lb bite tippet.

Tarpon are one of those fish were once you hook one dozens of things can go way wrong, way fast. They are big and extremely powerful fish. The inside of their mouth is very hard. A good hook set can be difficult.
When hooked the first thing they do is GO UP!! When they jump their head is shaking back and forth. You want to give them as much slack as possible on each jump. Not an easy thing to remember when 125 lbs of fish leaps into the air.

Lets not forget the permit and bone fish. Water temperatures are in the high 70s and low 80s. These fish are very happy. Most of the skiffs are targeting tarpon and the bonefish flats are empty. Well except for big bonefish and tailing permit.

March Fishing Report

It is show time in the Florida Keys. The weather has been outstanding. Water temperatures are in the high 70s and low 80s. This makes the fish and me very happy. Lots of options on the flats right now. Tarpon, permit and bonefish are all available this month.

The front runners of the tarpon migration have arrived. These fish are 90 to 150 lbs., 4 to 6 1/2 foot long. They look twice that big in the air. We have been finding them rolling happily in the channels, were they will eat plugs and a pinfish under a balloon is always favorite snack.

Here They Come!

Rat packs of tarpon from 1/2 dozen to a dozen or more are cruising the flats along the channel edges and the warmer bays. This makes for some great sight fishing opportunities with plug, bait or fly. My favorite way to fish. There is not, much more exciting then to see a pack of 125 lb fish heading your way in 4 foot of water.

Carl Hiiasen compares a bone fish encounter to defusing a bomb and a tarpon encounter to detonating a bomb. When these fish are hooked, the first thing they do is go air born.

Permit fishing has been great as well good number of permit in the 20 to 30lb. range ar cruising and tailing on the flats. March is an excellent month for permit. We typically get a little wind this month, which makes it easier to present a live crab or fly to these spooky fish.

Don't forget the bonefish. As the tarpon migration heats up, most anglers focus on the Atlantic and gulf flats for tarpon. Great time to hunt bones. The Florida keys is home to some of the biggest bonefish in the world.

Come on down the water is fine..

Febuary
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Tarpon..tarpon tarpon..
Yesterday was a perfect day here in the lower keys...felt more like May then January. Warm, sunny, 82 degrees and hardly any wind. Even better I had the day off.. I was hoping to find some juvenile tarpon to try out my new rod. Did we find them... Schools of juvenile tarpon from 2 to 3 1/2 foot long were sliding out of a deep channel onto the warmer flats

These juvie tarpon will readily take a fly. Guglers are my favorites. The tarpon love them.. Just cast it in front of the school..when they get near..give it a couple of twitches or long slow strips..get ready.. I love watching them eat on top.. These fish have hard mouths, so it is important to strip strike and sweep low with the rod to set the hook.

We also had a couple of shots at some large permit floating near the surface at the edge of the channel. It was a little too calm to get any thing near them with out spooking them.

Bonefish are also moving onto the flats with the incoming tides on these warmer days. The mid day suns warms the flats as they flood, creating ideal winter time flats fishing conditions.

The fishing in between cool fronts has been great for this time of year. But even during the colder spells (60s and low 70s) there are lots of fishing oppertunities here in the Keys. Large barracudas flood the flats this time of year. They can sometimes be tempted with a fly twitched in front of thier face or stipped fast. When they decide to eat the takes are fast and aggresive.

Also most larger sharks and rays are accompanied with jack crevelle. These fish are aggresive and powerfull. It is always worth taking a cast at rays. As they cruise the bottom they kick up shrimp, crabs etc.. You never know what is following them this time of year..cobia, jack, bones and sometimes permit..

Fishing in the back country on the gulf edge remains good. A jig tipped with shrimp or a clouser results in a mixed bag of sea trout, jacks and lady fish

It will not be long now untill the tarpon migration starts to trickle in to the lower keys. I usualy start to see the big guys, about the middle of Feb rolling in the deeper channels. As soon as the water temps get into the mid 70s they move into the shallow and you can catch them on the flats.
I can't wait!

Happy Holidays!!!! Year End Fishing Report

Another great year of fishing with friends and clients who have become friends. Some of my fondest memories where of spring tarpon fishing. (my favorite) The weather was cooperative. Most days there were lots of tarpon on the flats.

I am already looking forward to the next years fishing. Hope I have the chance to fish with every one again.

Ben's World Record Shark

Dec. 28th I had the pleasure of fishing with Jeff and his two sons Jake and Ben. The fishing trip was to celebrate Ben birthday. Ben wanted to target big sharks. The water was still a little cool. But Ben still managed to catch a bonnet head shark that exceeded the I.G.F.A all tackle record by 3lbs. Way to go Ben!!!
Ben also hooked and brought to the boat a nice 5 foot shark.

There are lots of sea trout on the gulf side now. These fish are aggresive and will readily eat a jig tipped with shrimp. Not only are the fun, but they make an excellent carrier for tarter sauce.

The weather and the fishing has been amazing for the end of December. The last several days have been warm, sunny and light wind. Water temps are back in the mid 70s. Permit are tailing, bones are on the flats and the juvie tarpon are rolling at dawn. In fact the clouds have just burned off and it is hard for me to sit here and type out this report. I know were I can find some bone fish and permit right now on the incoming tide...maybe some juvie tarpon too!

November Fishing Report

How does the Florida Keys fish after several hurricanes???

Hurricane Wilma produced a 7 to 9 foot storm surge, which flooded the lower Florida Keys. This caused millions of dollars of damadge to homes, vehicles, boats, etc..

The water remained off color in areas for weeks afterward. Weather was unsettled and made for some challenging fishing conditions. Dave (CUDA) Carnahan and Mike Bushly arrvied 2 weeks after Wilma. Water begain to clear and the water temperatures remained high.

Mike Bushly from Great Falls Montana shows off his first tarpon.

Juvenile tarpon fishing on the flats has been out standing this fall. Early morning starts have resulted in some great fishing, with flies and surface lures. The Bagley jumping mullet worked like magic on tarpon and barracudas.

Dave Carnahan holds on of the Redfish he boated this warm November day. I am seeing more redfish then ever this season, also found some snook on the flats the other day. I think hurricane Wilma may have relocated some of these fish from Florida Bay....

Tim Plaska arrived in time for some unsettled weather. Cloudy days made for some difficult sight fishing. However we did have some fun with barracudas. These fish are big, aggressive and FAST... Lots of fun when they smash a baitfish imitation on the surface

John Arnold boated some dandy bonefish fly fishing.

John is an amazing fly tyer. Every bonefish that seen his "Arnold Flats Fly" Flat out ate it...
The tarpon liked his flies too!

FLATS FISHING THE FLORIDA KEYS FOR TARPON, PERMIT, BONEFISH, REDFISH, BARRACUDA AND SHARK