The weather and the fishing have both been HOT!!
Almost zero wind for the last several days. The ocean has been glassy smooth..
Take your pick! Large migratory tarpon are traveling the ocean side flats.. Baby tarpon are rolling in the back country.. Bonefish and permit are on the flats until water temperatures get too warm.... It has been warm..
How ever we did find permit in some 94 degree baby tarpon water yesterday...
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: May 22nd
Tarpon Tarpon Tarpon!!!
Lots of tarpon moving on the ocean side flats, channel edges, basins etc..
We have also been finding some permit in the tarpon spots.. Mike Ward even fed one a chartreuse bunny tarpon fly several days ago..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: May 17th..
Weather has been an issue lately. We had several windy days this last week. Looks like the wind will lay down this week, but we may have some cloudy days.. I hope not..
Tarpon are still moving on the ocean side flats and will continue to do so for another 6 weeks or so.. I have some open days in June. Come on down and put some big fish in the air!
How ever the bone fish have been on the flats in very good numbers.. I am usually targeting tarpon this time of year, but spent several days last week getting bones. Ten year old Kenny Cubberly not only got his first bonefish , he hooked 3 more.. He was nice enough to let his dad get some too... Way to go Kenny!!!
We are also finding some permit on the flats as well..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: May 6th..
It Is Tarpon Season Here In The Keys!!!!
My very favorite time of year. Schools of tarpon have begun migrating up and down the ocean side flats and channel edges. They can also still be found in some of the back country basins. For some reason they seam more eager to eat the fly this year! But it is probably the weather. Water temperatures are in the mid 80's and the winds have been very light out of the south east.
I have not been looking for them, but my friends that have, are finding good numbers of bone fish.
also there are still some permit around on the flats as well..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 30th..
Fly fishing For baby Tarpon In The Lower Florida Keys
Gary and Elaine Fritz take a break from Montana winter to fly fish for baby tarpon with me in the lower Florida Keys. Gary is an outfitter in Montana, he operates Osprey Expeditions. During the his trip my skiff had a minor electrical malfunction and Capt. Andy Tipler with last Cast Charters was gracious enough to lend me his skiff while mine was being repaired..
THANKS Andy!
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 26th
Wind, wind and more wind..
I gave my anglers the option not to go today and they pounced on it.. One of the advantages of fishing here in the Keys with a guide instead of a lodge.. With a lodge you pay and take your chances on the weather. Here if it is unfishable, you can take the money you would have spent on the charter and play in Key West.
However.. I called my friend Bruce Chard and asked him if he wanted to go for lunch.. He was out on charter, they had already boated a redfish and had shots at bones and permit.. Way to go Bruce! The lower Florida Keys has lots of lee ward shore lines to fish out of the wind.. Here is a picture of a permit Mark Raisler boated on a 25 mph wind day.
Prior to the last 4 days the tarpon fishing had been very good. Water temps were in the low 80s. Nice sized schools of tarpon had started traveling the ocean side flats. We did very well in some of the back country basins on big tarpon and juveniles. If you can find them in the basins they will generally eat better then the ocean side travelers.. I have been concentrating mainly on tarpon the last couple of weeks, but have also been finding some permit and bone fish..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 14th
Easter In The Florida Keys..... Fly Fishing For Baby Tarpon..
My friend Tom and I both have Easter off... Tom picks me up at my dock and we go have some fun fly fishing for baby tarpon in the back country..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 4th
March came in like a lamb and left like the proverbial lion.. We had several days of very strong winds. Which meant tucking in leeward shores. How ever the first several days of April the weather and the fishing has been outstanding. water temperatures have started at 80 degrees in the morning. This makes the fish and me very happy. Large migratory tarpon have appeared in the basins and on the flats near deeper channels. These fish have been in the mood to eat! Osamu Komiyama came all the way from Japan to tarpon fish for the first time. He picked the right 3 days. Despite the language barrier Osamui fed 9 tarpon a brown toad fly..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: March 17th
Fly Fishing For Permit In The Lower Florida Keys
The weather and the fishing continue to be absolutely great! Water temperatures are in the high 70's. The fish are happy and so am I. Tailing permit on the incoming tides. tarpon in the basins and even some schools of bonefish on the flats.
March is considered to be the best month for permit. This March is no exception, lots of permit on the flats and the gulf edge. Two days ago I had the privilege of fishing with my friend Capt. Kevin Guerrin. It is rare that we both have the same days off.. We each hooked a permit on fly.. However Kevin boated his..
Today I fished with Sam and Joe on weeks vacation from a Philadelphia winter. I asked them what they would like to fish for...tarpon? permit? bonefish? All three are on the flats now.
Joe's reply was "We want to catch fish!" Sam had never fished before..
Boy did we catch fish... Normally I prefer to sight fish. Which is a lot more like hunting then fishing.. We went to a basin on the gulf edge on a falling tide and threw jigs tipped with shrimp and soft plastic.. Almost every cast resulted in a hook up. Mostly lady fish , which are a blast... they are closely related to tarpon and love to jump. We also caught some nice sea trout, snappers and jacks..
Several days ago I fished with Alan from Atlanta. Blue skies, warm water and light wind. Alan had fly fished most of his life for trout and was new to sight fishing on the flats... However even though it was Friday the 13th and he brought a banana(bad ju ju), he still feed 5 baby tarpon a surface fly.. Nice going Alan..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: March 10th.
The weather and the fishing have turned on.. Light winds, blue skies and temperatures in the high 70,s. Hopefully we are done with our cold fronts, or at least the major ones..
The last 4 days, we fished mainly for permit. Lots of permit on the flats and we had some good opportunities at some tankers tailing.. The big tarpon are here as well.. Yahoo!!
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: March 3rd.
Finally warmed up and the fishing was great last weekend. I had the pleasure of spending the day with Tim and Rhonda. They were a blast.. It was their first time flats fishing. They said they did not care what we went for as long as they caught a lot of fish on fly.... OK.. Fly fishing in the Florida Keys is a lot more challenging then trout in a western stream, but we came up with a plan for lots of fish. First we hit some coral heads for snapper and grouper...then got some shots at permit.. then beat up on lady fish. After boating a bunch of fish we decided to try some classic Keys style sight fishing.. Got some shots at some nice permit on the flats, then switched to tarpon.
Rhonda got three baby tarpon to eat a toad fly. The end of the day we found some 5 to 6 foot tarpon floating in a warm up spot. We could not see them until we were very close.. one ate a toad fly and several others followed it right to the boat.
The next day a cold front hit.. I am sitting in my apartment typing next to the space heater. It is March.. Great fishing in between fronts. Looks like the weather will improve towards the end of the week.
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Feb. 25th
Wind and more wind... The last week we have been faced with NE wind. This wind keeps the water temps cool, the sky blue. Cooler water temps make for some tougher fishing, but blue skies make for some great visibility when sight fishing on the flats. Fortunately here in the lower keys we have lots of leeward shore lines and protected flats to fish out of the wind. On the days when the wind has laid down a little we have been able to hunt baby tarpon. (my favorite) The last several days has been a mixed bag of permit, redfish, snook, barracuda, jacks and sharks.
Montana Fly fishing Outfitter Mike Kuhnert jumped his first tarpon yesterday and boated his first permit today.
WAY TO GO MIKE!!!
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Feb.15th
Got into a BUNCH of laid up tarpon the last two days. With the water temps at 76 degrees, most were floating on top,,, When they are doing this they can be very difficult to get a fly in front of them with out spooking the fish. But it is a blast trying. Tom had one follow for a looong ways...... green toad fly right on her nose,,,like a seal with a ball... Bob got one to eat a tan toad fly!
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Feb.13th
The cold front that hit over a week ago is finally over.. Cooler weather in the 50;s and 60;s lower the water temperatures, which sends permmit, tarpon and bonefish into deeper and warmer water.
Temperatures are back in the upper 70's with light winds. looks like it will be that way for a while.
The last two days we have been finding good numbers of happy tailing permit on the flats, some bonefish and rolling baby tarpon.
Yesterday day Mark R. from Montana got 3 juvenile tarpon to eat a toad fly.
Weird day today,,,,, FOG... Impenetrable New England fog... Steven King fog.. Rolling in from the Gulf side. Went fishing with two other guide friends. We made our way into the back with a lot of help from the GPS.. thought even thought the tides were all wrong.. that the baby tarpon would have to roll in the twilight... well they proved us wrong..
After checking multiple spots we finally left the fog and headed back ocean side. Seen a couple schools of small bones and finished up looking for tarpon. Found some 6 footers on top in 76 degree water... Could not get the right angle or cast on them,, but I tried... not good enough... tomorrow.. Love throwing flies at those big fish..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Jan. 30th
So much for my New Years Resolution of keeping current with fishing reports.. It has been 3 weeks.. Since my last report. Sorry...
The weather and the fishing was outstanding the first two weeks of January. We were finding tailing permit, rolling tarpon and bonefish on the in coming tides.. Then as is typical for this time of year we received a cold front, which dropped temperatures into the low 60's and even the 50's. Well, it is winter even in the Florida Keys..
A week later(felt like a lot longer then that) it warmed back up.. Just in time to take Pat and his girl friend fishing.. I was still wearing fleece, but they were from Alaska and were in shorts and tee shirts.. Water was still cool, fishing was tough, but we had fun with cudas, sharks and jacks. Pat hooked a permit off a coral head and a big goliath grouper on the flats next to the mangroves.
Later in the week I fished with John and Ed. It warmed up!! We got shots at redfish, snook, bonefish, permit(one ate Ed's live crab) Hooked several baby tarpon and even got some shots at 6 foot tarpon in a winter warm up spot.. Boated tarpon, cudas, sharks and jacks...fun two days. We fished till dark both days, chucking tube lures over a warm up flat full of 4 foot cudas when we lost the light to sight fish... John says he will be back..
Jan 29.... Got a last minute call to take Bruce fishing. A cold front was coming and he wanted to get in a day on the flats before it hit. Good thinking!! Tides and temperature were perfect. But I could not find bonefish... After 3 flats we gave up on bonefish and found permit and tarpon Bruce got 4 baby tarpon to eat a tan toad fly. Nice work Bruce!
Front hit yesterday after noon... but not before I checked out a big tarpon spot with a couple of friends. We got into a BUNCH of laid up 6 foot tarpon in the same warm up spot I took John,, Mark Raisler fed one a tan toad fly, before we had to race the front back to the marina..
That's all the news I have...highs in the mid 60s today... time to tye flies... It will warm back up in a couple of days..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Jan. 8th
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The weather and the fishing continue to be great here in the Florida Keys..
Fly Fishing For Bonefish and Permit In The Florida Keys
Water temperatures are in the mid 70's.. The last several days have been very good for permit in the back country. Lots of permit on the coral heads and on the flats.. The very beginning of the incoming tide has been good for bone fish. Today we hooked 3 on flies. the fly of choice was a #2 white Cracked Crab. Later in the day when the flats near the channels warm up I have been finding some nice schools of baby tarpon and even some 100lbers as well. Earlier in the week we had some extreme low tides in the back country and we also found some snook and red fish..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec. 21st.
The weather and the fishing has been good the last week. Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Dan and Jackie. Honey mooning and fishing in the keys... We got some shots at 5 to 6 foot tarpon on the flats!!! Not real common this time of year.. Hooked up on some monster Jacks crashing bait.. Dan hooked his first permit!
Lately, just about every other coral head has permit on it.. Earlier last week a friend and I spent days trying to get them to eat. I have not faced that much rejection since my last high school dance. Water temps finally warmed up enough for them to eat today..
Fished with Jim and Nick yesterday, we found baby tarpon in several spots. Jim got three to eat a toad fly..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec. 12th
Dec 12th Video Fishing Report... mackerel. redfish permit and tarpon
Fishing here continues to oscillate between epic and tough depending on the weather..Poled a buddy into a bunch of permit yesterday...got over a dozen shots with the fly rod...later in the day I poled him into some nice schools of baby tarpon... got 10 eats on a toad fly..jumped a couple..got some of the eats and jumps on video.. YAY!! The day before we got a red to the boat, busted off a permit, got shots at snook and bones too.. not bad for the middle of Dec.
For those of you who like smoked fish and fish dip, the mackerel blitz continues on the gulf edge. Thousands of mackerel are crashing bait on the surface. Out going tide is best..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec. 8th
Weather continues to be pretty good for the end of the year. Water temps have been starting out in the high 60's and getting into the low 70's in the afternoon. Cooler water temperatures are bring BIG cudas up on the flats..
On the gulf edge there are thousands of gulls feeding on the bait driven to the surface by Spanish mackerel.. It is blitz fishing!!! Mackerel crashing bait fish...birds diving for bait fish.. It is wild..
I fished with Capt. Jimmy Reese from S.C. two days ago.. Water temps were low, but we still found some rolling baby tarpon. Jimmy got 4 to eat a toad fly.
The day before that I fished with a buddy, we got some nice big cudas on tube lures. The wind laid down in the afternoon and we found lots of permit floating in some warm up water..
Dec 5-7th Video Fishing Report... tailing permit, barracuda & mackerel
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 29th
Flats fishing has been a smorgasbord the last several days. I have been finding lots of redfish and snook. White flies and shrimp have been productive. The last several days the water has warmed up enough for tarpon, permit and bonefish. If that is not enough, our winter time barracudas have arrived as well..
Fly Fishing for Snook in The Florida Keys
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 24th
Cooler weather has lowered the water temperatures on the flats. The last couple of days we have found some bonefish, permit and even some tarpon. I have mainly been targeting redfish. Redfish are more tolerant of cooler water temperatures and will pounce on a live shrimp or a well placed fly.
Large barracudas are also moving on to the flats.. We got several nice ones on tube lures a couple of days ago..
Weather is looking good for tommorrow and later this week!
Sight fishing for barracuda on the flats.
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 18th
Last Friday and Saturday were epic.. Water temperatures were in the low 80's.. Bonefish were moving onto the flats with the incoming tide along with permit. We found good numbers of tarpon too on the top of the tide later in the day. Fished with Rob from N.J. Friday... Rob hooked 5 tarpon on his new tarpon fly..
It is hard to film and pole while on charter.. While fishing with my girl friend on Saturday we spotted a large school of Jacks on the gulf edge.. It was a blast!!! Jan also got shots at permit, tarpon, bonefish and barracudas..
JACK ATTACK! Sight Fishing For Jacks
Another cold front hit Sunday... Which has given me some time to work on my web site and video reports... Water temps dopped into the 60s.. I fished with Marten and Alice from England. They thought the weather was just fine.. We boated several sharks and snapper and did get some shots at baby tarpon and snook..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 15 th
Sight Fishing Goliath Grouper On The Flats..
Steve Helland from Mn. left the chilly north to fish several days with me in the chilly south.. He actually arrived between two cold fronts.. We battled cool water temps, north wind and cloudy conditions. We did find a few tailing permit, some bonefish and even some tarpon..
While fishing for redfish, we spot a Goliath grouper under the mangroves. Steve makes some excellent casts, tight to the mangroves. The set up we initially used was adequate for redfish, but not for a big grouper with the drag cranked down..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Oct 20th
20 mph NE wind today,,,got out and pushed the boat on a falling tide to get in a deeper spot on the lee ward side of a island..
The tide dropped out leaving us trapped for several hours in 5 acre lee..with about 100 snook that were forced out of the mangroves..
White flies and live shrimp both paid off... They were foot and a half to 3 foot long.. It was a blast..
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Oct 10th
Fall is typicaly one of the better times to fish for bonefish in the lower Florida Keys. This October has been good. We have been seeing some very large singles pushing up on the flats in some very shallow water on the begining of the incoming tide. Also some large schools of smaller bonefish in some of the back bays...
Permit fishing has been good as well..
Been a little windy and sunny to look for baby tarpon the last several days.. But when the wind lays down and the water smooths out,, you can find them rolling on the surface on cloudy days and early morning,,,
Guides Day Off. Two Florida Keys Guides Fly Fishing For Tailing Bonefish.
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Oct 4th
Fly Fishing for Bonefish in The Florida Keys
I am back in the keys after a nice vacation in Montana. The Rockies are increadable but it is great to be back on the flats again.
October is one of the best months in the lower Keys for bonefish. There are some very big fish prowling the flats in some very thin water. Have also been seeing some large schools of smaller bones which bodes well for the future.
Along with bonefish on the flats are also permit, redfish and baby tarpon.
Fall is "Grand Slam" month in the Florida Keys.
Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Aug. 20th
I spend most of the year guiding in the Florida Keys, but left the Keys early July to fish Montana and Alaska. How ever I have a hard time staying away from the flats too long. Just returned from a trip to the keys with Mike Ward. Mike is an outfitter on the Missouri River in Montana and operates under the name of Fishy Expeditions.
Fly Fishing For Baby Tarpon In The Florida Keys
Mike put LOTS of tarpon in the air. The baby tarpon fishing was outstanding! (Can you really call a three foot fish a baby?) On no and low wind days we found them rolling on the surface. Gurglers (floating foam shrimp fly) stripped slowly across the surface, produced some explosive strikes, followed by lots of jumps. I love seeing these fish in the air. The last day we found a large school of tarpon crashing glass minnows on the surface. It was epic!
Baby tarpon are my favorite, but there are also lots of bones and permit on the flats as well.
