Filed under Key West Fly Fishing, Tarpon fishing by info | 0 comments
This previous week has given us a multitude of different weather conditions. Last monday the wildfires to the north of us, tried to choke us with smoke. In fact, at times it was difficult to see across backcountry basins much less spot a tarpon in the soup. Tuesday we awoke to strong thunderstorms and heavy rains, but for those that had the determination the fishing was worth the effort. The rest of the week brought us typical May conditions; partly cloudy, winds about 10mph and good numbers of happy tarpon. And now as I write this I can hear the wind blowing outside and showers are passsing by.
I spent the majority of my time last week working backcountry bars and edges and fishing oceanside basins. I tried to avoid the madhouse that the ocean can be at times in May. I had the pleasure of fishing Don Wood and Justin Martin. We had several good days getting multiple bites, putting a good number of fish in the air and landing a majority of those hooked. While there are not huge numbers of fish in the back, the solitude and aggressiveness of the fish has been worth the hard work. On some edges we would pole and pole and finally have a couple of shots, but often both shots would be rewarded with at least an eat and often a big fish in the air. This is my favorite type of fishing. Others can have the huge numbers of fish (and boats) currently swimming the ocean. I would rather have happy fish and see almost no other boats (other than John).
This past weekend I returned to my roots and fished west of Key West for the first time this season. I fished a lot of my old haunts, splitting time between hunting for laid up pods and looking for the sliders on the oceanside. The fishing was just like I remembered and it was a nice change of pace. I believe we had about 10 bites and caught a couple of bright, spunky fish. Although it was a couple of weeks late, May and its good fishing seem to finally be here. The fish are eating better and the consistensy that we all know and love this time of the year has finally arrived.
Capt Drew
Filed under Key West Fly Fishing, Tarpon fishing by info | 0 comments
The Southwest Florida wildfires have added an erie element to our calm waters. The last week we have been greeted each morning with little or no winds, but our clear skies have been filled with blankets of wildfire smoke. You would think we were fishing Montana in August. Despite the smoke clouds the fishing has been better than average. The poons are swimming well along the Lower Keys Atlantic lanes. For those willing to play the numbers game, they have been eating, but 95% of the fish swim by showing little interest in even our best presentations. Personally, I can only take so much rejection, and have been spending as little time as possible fishing for these swimmers. Most of my time has been spent hunting backcountry corners looking for little pockets of fish that have decided to quit swimming and spend a little time here. Most of these corners have been near empty, but when you find the fish, it is worth the wait.
Steve Schimdt of Western Rivers Outfitters and friend Ken Louder put up with hours of such “fishing” and were rewarded with two afternoons of spectacular fishing. We were not fishing a “top secret” area, but nonetheless found the edge to ourselves. It wasn’t the numbers that were so impressive (there were a ton of fish though), but rather what the fish were doing. Every fish was big, high in the water column, often with tails out of the water, and very shallow. Many of our shots were at fish laid-up and sliding fish in only a couple of feet of water. On top of this the fish themselves were unusually bright many with distinct orange and pink tails. Beautiful fish and fishing. Our last two days yielded 12 or so “bites” with only a hadful of fish in the air (three for those keeping score). This doesn’t sound like much, but there was something about how we were fishing that left us all feeling like rockstars at the end of the day. Fun stuff.
Well, tomorrow i am off looking for exactly the opposite thing. I’m off to find the thundering herd in the Marquesas. I will let you know how it goes.
Capt John
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Well, its the first week in May, and the tarpon fishing is supposed to be great. I would love to lie and say it has been but that’s not our style. Don’t get me wrong, there are fish around and in good numbers but we have to work for every fish we catch. There are a few fish swimming on the ocean, but the majority of our fish and fishing is taking place in Atlantic facing basins (crowded with boats) and backcountry corners (we have them to ourselves). In the past ten days of fishing my clients have hooked 17 tarpon ranging from 50-120lb. These stats aren’t bad, but they won’t turn ay heads either. Keep poling and the fish will find you.
Capt John
This previous week has given us a multitude of different weather conditions. Last monday the wildfires to the north of us, tried to choke us with smoke. In fact, at times it was difficult to see across backcountry basins much less spot a tarpon in the soup. Tuesday we awoke to strong thunderstorms and heavy rains, but for those that had the determination the fishing was worth the effort. The rest of the week brought us typical May conditions; partly cloudy, winds about 10mph and good numbers of happy tarpon. And now as I write this I can hear the wind blowing outside and showers are passsing by.
I spent the majority of my time last week working backcountry bars and edges and fishing oceanside basins. I tried to avoid the madhouse that the ocean can be at times in May. I had the pleasure of fishing Don Wood and Justin Martin. We had several good days getting multiple bites, putting a good number of fish in the air and landing a majority of those hooked. While there are not huge numbers of fish in the back, the solitude and aggressiveness of the fish has been worth the hard work. On some edges we would pole and pole and finally have a couple of shots, but often both shots would be rewarded with at least an eat and often a big fish in the air. This is my favorite type of fishing. Others can have the huge numbers of fish (and boats) currently swimming the ocean. I would rather have happy fish and see almost no other boats (other than John).
This past weekend I returned to my roots and fished west of Key West for the first time this season. I fished a lot of my old haunts, splitting time between hunting for laid up pods and looking for the sliders on the oceanside. The fishing was just like I remembered and it was a nice change of pace. I believe we had about 10 bites and caught a couple of bright, spunky fish. Although it was a couple of weeks late, May and its good fishing seem to finally be here. The fish are eating better and the consistensy that we all know and love this time of the year has finally arrived.