Key West Fly Fishing

Well it looks like Drew beat me to the punch and published a report before I had a chance.  Sorry Drew.  Anyway, I still feel compelled to add a little to his words.  At the risk of hyperbole, I must say that the bonefishing that I witnessed the last two days has been off the charts.  Two days ago, after a morning of excellent baby tarpon fishing (slick calm shrimp hatch) I took my clients (Andrew and Jennifer Watson of Memphis TN) to meet the young flood on a bank Northeast of Big Pine.  We were greeted by armies of tailing bonefish.  Several of the schools numbered well in to the hundreds, while the smaller schools held at least twenty to thirty fish.  For at least an hour and a half we were surrounded by these schools of tailers.  With the rushing tide, tailing depth didn’t last too long and a thunderstorm to the west blocked our light and our fishing came to a screeching halt.

Yesterday after our shrimp hatch died we returned to the same bank for the young flood.  The bonefish were there, but they were very reluctant to tail for extended periods.  The reason for this was quickly revealed as every school of fish was shadowed by three to five lemon sharks.  Needless to say, these schools were reluctant to feed.  However, unlike the previous day, out light was great and once the bank flooded, the bonefish escaped the sharks and started to feed voraciously.  Huge schools of fish (50-100 fish) blowing mud, racing down tide and mudding again.  Such fishing continued for hours, but the intensity caught up to us and we left the fish for more peaceful and tarpon rich waters.  The past two days of bonefishing might best be summed up by the comment made by Andros regular Andrew Watson.  “John, you don’t have to go to Andros, you have it here.” 

With the annual Redbone SLAM tournament (bait chunkers delight) coming up next weekend, I am sure my fishing will tank, but at least it was fun while it lasted. 

Now if you will excuse me, I need to get back to my birdwatching.  The fall migration has begun.  In the time it took to write this I have seen a Kentucky Warbler, Grey Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and several other yet unidentified warblers.  Time to go get out the binoculars and my Peterson guide.

Later,

Capt John

Summer has definitely settled on the Lower Florida Keys this month. With the so called “summer doldrums” the fishing can be a bit of a roller coaster ride. One day fish will be everywhere the next they can be difficult to find and feed. Tides are critical this time of the year, the strong flows associated with the new and full moon bring cooler, more oxygenated water to the flats making the fish happier and often more agressive. August, being one of the slower months (business wise), typically provides us with a lot of opportunities to enjoy some time on the bow of the skiff.

The bonefishing this month has been, for the most part, nothing short of outstanding. Good numbers of strong, fat fish have frequented backcountry banks on both incoming and falling tides greedily feeding across the flats. We have had several mornings of catching at least four fish and loosing several others. Most of the fish have been in the 5-8 lb range, with some larger fish including a personal best 14 lb midday tailer that I caught earlier this month. The fly pattern has not been particularly important as long as it is appropriately weighted to stay in the fish’s feeding zone.

The permit fishing has been a little disappointing. Some days there are good numbers and a few days later on a “better” tide they are scattered and spooky. John and I experienced just that last Monday despite near perfect tides and wind. The permit seemed to be concentrated in small areas, certainly not widespread, and the fish were very unsettled. The fish that we found were quickly cruising and when they did feed and mud they would quickly pick up and start moving again showing very little interest in our offerings. Hopefully the fish will return to their normal late summer pattern as we get into September and October.

The tarpon fishing, epecially in the backcountry, has been a very consistent fishery. Lots of juvenile fish in the 10-30lb range have been swimming the edges of basins and banks and holding under the shade of overhanging mangroves. John, depsite windy conditions, found a good shrimp hatch yesterday getting numerous bites and putting some fish in the air. Additionally, at the end of the day he found several toads laid up in a secluded cove and his angler managed to coax a hundred pounder into biting and giving a brief showing of its magnificent power.

While the fishing has been inconsistent at times this month, for the most part it has held its own and provided us with some great fish and memories. The past several days have given us clues that fall is not too far away. The sun is getting a little lower in the sky, the humidity is down and the wind has been out of the east to northeast. As fall begins to take a grip, the permit and bonefish will become main targets.

Capt Drew

Now that the chaos of lobster mini-season has passed the fishing regains it appropriate place as our primary focus. This past week I fished with one of my favorite clients, Graham Anderson from Calgary. We spent five days fishing hard for permit. Despite the outstanding tides and a more than capable angler, we were unable to get any love from the permit gods. Whether it was the west winds, shifty visibilty, stormy weather, or some return to a former level of ineptitude on my part, the fishing was just not what I had hoped for. We fished from east of Key West all the way to the Marquesas, often on the same day, and the fish were not widespread and they seemed to have little interest in even our best offerings. It was a very disappointing week at least in terms of catching.

As usual, the day after Graham left town the skies cleared and winds shifted out of a more normal southeasterly direction. The only way to rebound from a tough week is to go fishing and John and I finally had the opportunity (the first time in months) this past friday. Despite wanting to focus on permit, we left the dock early hoping to get into some early morning hatches for tarpon. We arrived at the basin and were greeted by a number of large fish happily rolling in all directions. Not fifteen minutes later a cloud line swept over bringing winds of 15-20 and ending any chances of getting some fish in the air. For several hours we waited for the tide to come in and the sun to get high enough to begin permit fishing with confidence.

We focused on a small area, thouroughly fishing the flats and making short runs to take advantage of current and water levels. We managed about 18-20 shots at happy, aggressive permit that worked across the flats tailing and mudding in search of food. The first fish that we hooked, grabbed the fly and violently began shaking its head (much like a tarpon will do) as it swam toward me. The fish stayed on and was running against a light drag when it randomly broke off. After a closer inspection, there was some abrasion farther up the leader so the fish must have clipped it on the bottom. Luckily, redemption wasn’t far away and a few shots later I hooked and landed one about 18lbs. Not much after that, John felt and saw the fly pull out of another fish’s lower lip.

Definitely an enjoyable way to spend a day. I don’t know if it was the weather, the lack of guiding pressure to immediately find fish, or the confidence of having some permit fishing under my belt after a long tarpon season, but the day was much more like we expect than my fishing earlier in the week.

Capt Drew

Hello everyone.  Today was a break in the normal fishing routine.  Being the last wednesday in July, it marked the beginning of Sportsman mini-season; a recreational spiny lobster season.  For you non-Floridians, this is when seemingly half of South Florida visits the Keys in what is essentailly a wild west-style free for all.  Two days of diving, snorkeling, bad boating, bad ettiquete, and good eating.  With the immense boating pressure, flats fishing is out of the question.  If you can’t beat them, join them… right?  So Drew, myself and mutual friend Capt Shane Wood (a hard working and talented first year flats guide) set out at sunrise to see if we couldn’t catch a few “bugs” ourselves.  My one “spot”, which was unoccupied, provided us with our limit (6 lobsters per person) in 40 minutes. Safe and sound and back at the dock in less than two hours. 

I know, enough with the lobstering.  What about the fishing?  I just finished up a four day charter with Charles Smid from Moose, Wyoming.  He wanted to target only large tarpon (50+lb) and he had consistent success during his run of charters (he fished four days with Drew prior to our days together).  He jumped nine fish and caught nine more with at least as many missed eats.  His fish ranged from 100lb pigs to 30lb babies.  In our first two days of fishing, Charles and I started each morning in large basins throwing gurglers to tarpon actively feeding on juvenile triggerfish (I swear that this is not BS).  A.M. falling tides and slick mornings are the recipe for these July hatches.  You have not lived until you see a 100lb fish catapult out of the water to eat a tiny gurgler.  It is AWESOME.  Afternoons poling similar basins provided good fishing to large single laid-up fish and shots at schools of aggressive 30-50lb poons.  A shift in A.M. tides ended our hatch fishing and forced us to pole ocean swim lanes looking for the last of the migrants and the lonely locals.  There are never a lot of these fish around this time of year, but patience/perseverance pays as they are willing eaters.  20-30 shots in a day is a reasonable expectation, and that is what Charles and I experienced.  Our last afternoon, we encountered a small push of fish with the beginning of a flood tide at the Southwest corner of the Marquesas.  Two 50lb fish in an hour was a great way to end the trip.

Well, I’d better go.  Its time to spin up a few permit flies for this week’s moon tides and crack open a cold beer in anticipation for the meal of grilled lobster tails and deep fried lobster nuggets.

 ’Til next time,

Capt John

We have seen a change in the fishing since last reporting at the end of last month. The numbers of big tarpon have begun to dwindle, but the permit fishing has been getting steadily better. While there are still some large tarpon both swimming and laid up, the numbers that we were seeing even as recently as two weeks ago have declined. However, the baby tarpon fishing has helped fill in the slack created by the departure of their bigger brethern. Many of the edges that hold them in the summer are filling up and they can be found rolling and holding in the shadows of their mangrove lairs. Additionally, the permit fishing has been very good. The fish have been tailing, mudding and cruising and suprisingly relaxed given the calm weather we have experienced the past couple of weeks.

This past week I fished with Tomonori Higashi, Tomohide Kashiwagi both of Japan and Bernard Ramanauskas, cane fly rod builder extradonaire. They rotated and shared bow time throughout the week primarily chasing tarpon. Although the main target of some late season giants proved difficult, we managed to jump or catch fish from 120lbs down to 15lbs (most in the 20-50 range). I definitely enjoyed the week, but certainly had hoped for better numbers of big fish. Hopefully next year.

I did get the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to fish an afternoon with my Dad, Jim, and borther-in-law, Alex Neubauer. Despite getting on the water after five o’clock we managed to catch one tarpon about 130lbs, have two more eat (three shots total) and catch 3 bonefish. It was the first time I had looked for evening tailers and they were moving in waves across some of my favorite gulf side flats. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come this summer. The two photos are from that evening.

Capt Drew

Since John last wrote on the first of this month, the weather has definitely made a change for the better. What had been a cool year, did a quick 180 and quickly became summer. I couldn’t be happier. We have been blessed with light winds and hot temperatures and the fish have responded. The fish have been in their usual haunts, laying up in shallow basins and cruising the Atlantic fish lanes. Some days you simply stop the boat and the fish quickly have you surrounded. With the summer-like conditions I have found sporadic shrimp and guppy hatches. The fish have been attacking the stunned bait and any fly placed in their path.

Last week I fish with Ken Linde from Oregon. Almost everyday was calm conditions although some days the clouds made spotting fish difficult. He caught a number of fish that ranged from around 100lbs to 30lbs, often in the same areas. We spent the majority of time looking for laid up singles and pods, but occasionally made the run to the ocean when the tide was just right.

The recent fishing has definitely been better than most of the season, but still not just fantastic. As we move into summer and the boats continue to thin out, hopefully the fishing will last and there will be plenty of big fish to chase without any other fishing pressure. As we move into July the focus will still be on tarpon, but bonefish and permit will definitely start getting more and more attention.

Capt Drew

Whatever Drew said about consistency and the return of “May fishing” please disregard.  It has been windy (20kts +), cloudy and rainy for the last couple of days, and windy for the last two weeks.  There are still some tarpon around, but the conditions have been ill suited to fishing for them.  If you can’t see its hard to catch them.  The word on the street is that this system over us now is about to get a name.  I guess it is officially “Hurricane Season.”  Anyway, this weird year just keeps getting weirder.  In case you haven’t figured it out already, the fishing has been terrible the last few days.

praying for sun,

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.

Capt Drew

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

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