All things considered, September was a great month for fishing in the Lower Keys. We ended the month with a close call from Hurricane Helene, but we got lucky and it just missed us. The weather was still bad enough to keep us off the water for a few days, but we were back out catching fish shortly after it passed. The bonefish and tarpon fishing continue to be great and the permit fishing continues to be slow. Most of the tarpon are smaller, like 10-30lbs, but we still have a few big fish around. The flats fishing should be good for another month or so, until the cold fronts start and then it will get harder and less consistent. It has started to feel like fall the last few weeks, as a lot of different baitfish schools began showing up in the backcountry and the water is also starting to cool off after these last two storms brushed past us. Also, the birds of prey began their migration south and we spotted a few Kestrels, Cooper’s Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks and a few others.
August Fishing Report
August was pretty slow down here in the Lower Keys and some of the restaurants have started to close for a few weeks, during our slow season. We had some tourists around early in the month for the start lobster season and there were some people around last weekend for the holiday, but overall it’s been quiet. Although, it may feel like the fall in some parts of the country, it still feels very much like summer down here and it will for at least another month. The flats fishing last month was consistently good for tarpon and bonefish and it should stay that way well into October. If you can deal with the heat, this is a great time of year to visit the keys for a few different reasons; you can find better deals on flights and hotels, the fishing is still good and there is not a lot pressure on the fish right now.
June Fishing Report
Although mother nature hasn’t been kind to us the last few days, overall the weather this past month has been awesome and the fishing has been great. Big tarpon are usually the goal this time of year, so that is what we’ve been focusing on. There have been a lot of tarpon in the Lower Keys right now and the fish have been eating most days. When we do go look for bonefish, that has been great too and you can get a lot of shots when the tide gets right out back. The fishing should remain excellent for the next couple months too. The big tarpon may start moving on soon, but there are always some fish hang around all summer and the bonefish and permit fishing should be just heating up.
December Fishing Report
Dolphin in December
Tuna
Mutton Snapper
Winter fishing is in full affect around Key West. For the last month we have been doing a lot of live bait fishing offshore and around the reef. Pilchards and ballyhoo have been the bait of choice for the most part and they have been pretty easy to come by so far this year. The tuna bite on the offshore wrecks has been excellent the past couple weeks now. We have been able to catch them anytime during the day, but the bite around the evening has been the best. Mixed in with the tunas have been bonitas, rainbow runners, kingfish and amberjacks. Also, when we had nice, clean blue water, the dolphin and wahoo were around. The mutton snappers have been on the bottom around the wrecks too. The sailfishing has not been great, there have been a few fish around, but we haven’t seen any large numbers of fish yet this season. The conditions are right for the sailfish to show up though.
Kingfish and cero mackerels are thick around on the reef. We have been catching a lot of them as were yellowtailing, especially when the ballyhoo show up in the chum slick. The yellowtail snapper bite has been consistent and the fish have been nice size. Chunks of bonita and live pilchards have been working best bait for them. There have also been some big mutton snappers on the shallow patch reefs. This is the time of year to catch big muttons in shallow, as they move into the cooler water in the winter. Pilchards and bonita strips will work on the muttons, but live ballyhoo are the preferred bait.
For the most part, Barracudas are the main fish we target in the backcountry in the winter. They prefer the cooler temperatures and they actually get more aggressive when it gets colder. They are an awesome fish to target on light tackle or with a fly rod. They will attack the lure or fly violently and they fight incredibly well. It is no easy task catching a barracuda in shallow water. Days when its super windy and hard to get out on the flats, we drift the basins for trout, snapper, ladyfish and jacks. We have also been fishing the backcountry channels with live pilchards and you catch a variety of fish on live bait, from snappers and jacks to barracudas and mackerel. Shark fishing in the backcountry is another fun activity when the wind is blowing.
Barracuda
January Fishing Report
The winter fishing in Key West is in full swing. There have been sailfish, wahoo and tuna around offshore. Leading up to this full moon, we spent most of our time targeting tunas and wahoo on live baits. The tuna bite on pilchards has been fantastic around the wrecks, particularly later in the afternoon. The wahoo have been eating larger live baits, such as blue runners and they have been around the edge of the reef. We have had some very breezy weather this week and some of the trips haven't made it offshore. Instead we fished some of the inshore rock piles and patch reefs. The mutton snapper bite has been good around the nearshore rock piles. Most of them have been eating live pilchards or ballyhoo. As a bonus, the porgy bite has been red hot around the patch reefs too.
The backcountry fishing has been good, when the weather has been warm enough there have been some bonefish around. This week with the colder weather though, we have been seeing more barracudas on the flats. The basins have been holding a lot of life, from snappers to trout to jacks. The mud slicks have been thick and we've also been seeing the jacks chasing schools of ballyhoo around the backcountry.
Mutton Snapper
wahoo