Lower Keys

October 2010

Ready to fish again

It was getting cold in the Seattle area and the steelhead were not biting well so it was time to seek out warmer weather and hopefully some fish on the flats that were willing to eat a fly. On Monday morning I hopped a flight to Miami, picked up a car and started the drive south to U.S. 1 and the Florida Keys. The plan was to fish somewhere between Largo Sound and Bahia Honda on Tuesday then head to Big Pine to drop off gear before driving to the end of the road at Key West for dinner and to pick up Bruce Chard at the airport. Then fish around the Lower Keys for four days with Bruce before flying back home on Sunday.

I arrived in Miami ahead of schedule and even managed to get my bag and rental car before my original arrival time. I immediately got lost trying to get to the Dolphin Expressway only to hit tons of traffic there but by the time I hit the turnpike it was moving and I was in Key Largo before sunset. I walked to dinner, relaxed a bit and then went for a moonlight swim and hot tub before crashing for about 9 hours.

Tuesday - DIY bonefishing in the Keys

I got up a bit later than normal, walked over to Starbucks for coffee and breakfast. I then hit the road and headed down US 1 to Long Key State Park. Conditions were perfect, the sun was at my back as was the wind. Visibility was great, I could clearly see no bones for the next few hours. I did see mullet, bonnet sharks, barracuda, puffers, needlefish and rays. Even without fish to cast for it was a perfect three hours of wading.

Wading with my Vibrams Flats at Long Key State Park

I left Long Key and headed back north. I fished Anne's Beach on Lower Matacumbe for an hour again seeing nothing. I continued north to Worldwide Sportsman and the Islamorada Fish Co. for a grouper sandwich. Then back south to Bahia Honda State Park where I walked another several miles of flat again seeing pretty much everything but bonefish.

Tarpon at Islamorada Flats at Bahia Honda

I spent the evening in Key West getting downtown right at sunset. Made my annual pilgrimage to Margaritaville for dinner, then a walk up and down Duval St., a final coffee and finally the drive to the airport to pick up Bruce.

Wednesday - finally broke the bone skunk

Today started out with perfect weather. There was sun and light wind as we headed out. First stop was looking for tarpon but none were to be found at all. We next headed for a nearby bonefish flat and saw nothing on the flat at all aside from a few barracuda and sharks. On the next flat we finally was a few bones but the clouds were starting to roll in and it was getting harder to spot them. I finally had a group of fish in range, got off a good cast, had a follow and hit but missed the fish. The group was still around and I got off another cast and finally connected with a bone, cleared the line without a glitch, and after a few good runs managed to finally land my first bonefish of the trip and the first Keys bonefish I managed to actually land.

First Keys bonefish landed! Releasing

The afternoon was hard. Visibility was next to zero but we kept trying. Out at Content Key we were on a great slot where fish were moving through but we wouldn't see them until they were on top of the boat so I made a lot of 15-20' casts getting a few follows and nips but no connections. We decided to move over to the ocean side to look for tailing fish at Coupon Bight. This was a good choice, for the next few hours we found groups of bonefish tailing and pushing water even with no light to actually see the fish. In the first group of tailing fish I got a nice one to take and he quickly was way into the backing. The fish made several runs and was probably on it's last run when a shark took chase, there was a huge boil and the fish was off. We found 3-4 other groups if fish and I managed two more hookups, both 6-7 lbs bones that took a Borski Slider I had tied. Not a bad day given we never saw a fish after lunch time, just nervous water and a few tails.

Another fish on! Nice bonefish
One more good fish Bonefish get Bruce excited

We finished the day with a celebratory dinner at The Square Grouper followed by the playoffs

Thursday - Permit hunting west of Key West

Awoke to totally clear skies this morning so we decided to head to Key West to launch and fish the flats around the harbor and west of Key West. While we had sun all day we had the wind to contend with. The forecast as 10-15 but already in the morning it was 20-25 and blowing such that visibility was great upwind but horrible downwind which made for tough conditions.

Key West from flats - the cruise ship is way higher than the island

We had out first permit shot on the second flat and I got off a decent cast to the fish but as I slowly stripped the fish spooked. The current and strip had the fly heading at the fish instead of away from it and 20 lbs permit are not used to being attacked by a 1" crab.

At the next flat we covered a lot of ground and at a spot where a channel ended we finally saw a group of fish working. We got within range, I cast in front of one feeding fish and as soon as I came tight he was on. The fish continued with his group a bit and finally had a great run way into the backing. The fight was good though I think the bonefish yesterday actually ran longer and faster while the permit would go broadside a lot. Finally he tired and I landed my first Keys permit, a 12 lbs fish. This pretty much made my trip.

Finally, first Keys permit!

The afternoon was tough to say the least. The water had all mudded up somewhat, visibility was worse and the wind kept up. We hit 4-5 flats but never saw another permit, only barracuda, sharks, rays and turtles. I was really glad to have made a perfect cast on the fish in the morning.

After getting back to Big Pine I did a 4.5 mile run in the heat seeing a few Keys deer on the way. After showering and cooling down we headed to Parrotdise for tuna rolls and a permit celebration margarita.

Friday - Sun, wind but no skunk

Launch at Dolphin Marina Keys deer swimming

Last night was calm as can be but this morning the wind started up as soon as the sun came up. The day was clear but winds were in the 15-20 range from the start so we had to find places where the wind wasn't horrible and we had good visibility. We started on the ocean side off Big Pine Key looking for bones and hit two long flats and saw nothing but sharks and one Keys deer swimming in the water.

We then headed into the gulf and on the first bonefish flat we came on we found one group of three bones. I got off a good cast, stripped, the lead fish took and as soon as I strip striked the fish decided to put on the turbo in the other direction and cracked my fly off. That was it for a great looking flat.

At the next flat I got up with the bonefish rod and we immediately ran into a group of permit. I switched to the permit rod and managed a few casts to the fish. On one cast a permit appeared to grab the fly but I had a bit of slack and didn't get the hook set properly. The rest of mid-day was a bit of permit chaos. We saw fish and I had 3-4 other legit shots but we also had fish come to the boat in the glare, fish in front of us before the boat was even fully on the flat and under control, or fish upwind that were impossible to reach. It got a bit frustrating but we did see a lot of permit. On one of the flats a school of jacks came in and I managed to hook up easily and, of course, was fighting the Jack when bonefish and permit were going by the boat at a good angle. It was a nice Jack though, about 6-8 lbs and fought well.

Finally in the late afternoon the bones started showing up again. First shot I had a grab that I missed. Second shot I hooked up and the fish started to run, came back at the boat, got slack and got off. After a few other shots I did hook up solidly and landed a decent 3 lbs bone to save the day.
Another bone

Saturday - Rain, wind and very tough conditions

The last day of the trip started out wet. I awoke to rain falling and wind blowing so decided it was a good time to take a run since we would not be leaving early. By 9:00 the skies had cleared a bit while the wind stayed in the 15-20 range. We put in at Little Torch and headed into the back county to look for bonefish. We got to a great flat when the tide bottomed out and sat to wait for the incoming to start flooding the flat and door fish to come up. We got one shot at a cruising permit who cared nothing about the fly while waiting. We then saw a group of nice bones but never got off a cast before they vanished. We spent a good half hour trying to find the fish again and when we finally did find them they were moving away at a good clip so I only had a few shots over their backs as we chased them 1/4 mile down the flat in minutes. Then the next huge raincloud covered the sun and turned out the lights, all we could do is grab rain gear and head to the mangrove island to hunker down.

At the island I did tie on a Clouser to my 8-weight and cast into the mangroves for snook but getting a few mangrove snapper and a barracuda, not quite the same as bonefish but today any fish would be welcome. The rain hung on in our area while it was clear to the south and west so off we went in search of clear skies.

It almost looks easy in the lee Running into the wind

Bruce warned me that after the rain the wind would really blow and blow it did. Our 15-20 quickly turned into 25-30 as we sought out small lees to try and fish. On one very promising spot we found tons of rays, bonnets and lemon sharks but no bonefish until one fish showed up just as we came around the point into the ripping wind. At several other flats we had repeats, usually seeing one bone that came right at the boat in the glare line and spooked away which is when we spotted it finally. Never had a shot the rest of the day at a fish though we kept trying until more rain moved in and it just got ridiculous with the wind.

Brownie Sundae at The Square

We ended the trip returning to The Square with Bruce's new house guest, Rusty. All in all a very good trip. Getting 4/5 days of decent weather is almost unheard of for me in the Keys and having three pretty good fishing days in a row was great. Finally got the Keys bone and Keys permit after trying hard and failing the last few years. I will, I'm sure, be back.

Previous Keys trips