About Florida keys Flats fishing for tourists by
a tourist
Florida Keys is home
to wide variety of sport fish and a wide variety of environments
in which to fish for them.
The focus of this site
is the fishing of the saltwater flats and grass beds which surround
many parts of the Florida Keys. The saltwater flats are home to
many species of game fish such as bonefish, tarpon , permit , barracuda
and sharks. The mangrove channels and surrounding water also have
many different species of fish such as snook, seatrout , crevelle
jacks and cobia.
For the most part if
you are visiting the Florida Keys it’s best to hire a guide
to take you flats fishing. The waters are big sometimes difficult
to navigate and the fishing is vastly different then freshwater
fishing. Hiring a guide almost guarantees catching fish, or least
spending the day relaxing instead of worrying about where you are,
if you are going to hit a shoal or get tangled in lobster lines
, where to get bait , where the fish are etc.
One method of flats fishing
which the Florida keys is known for is sight fishing. This fishing
is most commonly done for bonefish , permit , tarpon and redfish.
It involves a flats guide and small shallow boat known as a flats
skiff. Basically a flats skiff is a bass boat they are often made
by the same company.. Ranger. The boat has a small perch on the
back of it where the guide stands , and pushes the boat with a pole
thru waters ranging from 6 inches to 2 feet deep. Because of his
raised height he can see fish in the shallow water from some distance.
Oh did I mention that sight fishing is best done on a sunny calm
day. I would actually recommend rescheduling your flats fishing
trip if its not sunny and at least somewhat calm . Even with polarized
sunglasses its will next to impossible to see the fish. You will
want to land the bait usually shrimp or a crab in the fishes path
from some distance. Many people fly fish on the flats, but I am
not one of them.
Fish of the Florida Keys Flats
Bonefish
One of the most sought
after game fish of the Florida keys , they can grow to 20 pounds.
They are incredible fighters and will go on 100 yard runs when hooked
. They are also extremely spooky the slightest noise will send them
running as you will soon find out when sight fishing for them. The
times I have fished for them they have eaten fresh shrimp. It very
popular for people to fly fish for them. As a tourist I can say
if you are new to fishing in the keys and you only plan on chartering
a one day flats fishing trip. I personally would not recommend fishing
for bonefish. Like I said before they are extremely spooky and frustrating
to fish for. They disappear at the slightest noise. It is not unheard
of to fish all day for these fish and not catch one , in fact I
think it is pretty common. I would recommend chartering 2 days one
for bonefish and one for catching something a bit easier.
Permit
These are really sought
after and also hard to catch, so hard in fact every time I tried
to catch one I spooked it .
Tarpon
This is by far in my
opionion the king of sport fish. First they get huge up to 200 pounds
they fight and jump like crazy. Unlike the bonefish and permit if
tarpon in season you almost guaranteed to hook up with at least
one even in a 4 hour fishing trip. They don’t seem to be picky
eaters eating live and deadbait. If tarpon are in season I would
highly recommend fishing for them as much as possible. Another thing
that is great about the tarpon is unlike most other large tackle
breaking sport fish you don’t have to go miles off of shore
to find them. Nice Calm inland waters no seasickness involved.
Barracuda
These fish are mostly
considered junk fish in the keys , probably because they can be
poisonous to eat and often attack baits meant for other fish. They
are more common on the flats in the colder months at least the bigger
ones are. In January around one end of the 7 mile bridge I saw schools
of them at least 20 in a group and averaging at least 10 to 20 pounds.
Being someone who grew up in the Northeast fishing every summer
for Northern Pike, barracuda look just fine to me. They can be sight
castled on the flats , aren’t as spooky as the other sport
and often jump when fighting. They cannot even come close to the
fighting ability as bonefish but they way more powerful then pretty
much any freshwater fish and on light tackle they can be a blast.
They are suckers for a tube lure reeled in very fast, they will
also hit top waters, live and dead bait.
Sharks
Sharks are common all
around the Keys they can found in large number on the flats and
you almost guaranteed to see one sight fishing. They are not the
most sought after fish on flats but are very fun to catch you can
sight cast them baits or artificials. They range in size from 18
inch long bonnethead sharks which look kind of like mini-hammerheads,
to bull sharks sometimes 8 to 10 feet long, often in water less
then 3 feet deep.
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