July Key west flats fishing report
Key west fishing has moved into normal summer patterns. My clients have landed all the major species Bonefish, Tarpon,Permit, Jacks and Sharks. Lets start this fishing report with my Favorite fish Tarpon. During the full moon until the mid moon phase the tides and the winds were perfect and we had crab, shrimp, and guppy hatches. My clients all jumped multiple fish and landed quite a few Tarpon, we landed fish from 10 pounds to 100+ pounds. All and all the Tarpon fishing has been fantastic while the winds were light and very tough during the end of the month when the winds were heavy.
The Bone fishing east of Key west has been the most consistent. Many of my clients caught their first Bonefish this month while others had shots but could not connect. Wether fly fishing or spin fishing the techniques for Bone fishing is the same. The most important aspect is seeing the fish, the next is leading the fish so you don't spook him.
Permit fishing was epic around the middle of the month. We had the beginning of the incoming tide, flat calm winds, an hour before sunset. I hit a spot where the permit jump a bank and tail heavily into the tide. My clients had tons of shots and on the second day they caught onto my technique of over casting and bringing the crab back to the Permit. They landed a beautiful 20+pounder.
Shark fishing is always the stand by. We have a healthy shark population and I can rely on them to make a day. My technique for catching shark is simply to use a Pin fish, cut off the tail, over shoot the shark and keep the bait on top. The scent and the disturbance on the surface brings the shark up to investigate and then to eat the bait.
A surprise this month has been the Jack fishing. These strong fighters normally show up in big numbers during the winter but this month I have been finding them trailing both Sharks and Sting rays.These fish eat just about anything you throw at them so I like to use my ten pound outfit I use for Bonefish and what I fight.