Permit and pompano are in the warm water out flow at the Anclote power plant. The gulf temperature is 60 degrees or less but the warm water discharge from the power plant attracts all kinds of fish. The permit and pompano are the main attraction for fly fishermen. The out flow is not always on, so it is hit or miss. The fish are in the out flow creek and move off to the key. There is a few places that they like to hang out especially when the flats warm up from the sun. The pompano are nice and are around 17-19" length. The permit are up to 25lbs and full of fight. The permit is the most challanging fish on fly rod on the flats. Crab patterns are working the best on them and the pompano are onto the small red/whit or hot pink/white/green jigs.
I don't pay a lot of attention to the when the warm water discharge is on as you never know when that is going to happen. It is frequently enough to hold fish and that's what counts. Trout are around, of course and some gators are mixed in with them but mostly slot size. If you have never caught a permit on fly give me an email and set up a charter. If you don't fly fish and want to learn let me know. I am IGFA certified fly fishing captain and I will be happy to show you what it's all about. Check out my website at
TropicBay com
Keep it tight and thanks for reading.
Capt. Pat
