The weather is hot out there and so is the fishing! Most of the Keys residents anxiously await the fall cool down and it’s just around the corner. For me, I love the warm stable weather of late summer, but those first couple of cool down periods, which usually occur in the month of October, drop the water temperatures on the flats and the fishing can be phenomenal.
Now is the time to fish the Florida Keys, if you want to fish for the big three. October is one of the magic months down here big bone fish are on the flats in good numbers, tarpon are still consistent and loads of permit are available as well. This great fishing will continue until we start getting severe cold fronts that drop the water temperatures more than these more “tropical” species prefer. All three are catchable throughout the winter, but it’s not as consistent as it is right now and in the weeks to come. If you can’t make it down before the north blows cool off the water, don’t worry, even the cool cold front days will have plenty of action on the flats with our more “wintertime” species.
Right now my typical day starts as the sun is coming up searching for the early morning rolling tarpon. As the sun gets higher I move onto the flats in search of bones and permit and then usually back to the dock not long after lunch to beat the heat. October will bring a transition into a more fall like pattern and the early morning starts aren’t quite as critical. Once the water temperatures on the flats start to fall a few degrees, I base trips primarily on the tides. I always try to be fishing somewhere at the tide shifts. Some flats are better on the high falling, some are better on the low incoming, some are good at both, the key is to be fishing somewhere when the shift occurs. Time and time again, I find that there is a “magic” time in the tidal stage. We may not be seeing much action, then all of a sudden for that magic hour, it seems there are fish everywhere.
The trick is to figure out when these magic times are for each at and where to best experience it. Anyone that has ever spent much time sight fishing for bone fish, permit and tarpon will tell you it’s not an easy game. In truth, that’s what keeps me doing it. I’m not sure you can ever fully figure it out in a lifetime, but for me that’s where the fun is the thrill of the hunt. It is a type of fishing that connects the angler to the fish in ways that few other types of fishing can.
So, now’s the time to come fish the flats of the Florida Keys. The crowds are small, the room rates are low, the tarpon are rolling, the permit are tailing and the big bone fish are cruising!
Captain Danny Clark of Torch Key Charters, operates out of Little Torch Key, Florida and can be reached by calling 305.849.0532 or by visiting his website at www.torchkeycharters.com.
