Capt. Bo Sellers got this permit on a merkin...

Had the last two days off..  Fished yesterday with my friend Capt. Tom Morgan..  We found some bonefish on the gulf side in the morning then switched to tarpon..  Fished two spots with lots of glass minnows and tarpon..  Tom fed several nice tarpon..  The interesting thing is the tarpon are swimming though the bait to eat the fly..  It is a good fly!!

Met Bo at the dock at 6:00 am this morning..  Glassy smooth, incoming tide.. looked for tailing bonefish on what can be a very good bonefish flat..  Well it wasn't this morning..  Switched gears and checked out some tarpon spots..  We found some big tarpon crashing glass minnows..  Bo poled me into one and I had her on for several jumps before the line parted..  That's tarpon fishing..  The tide topped out and the action slowed down..  Ran to the back country to get ahead of the tide..  Found some permit pushing down an edge...  Bo made a great cast and we put one in the boat!! 

Check out the video....

I love mornings like this!!

Fished with Tony and Chip the last two days..  Day one we worked to find bone fish on the atlantic side..  good tides,, good conditions.. good spots...  Some how the bone fish did not get the memo..  We did get shots at a couple of fish, but I was hoping for more..  Conditions were right and these guys could put the fly were it needed to be..  When the tide got high we switched gears and looked for juvenile tarpon..  Checked several spots.. we either found none or LOTS..  Even got a couple of shots at lost permit in tarpon spots..

The second day we started before dawn..  Found rolling juvie tarpon in the first spot..  Tony jumped one on a gurgler..  later in the day we switched gears and decided to swing for the bleachers,,  Checked out  a place were there was a chance of getting a shot a full size tarpon.. 

Tony hooked up with  a 6 footer... she ate the toad fly right near the boat...  COOL EAT!!

Just got back from a two week vacation in Montana...   Great to see my friends, the mountains and the river..  Oh and the fish are big this year!!

Kevin Guerin with a Brown trout..  Kevin guides in Montana and the Keys..

Great to be back!!

Fished the last few days with friends...  It has been fun..  Up early and out on the water before dawn.  We have been finding rolling juvenile tarpon as the sun comes up..  then have been targeting permit and bones on the incoming gulf edge tide... then when the tide tops out and the water gets too warm..  ocean side for big tarpon...  Most of the big tarpon have moved on...  But there are still enough left to keep it interesting..  Had one go way out of its way to eat my fly today..

Like I said It is great to back!

Oil Spill????

Currently, for south Florida and the Keys, there is a very low risk of impact in the near future, due to the separation of the Loop Current, NOAA officials said.

"Any oil reaching this area (South Florida and the Keys) would have spent considerable time degrading and dispersing and would be in the form of scattered tar balls and not a large surface slick of oil," the NOAA study said, echoing previous statements made by the U.S. Coast Guard, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and local officials.

For more information....         http://www.fla-keys.com/oilspill/   

                                      Here they come!!!!!!

Not as many anglers on the water now...  Typically this time of year most of the tarpon have moved on....

Still lots of schools of tarpon on the flats...  along with permit and bonefish..   Unfortunately I picked the next two weeks to visit friends in Montana..  

I love Montana,  but it is fishing soooo good right now....

I will be back July 8th..  Save some tarpon for me!

Putting on the pressure...

Rich and Gerry hit it right for some end of the season tarpon fishing..  Weather was cooperative and so were the fish!

                                                 Gerry with his first big tarpon..

Of course having two anglers on the bow that can put the fly right were it needs to be,,,right now!    Does put more fish in the air..

Yesterday Jerry and Randy each hooked up with a big tarpon...  Today they had an early flight out of Key West..  We opted to go Dawn Patrol for baby tarpon..  Got three on surface flies... Gurglers..  Then switched to big tarpon..  Gerry hooked a dandy...

Thanks guys it was fun!!

I still have some days available this month....  Wanna get one???

June 14, 15, 20 and 21...

Jim tussles with  6 foot of tarpon!!!

Weather and the fishing has been great!  Water temperatures are in the high 80's and there are a BUNCH of tarpon on the flats now!!

If you are not here now...  You should be!

Carlos puts a tarpon in the air!!!

Can't believe it is the end of May already...  Less then a month of tarpon season left..  This is my favorite time of year..  I love spotting schools of fish marching down ocean side beaches, following edges....  Love getting my angler in position to cast a fly... Love watching the eats..jumps.. etc..  It is spectacular..

Capt Bill Fitzimmons:  Isn't great that these big fish swim in shallow water, so we can throw chicken feathers at them..

I have had several anglers ask me about the oil spill effecting the Keys..  Here is the official report.

According to officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric There have been no physical impacts to the Florida Keys from the Gulf oil spill and none are anticipated in the immediate near future, according to NOAA trajectory forecasts.

Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, if the Florida Keys get any effects from the oil sheen currently in the Gulf Loop Current, they are expected to be in the form of small tar balls, not large amounts of aqueous oil as seen near the spill site.

For more information...

http://www.fla-keys.com/oilspill/

I have been getting a lot of last minute calls from anglers wanting to squeeze in a day of fishing...  I guess the words is out!!

I have June 7,8,14-30  available... Lets go fishing....

I checked with some friends...

Jack has May 27th, 28th, 29th,30th, 31st available.           

Call.........       305-304-3993

Dale has May  28th ~ June  2,6,12  available                

Call .........       305-304-3125

Come on down and put a big fish in the air!

Tarpon season is here!!!!  

I got to fish today!!!!   We had a short day today...  My angler was not feeling well...   Some times Key West can be too much fun.. especialy if you bring your 21 year old son...  Stay away from the jello shot girl, no matter how cute she is...

I dropped my client off at the dock, thought about all the stuff I could get done by coming in early..  laundry, fix the trailer tire that blew yesterday, tye more flies, pay bills, wax boat, rig rods, clean apt., etc..

So I did what any tarpon guide that has been on the water every day since some time in March would do...

I headed back out to "The Bay of Pigs" to catch the beginning of the incoming.   Staked up on a good edge, with a down wind shot..  For an hour and a half I had some good shots at singles, doubles and some small schools of a dozen or more..   This is only the second day I had a chance to cast at tarpon this season... been booked every day since before the migration started.. 

IT WAS FUN!!   Really FUN!!

Tom McGuane: "When you hook a tarpon it is like pushing a Stienway piano off a cliff."

I have been getting a lot of last minute calls from anglers wanting to squeeze in a day of fishing...  I guess the words is out!!

I have June 7,8,14-30  available... Lets go fishing....

I checked with some friends...

Jack has May 24th, 27th, 28th, 29th,30th, 31st available.           

Call.........       305-304-3993

Dale has May 26th and 28th ~ June  2,6,12  available                

Call.........       305-304-3125

Come on down and put a big fish in the air!

                                                    Rich jumps a tarpon!!

The last 4 days have been windy!!  15 to 20 mph out of the east..  The first day the tarpon did not seem to like the weather change..  Neither did I..  But the tarpon are getting used to it..  We have been getting lots of shots at some nice schools of fish..  Yesterday we got an eat on a toad fly and soft plastic..  Today, two eats on the toad and two eats on a live pinfish..  Rich has been chucking flies and his son Ken has been backing him up with a spinning rod.  Rich jumped this tarpon today and the hook broke... WTF!!  it was a quality hook... but it had boated several tarpon...  Hard not to use a fly that has been successful...

I have some days that have come available this month, if you would like to do some tarpon fishing..

I am open May 23, 25 and 26th... 

Come on down and put a BIG fish in the air!

                                              Doug gets a tarpon!!

It is tarpon season here in the Florida Keys!!  The weather has been perfect..  Very light winds from the south east and sunny..  Water temperaturures remain in the 80's and the fish are here..  Still lots of tarpon in the back country and some nice schools have started marching on the ocean side also.. 

Two days ago I fished with Doug from Oregon..  He hooked two dandy tarpon on a green toad fly..

I have not looked in several days, but have heard reports of some good numbers of permit on the gulf edge..

I have had  a couple of days open up in May..  May 19, 25 and 26..

                                   Alberto's First Tarpon!!

I recently had the pleasure of fishing with some great guys that came all the way from Italy to put some tarpon in the air..  We had several tough weather days and some OK weather days..  We had fun.... Simone and his friends  fed, jumped and boated some dandy tarpon.. 

Simone owns and operates Fish Age

Check  out http://www.fishage.com/ for some very cool gear....hats, dry bags, sun gloves, jackets etc... 

           Oh, we boated some nice barracuda too!!

The cuda's were pouncing on the tube lure last week!!!  I love barracuda fishing...  The way they chase down the tube, the violent strikes, the jumps, and the way they can make all the line on your reel disappear...

The Florida Keys was hit with another minor cold front yesterday..  Producing lots of clouds and a little rain..   Today we had light north west winds and mostly sunny.  Water temperatures were in the high 70's and low 80's.

  We did not find many tarpon today, but we did find one hungry one.  Alberto came all the way from Italy to catch this tarpon on a bunny fly..

BRAVO!!

                                               She ate It!!!

I love saying that...  The last several days the weather has improved considerably...  Light winds, sun and Lots of very happy tarpon....  Water temperatures are in the high 70's and low 80's and the tarpon have been  cooperative..  We have been doing well with a tan toad fly stripped very slowly....  The key word is Slowly..... 

I still have several days available during tarpon season.. Also I can certainly recommend some  of my fellow guide friends if you need some other days..

Current available days.....

April 30th

May 1,5,6,19,25,26

June 5-8, 14-30

Had the pleasure of fishing with John Courney and Bruce Pershing for the last 6 days..  John and Bruce are partners in the Scenic Valley Lodge located near the Missourri River, just outside Craig Mt. 

Yesterday, John had a shot at a tailing permit just as a huge cloud blotted out our view of the fish...    "I said "Bad time for a cloud.."  We laughed and agreed it made for a good title of a fishing report..  Actualy we had several days with lots of clouds, lots of wind and a few shots at permit and tarpon.....

The first day of the trip was great.. Light wind.. blue skies and tarpon every were......

     John boated his first big tarpon.       

           Congradulations   John!!!!!

If you are not in the Keys now, you should be.....

Tarpon fishing had been pretty good this last week, depending on the weather,  Yesterday was tough..  we had lots of cloud cover, which makes it tough to sight fish..  However we finished up the day with a bunch of shots at laid up tarpon, floating near the surface in 81 degree water..  One even ate a toad fly..

Today started with solid cloud cover,, twilight zone, Rod sterling, cloud cover...  Tarpon are more inclined to roll in low light situations..  I had spin anglers today and we put three tarpon in the air with live bait and plugs in a channel..  When the clouds left, we switched to sight fishing the flats for permit and cudas..  Got a bunch of shots at both..

The reports from some of my other friends were the same..  My buddy Jack Teauge had the day off and got a tarpon on fly today fishing with Dale Bishop  Good Job Guys!  The only other report was from my friend Bob Bieghly who got three tarpon today too!!  Bob emailed me this photo, taken with his cell phone..    NICE!!!

Tarpon Season Is My Favorite Time Of Year....

Weather has finally warmed up here in the Florida Keys..  High temperatures around 80 for the rest of the week..

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Michael and Lori from South Carolina...  We got a couple of shots at 100 lb laid up tarpon first thing in the morning... Then opted to switch to permit...  Should have stuck with the tarpon..  permit were elusive today, but we did get a shot at one tailing permit,,,,,

My charter for today cancelled..  It was a guest vacationing at a near by high end resort, so I never got the chance to tell him how good the fishing was..  told the concierge, but ...  Oh well...

                          Easter Tarpon          

The up side is  I did get to go fishing with my friend Jack Teauge.  It has been a cold winter here in the keys and my guide season started full swing before the tarpon showed up.  My anglers have hooked, jumped and boated tarpon this year but I have been a spectator up until today..  Jack poled me into a nice laid up tarpon that wolfed down a toad fly.. 

           Remora on fly.

We got 6 great jumps, before the hook pulled out at the boat...  Perfect release..  I hate stressing tarpon with the final tug of war at the boat. 

A remora attacked the fly after the hook pulled.  Remoras have a sucker on the top of thier heads and hitch hike larger fish, usualy sharks.  This one had to have attached it self to the tarpon...

Another fish story and another fun day on the flats!!!

Thanks Jack!!!!

Fished the last three days with Jack and Jay...  Two brothers from  from Colorodo... Great guys and lots of fun..

Day 1.... Was April 1st and they jokingly refered to them selfs as the "April Fools" ...

Fools no.. fun yes.. they managed to get three tarpon to eat a toad fly their first day of salt water fishing.. 

Good Job guys!!!

Day 2.....   The wind picked up... fishing got tougher.. we still had some shots at big tarpon, but with the wind blowing the boat down on the fish, our window of oppertunity closed quickly...  we did have some fun with smaller sharks on fly out of the wind.

Day 3......  We decided to do some thing completly different..  we targeted permit on the gulf edge instead...  had several good shots.. had two eats and also bagged a couple of sharks, one that ripped us into the backing with a 12 wt.  Jay was a lot more comfortable with a fly rod then a spinning rod, but did boat a dandy cuda with a tube lure..

I will add the tarpon photos when I get them from Jack...

Today is day 7 at the computer working on my new website.. Hope you like it!

The word from my fellow guides on the water..
Permit fishing has been good..
Seeing a few bonefish..
But the big news is..                                            

                                                      THE TARPON ARE HERE!

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec 12th....

It has been a warm december here in the Florida Keys. Highs for this week in the mid 80's.. Water temps rose into the low 80's two days ago.... no wind... we found schools of rolling baby tarpon the first stop. Jumped one and left tarpon to look for tailing permit.... found some permit, but it was tough. I did find a dozen or so 6 foot tarpon laid up in a winter warm up spot..... YAHOO!!

It is winter here in the keys and conditions change..
Had a charter yesterday.... winds out of the NE, solid cloud cover and had too work to find fish... However we did find some nice snook and redfish out of the wind.. Earlier in the week under similar conditions I had the pleasure of fishing with Sid and Jesse... They were taking a break from winter up north and just wanted to keep the rod bent and lines tight. We changed tactics.. Instead of sight fishing we went out to the gulf edge and caught a BUNCH of sea trout, lady fish and jacks on shrimp tipped jigs...

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: June 15th...

The weather and the fishing have both been HOT!!
Almost zero wind for the last several days. The ocean has been glassy smooth..

Take your pick! Large migratory tarpon are traveling the ocean side flats.. Baby tarpon are rolling in the back country.. Bonefish and permit are on the flats until water temperatures get too warm.... It has been warm..

How ever we did find permit in some 94 degree baby tarpon water yesterday...

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: June 15th...

The weather and the fishing have both been HOT!!
Almost zero wind for the last several days. The ocean has been glassy smooth..

Take your pick! Large migratory tarpon are traveling the ocean side flats.. Baby tarpon are rolling in the back country.. Bonefish and permit are on the flats until water temperatures get too warm.... It has been warm..

How ever we did find permit in some 94 degree baby tarpon water yesterday...

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: May 22nd

Tarpon Tarpon Tarpon!!!
Lots of tarpon moving on the ocean side flats, channel edges, basins etc..

We have also been finding some permit in the tarpon spots.. Mike Ward even fed one a chartreuse bunny tarpon fly several days ago..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: May 6th..

It Is Tarpon Season Here In The Keys!!!!

My very favorite time of year. Schools of tarpon have begun migrating up and down the ocean side flats and channel edges. They can also still be found in some of the back country basins. For some reason they seam more eager to eat the fly this year! But it is probably the weather. Water temperatures are in the mid 80's and the winds have been very light out of the south east.

I have not been looking for them, but my friends that have, are finding good numbers of bone fish.
also there are still some permit around on the flats as well..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 26th

Wind, wind and more wind..
I gave my anglers the option not to go today and they pounced on it.. One of the advantages of fishing here in the Keys with a guide instead of a lodge.. With a lodge you pay and take your chances on the weather. Here if it is unfishable, you can take the money you would have spent on the charter and play in Key West.

However.. I called my friend Bruce Chard and asked him if he wanted to go for lunch.. He was out on charter, they had already boated a redfish and had shots at bones and permit.. Way to go Bruce! The lower Florida Keys has lots of lee ward shore lines to fish out of the wind.. Here is a picture of a permit Mark Raisler boated on a 25 mph wind day.

Prior to the last 4 days the tarpon fishing had been very good. Water temps were in the low 80s. Nice sized schools of tarpon had started traveling the ocean side flats. We did very well in some of the back country basins on big tarpon and juveniles. If you can find them in the basins they will generally eat better then the ocean side travelers.. I have been concentrating mainly on tarpon the last couple of weeks, but have also been finding some permit and bone fish..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 4th

March came in like a lamb and left like the proverbial lion.. We had several days of very strong winds. Which meant tucking in leeward shores. How ever the first several days of April the weather and the fishing has been outstanding. water temperatures have started at 80 degrees in the morning. This makes the fish and me very happy. Large migratory tarpon have appeared in the basins and on the flats near deeper channels. These fish have been in the mood to eat! Osamu Komiyama came all the way from Japan to tarpon fish for the first time. He picked the right 3 days. Despite the language barrier Osamui fed 9 tarpon a brown toad fly..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: March 10th.

The weather and the fishing have turned on.. Light winds, blue skies and temperatures in the high 70,s. Hopefully we are done with our cold fronts, or at least the major ones..
The last 4 days, we fished mainly for permit. Lots of permit on the flats and we had some good opportunities at some tankers tailing.. The big tarpon are here as well.. Yahoo!!

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report And Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrkGtjAz488

Wind and more wind... The last week we have been faced with NE wind. This wind keeps the water temps cool, the sky blue. Cooler water temps make for some tougher fishing, but blue skies make for some great visibility when sight fishing on the flats. Fortunately here in the lower keys we have lots of leeward shore lines and protected flats to fish out of the wind. On the days when the wind has laid down a little we have been able to hunt baby tarpon. (my favorite) The last several days has been a mixed bag of permit, redfish, snook, barracuda, jacks and sharks.

Montana Fly fishing Outfitter Mike Kuhnert jumped his first tarpon yesterday and boated his first permit today.
WAY TO GO MIKE!!!

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Feb.15th

Got into a BUNCH of laid up tarpon the last two days. With the water temps at 76 degrees, most were floating on top,,, When they are doing this they can be very difficult to get a fly in front of them with out spooking the fish. But it is a blast trying. Tom had one follow for a looong ways...... green toad fly right on her nose,,,like a seal with a ball... Bob got one to eat a tan toad fly!

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Feb.13th

The cold front that hit over a week ago is finally over.. Cooler weather in the 50;s and 60;s lower the water temperatures, which sends permmit, tarpon and bonefish into deeper and warmer water.

Temperatures are back in the upper 70's with light winds. looks like it will be that way for a while.
The last two days we have been finding good numbers of happy tailing permit on the flats, some bonefish and rolling baby tarpon.
Yesterday day Mark R. from Montana got 3 juvenile tarpon to eat a toad fly.

Weird day today,,,,, FOG... Impenetrable New England fog... Steven King fog.. Rolling in from the Gulf side. Went fishing with two other guide friends. We made our way into the back with a lot of help from the GPS.. thought even thought the tides were all wrong.. that the baby tarpon would have to roll in the twilight... well they proved us wrong..

After checking multiple spots we finally left the fog and headed back ocean side. Seen a couple schools of small bones and finished up looking for tarpon. Found some 6 footers on top in 76 degree water... Could not get the right angle or cast on them,, but I tried... not good enough... tomorrow.. Love throwing flies at those big fish..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Jan. 30th

So much for my New Years Resolution of keeping current with fishing reports.. It has been 3 weeks.. Since my last report. Sorry...

The weather and the fishing was outstanding the first two weeks of January. We were finding tailing permit, rolling tarpon and bonefish on the in coming tides.. Then as is typical for this time of year we received a cold front, which dropped temperatures into the low 60's and even the 50's. Well, it is winter even in the Florida Keys..

A week later(felt like a lot longer then that) it warmed back up.. Just in time to take Pat and his girl friend fishing.. I was still wearing fleece, but they were from Alaska and were in shorts and tee shirts.. Water was still cool, fishing was tough, but we had fun with cudas, sharks and jacks. Pat hooked a permit off a coral head and a big goliath grouper on the flats next to the mangroves.

Later in the week I fished with John and Ed. It warmed up!! We got shots at redfish, snook, bonefish, permit(one ate Ed's live crab) Hooked several baby tarpon and even got some shots at 6 foot tarpon in a winter warm up spot.. Boated tarpon, cudas, sharks and jacks...fun two days. We fished till dark both days, chucking tube lures over a warm up flat full of 4 foot cudas when we lost the light to sight fish... John says he will be back..

Jan 29.... Got a last minute call to take Bruce fishing. A cold front was coming and he wanted to get in a day on the flats before it hit. Good thinking!! Tides and temperature were perfect. But I could not find bonefish... After 3 flats we gave up on bonefish and found permit and tarpon Bruce got 4 baby tarpon to eat a tan toad fly. Nice work Bruce!

Front hit yesterday after noon... but not before I checked out a big tarpon spot with a couple of friends. We got into a BUNCH of laid up 6 foot tarpon in the same warm up spot I took John,, Mark Raisler fed one a tan toad fly, before we had to race the front back to the marina..
That's all the news I have...highs in the mid 60s today... time to tye flies... It will warm back up in a couple of days..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Jan. 8th

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The weather and the fishing continue to be great here in the Florida Keys..

Fly Fishing For Bonefish and Permit In The Florida Keys

Water temperatures are in the mid 70's.. The last several days have been very good for permit in the back country. Lots of permit on the coral heads and on the flats.. The very beginning of the incoming tide has been good for bone fish. Today we hooked 3 on flies. the fly of choice was a #2 white Cracked Crab. Later in the day when the flats near the channels warm up I have been finding some nice schools of baby tarpon and even some 100lbers as well. Earlier in the week we had some extreme low tides in the back country and we also found some snook and red fish..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec. 21st.

The weather and the fishing has been good the last week. Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Dan and Jackie. Honey mooning and fishing in the keys... We got some shots at 5 to 6 foot tarpon on the flats!!! Not real common this time of year.. Hooked up on some monster Jacks crashing bait.. Dan hooked his first permit!

Lately, just about every other coral head has permit on it.. Earlier last week a friend and I spent days trying to get them to eat. I have not faced that much rejection since my last high school dance. Water temps finally warmed up enough for them to eat today..

Fished with Jim and Nick yesterday, we found baby tarpon in several spots. Jim got three to eat a toad fly..