Richard's First Permit!!!

Found this video I made last summer and never posted..

Last summer I was fishing on the same flat as my friend Capt. Derrin Doop.   Derrin was on charter.   Richard hooked his first permit and we ran over to film it.. 

Check out the video..          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brjIttPY54o

March is here!  March is widely considered the BEST month for permit in the Florida Keys! 

The weather has been cool for Jan. and Feb.  Starting next week... temperatures will be back in the mid 70's..  Once the water temperatures rise into the 70's ........We will have some great permit fishing!!

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Dec 20 th....

It is winter here in the Florida Keys. We got hit with a cold front this weekend. North winds and the high for today is 72. degrees. Supposed to be back in the high 70's by mid week. Guess I should not complain, the east coast is getting pummeled by a major snow storm..

When water temperatures drop below 70 degrees it make it tough to find tarpon, bonefish and permit. How ever if it is cold and blowing here we can always fish for barracuda, sharks, red fish, sea trout and lady fish.. Beats scraping ice off the wind shield and shoveling snow..

The weather and the fishing had been excellent this Nov. and early Dec. Water temperatures in the mid 70's and light winds. Lots of big permit on the gulf edge along with some tanker sized cudas. My friend Bo asked me to show him were I had been getting the permit... I call it PERMITOPIA..
Here is his video..

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: Nov. 15 th

Sight Fishing Goliath Grouper On The Flats..

Steve Helland from Mn. left the chilly north to fish several days with me in the chilly south.. He actually arrived between two cold fronts.. We battled cool water temps, north wind and cloudy conditions. We did find a few tailing permit, some bonefish and even some tarpon..

While fishing for redfish, we spot a Goliath grouper under the mangroves. Steve makes some excellent casts, tight to the mangroves. The set up we initially used was adequate for redfish, but not for a big grouper with the drag cranked down..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Sept. 23rd...

The very best months to fish to fish for bonefish in the lower Florida Keys begin with S. Once again this September has been very good for bonefish. Early mornings on the bottom of tide have been a blast!

LOW WATER + LOW LIGHT = TAILING BONEFISH

Fall is a great time to fish the Florida Keys.. It is "Off Season." No tourists, discounted rooms and rental cars.. Nobody on the flats.. Well, that is nobody except tailing permit, bonefish and rolling baby tarpon.

I have finaly finished my new promo video. No sun sets, birds, people talking, etc.. Just lots of fishing action... Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P15RPsehZbs

Fishing here continues to be epic. The last week or so has been very warm with little or no wind. Glassy smooth conditions make it easy to spot rollers, tailers and wakers. How ever it can be very tough to present a fly or crab to permit in these conditions... Fall is a great time to fish the Florida Keys for permit, bonefish and baby tarpon.

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: August 28th... While tarpon fishing we found gulls and tarpon feeding on floating shrimp. SHRIMP HATCH!! Kelsey catches a nice tarpon on a gurgler.. Mike and Kelsey run Fishy Expeditions in Craig Mt. Check out the video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFm33_0z_Nc

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report and Video.....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sHNOuMAIb8

Todays charter, Tom from Germany with his first tarpon.

We found baby tarpon just about every were we looked today. We also found a shrimp hatch, with dozens of tarpon feeding on top. Tom hooked a bunch with gurglers...

I am back from my vacation in Montana. Montana was great! Unfortunatly there are no tarpon, permit or bonefish in the rivers.

Weather here in the islands has been warm. Not too bad if you are out on the water. Early morning starts have been productive. Take your pick, rolling baby tarpon or tailing permit and bonefish. By mid day the water temperatures are nearing 90 degrees, which makes it tougher to find bonefish or permit in shallow water. Baby tarpon thrive in the warmer temperatures and are eager to eat a well placed surface fly or plug.

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: April 30th..

Gary and Elaine Fritz take a break from Montana winter to fly fish for baby tarpon with me in the lower Florida Keys. Gary is an outfitter in Montana, he operates Osprey Expeditions. During the his trip my skiff had a minor electrical malfunction and Capt. Andy Tipler with last Cast Charters was gracious enough to lend me his skiff while mine was being repaired..
THANKS Andy!

Check out this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ-9RP68UgA

Video

Fly Fishing For Permit In The Lower Florida Keys  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRwyez2HpSc

The weather and the fishing continue to be absolutely great! Water temperatures are in the high 70's. The fish are happy and so am I. Tailing permit on the incoming tides. tarpon in the basins and even some schools of bonefish on the flats.
March is considered to be the best month for permit. This March is no exception, lots of permit on the flats and the gulf edge. Two days ago I had the privilege of fishing with my friend Capt. Kevin Guerrin. It is rare that we both have the same days off.. We each hooked a permit on fly.. However Kevin boated his..

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: 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..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 29th

Flats fishing has been a smorgasbord the last several days. I have been finding lots of redfish and snook. White flies and shrimp have been productive. The last several days the water has warmed up enough for tarpon, permit and bonefish. If that is not enough, our winter time barracudas have arrived as well..

Fly Fishing for Snook in The Florida Keys

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Nov. 18th

Last Friday and Saturday were epic.. Water temperatures were in the low 80's.. Bonefish were moving onto the flats with the incoming tide along with permit. We found good numbers of tarpon too on the top of the tide later in the day. Fished with Rob from N.J. Friday... Rob hooked 5 tarpon on his new tarpon fly..

It is hard to film and pole while on charter.. While fishing with my girl friend on Saturday we spotted a large school of Jacks on the gulf edge.. It was a blast!!! Jan also got shots at permit, tarpon, bonefish and barracudas..

JACK ATTACK! Sight Fishing For Jacks

Another cold front hit Sunday... Which has given me some time to work on my web site and video reports... Water temps dopped into the 60s.. I fished with Marten and Alice from England. They thought the weather was just fine.. We boated several sharks and snapper and did get some shots at baby tarpon and snook..

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Oct 10th

Fall is typicaly one of the better times to fish for bonefish in the lower Florida Keys. This October has been good. We have been seeing some very large singles pushing up on the flats in some very shallow water on the begining of the incoming tide. Also some large schools of smaller bonefish in some of the back bays...

Permit fishing has been good as well..

Been a little windy and sunny to look for baby tarpon the last several days.. But when the wind lays down and the water smooths out,, you can find them rolling on the surface on cloudy days and early morning,,,

Guides Day Off. Two Florida Keys Guides Fly Fishing For Tailing Bonefish.

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Oct 4th

Fly Fishing for Bonefish in The Florida Keys

I am back in the keys after a nice vacation in Montana. The Rockies are increadable but it is great to be back on the flats again.

October is one of the best months in the lower Keys for bonefish. There are some very big fish prowling the flats in some very thin water. Have also been seeing some large schools of smaller bones which bodes well for the future.
Along with bonefish on the flats are also permit, redfish and baby tarpon.

Fall is "Grand Slam" month in the Florida Keys.

Florida Keys Flats Fishing Report: Aug. 20th

I spend most of the year guiding in the Florida Keys, but left the Keys early July to fish Montana and Alaska. How ever I have a hard time staying away from the flats too long. Just returned from a trip to the keys with Mike Ward. Mike is an outfitter on the Missouri River in Montana and operates under the name of Fishy Expeditions.

Fly Fishing For Baby Tarpon In The Florida Keys

Mike put LOTS of tarpon in the air. The baby tarpon fishing was outstanding! (Can you really call a three foot fish a baby?) On no and low wind days we found them rolling on the surface. Gurglers (floating foam shrimp fly) stripped slowly across the surface, produced some explosive strikes, followed by lots of jumps. I love seeing these fish in the air. The last day we found a large school of tarpon crashing glass minnows on the surface. It was epic!

Baby tarpon are my favorite, but there are also lots of bones and permit on the flats as well.