I fished with Gary from Pennsylvania who has fished with me now for a few years.  We fished out west of Key West on the oceanside in search of permit, bonefish and barracudas.  We found a few schools of bonefish in about three feet of water and Gary landed one  close to five pounds and had another nice bonefish on briefly before pulling the hook.  We had a lot of shots at barracudas landing three with the largest being about 20 pounds.  We had several follows and misses but it was just as exciting.  We only found a couple of permit and had one shot at a fish that was close to the boat.  I thought I would have found more permit, but it was not the case this day.

Friday and Saturday I fished with my mentor, Captain Gregg McKee.  Captain Gregg and I have been friends since I moved to Key West almost eleven years ago.  He has since moved out of Key West but we remain in touch and make it a point to get together and spend a few days on the water when we can.

We could only fish a couple of hours each day so we stayed close and fished for jacks found on the backs of stingrays.  The flats had plenty of stingrays and just about every ray had a jack following it.  We each caught a few jacks, the largest about 12 pounds, had some fun and went home.

Captain Mike Bartlett

Bonefish Feb 4, 2010

Barracuda Feb 4, 2010

Jack Crevalle on Fly

A little taste of tropical weather slid past us bringing high winds and seas.  Ida has passed and dropped giving me the impression that we slid through another season.  The weather kept a lot of people off the water and prevented me from wanting anything to do with offshore fishing.  There were likely plenty of sailfish cruising down mountainous waves if you had the boat and nerve to get out after them.

One thing that I was reminded of as the winds gusted to 40mph was that there is just about always something to fish for here in the Florida Keys.  I got out on the flats two days during the weather and found dumb hungry fish.  We tucked into a leeward shoreline and put out some scent.  I used a chum tube with squid and cut mullet.  Do this in just about any spot out back and the sharks will soon be there.  Whole barracuda is best if you have it but any natural bait will do. I rig two spinning outfits and one conventional which I match to the size of the fish in the slick.

Prior to the weather passing through, things were going great offshore.

Black fin tuna were on the feed all up and down the reef line.  Trolling feathers on chumming with live baits will get the fish to the box.  We also found dolphin feeding on the reef line.  The bait migration is in full swing and predators, including sails, are chasing bait into the shallows of the reef.  Look for birds and baitfish showers.  Live ballyhoo are easy to come by so put a few in your live well to aid in your chances at success.

I love reef fishing this time of year.  If you keep an open mind and a variety of bait then action is sure to come.  Be ready to cut loose and chase fish if you see activity.  I like to keep my anchor on a float so I can take off without fussing with the anchor.  Good luck and good fishing.

Captain Andrew Tipler of Last Cast Charters in the Lower Keys, offers both flats fishing with fly and spin and offshore / reef / wreck excursions, with combination trips also available. He can be found at www.LastCastCharters.net.