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Flats Fishing In Key West
And
The Lower Florida Keys

My approach as a professional
 Flats Fishing guide,
general info, and some timely tips

     For those anglers that have had the experience of fishing for the big three of the flats; the bonefish, permit, and tarpon, most would agree that it is more like hunting than it is fishing. Like hunting, as all of you hunters know; some days your game is everywhere you look and some days you wonder if there is any thing alive out there at all. Finding fish; like any other game that you pursue, is not a science but rather an art.

As a guide I work at that art and I work hard at it. The more I work on it the better I become and the more successful I am at finding fish. Of all the fishing that I have done in my life, I have never experienced anything that is as challenging for an angler as flats fishing is. In order for you to be successful in catching these fish, you need to work on your angling skills like I work on my guiding skills. As a rule, the better prepared you are as an angler, the better the chances of you being successful at catching fish.

There are a few simple things that you can do in advance of your trip that will tune you up for your days of fishing. The most common problem that I and other guides encounter is that our anglers are not as accurate in their casting as they need to be. Sight fishing for bonefish and permit requires that you put the bait in a very precise spot. These fish are extremely spooky when they are up in shallow water and if you land to close they will be gone with speed that you can only imagine; too far away and they will never find the bait. I know that Flip and Jose make it look awfully easy, but remember, they grew up doing this kind of fishing and they probably get to fish a lot more than you do. If you are a spin fisherman, a little practice casting in the back yard will do wonders for you casting accuracy.  

The most common gear for flats fishing here is a 6 1/2 ft. or 7 ft. medium light spinning rod with 10 lb. test line. In order to simulate the fishing here, you need to tie on a 1/4 to 3/8 oz. casting plug or lead weight and practice throwing it in to a garbage can or some other target  from about forty to sixty feet away. Vary the wind angle as much as you can and don't neglect the short casts. Sometimes these fish are almost on you when you see them and an accurate short cast of 15 to 25 feet will often close the deal. A little practice will go along way.

If you are a fly fisherman, the same advice applies. For bonefish, permit, and small tarpon, the most common gear is an 8wt. to 10wt. 9 ft. graphite rod with a weight forward floating line. For large tarpon and sharks, a 11wt. or 12wt. is the norm. I prefer the 12wt. with a weight forward floating line. In some situations we do use intermediate sink lines as well. If you don't know how to double haul, do everything that you can to learn it before you get here. There are several good fly casting videos that you can rent or buy from your local fly shop that will teach you the technique. If you have a good instructor in your area, better yet. Learn it and practice it until you don't have to think about it, until it becomes automatic. You need to be able to cast a minimum of 50 feet with two to three false casts and be accurate with the placement of the fly in order to have a good chance at these fish. I can teach you all of the other techniques that you will need. I can teach you to double haul and even  teach you cast, but I think you would rather be fishing than learning how to cast. If you would like to come down and take lessons combined with some fishing, I can do that as well. You are paying for my time, and we'll spend it any way that you would like.