Fishing Reports by Capt. Dexter Simmons

Key West and Lower Keys - The Great Florida Noreaster of 2001 We have seen 22 consecutive days of Northeast wind blowing 15-25 nauts, keeping our water temperatures in the sub-78 degree range. Therefore, the Tarpon migration has been kept offshore, with a few fish showing a more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Weather Delays Tarpon Season Another cold front swept through the Keys this week, further delaying the early Tarpon season. It got really windy and rainy on Sunday and Monday and the water temp dipped to a low of 71 degrees fahrenheit! This pushed more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Cold Front Pushes Fish Deep A cold front swept through the Keys on Tuesday, messing up what was a great early Tarpon season. It got really cold on Wed. and Thurs. and the water temp dipped by 15-20 degrees fahrenheit in some areas! This puts the f more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Tarpon Pre-Season has Arrived! Permit are still showing on the flats in schools and singles,though the numbers are down as the bulk of the Permit flock have begun to consider spawning as their primary April activity. We have gotten a few more sin more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Tarpon Migration Picking Up Steam The Permit are thinning out a bit as March roared out like a lion with winds from 15 to 20 nauts. Tarpon are showing in larger numbers in the channels and on the flats. Today we hooked up a 100 lb. silver king on more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Permit are back! Permit are back in large schools on the patch reefs and shoals and we are hooking up daily. Grand Slam fishing has returned with warmer water as predicted. Let's hope it continues!If it gets cooler again with North winds (if March more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - March's Lion Still Roars with Cool NW Winds Four days ago (Sunday, March 18, 2001) Greg Persbacker cast a Black Death fly to a string of Tarpon on the Gulf side flats of the Lower Keys in about 6 feet of water on a sandy bottom. The lead fish ign more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Permit are Marching! Permit have returned with a vengeance during the past several days, though they are still a bit unsettled with the winds changing so often. Here is a sketch from a photo of an angler with a nice 21 pound Permit taken on March more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - And The Wind Blows... We have had a wind event the past few days, as the massive east coast cold front has stretched into the Keys waters. Forecasts have us back into good fishing by the weekend. Before the front swept through we were catching B more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West

Key West and Lower Keys - Bones invade Gulf Flats Bonefish are beginning to show more and more on the Gulf flats. We were actually hunting for tailing Permit when we happened upon schools of Bones. At first they seemed spooky, but after the water temp reached 74 degrees fa more...
Capt. Dexter Simmons - Key West