Key West and Lower Keys

Capt. Dexter Simmons
February 23, 2002
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report

NEVER GIVE UP ON THE FISHING!

"Stormy Weather" croons Frank Sinatra as I pull into the Key West City Marina parking lot this morning at 7:00 a.m. Old Blue Eyes was right on target, as the national weather service was just issuing tornado warnings for Key West and the Lower Keys waters. While we are still battling wind, rain, clouds, and cool temperatures brought on by sweeping winter cold fronts here in the Keys, there have been some high points in fishing this week. Lesson learned: NEVER GIVE UP ON THE FISHING!A few days ago, the weather was much less than promising: cloudy, cool (temps in the low 70's; water temps in the high 60's), the wind was light from the East and there was a light misty rain falling in showers here and there. We were fishing in the Key West backcountry and found some baby Tarpon rolling in a channel. After a few casts with clousers, we had a fish on that we originally assumed was a baby Tarpon, however to our surprise it was a baby Permit! We caught three of these little guys of less than 10 pounds in the next hour or so. Soon after the first baby Permit was released, we jumped and caught a baby tarpon of less that 10 pounds. While catching and releasing the baby Tarpon, we saw Ladyfish and Jack Crevalle rolling and cavorting as well. We caught alot of Ladyfish and Jacks that morning in that channel. We lost count of the numbers, there were so many caught and released. It was non-stop action! Otherwise we would have ventured out to look for the third part of the Grand Slam puzzle: the wily Bonefish. After releasing one of the many Jack Crevalle that had been amongst the seemingly dozens of hook-ups that we had had during the past 90 minutes of fishing these magical waters off Cayo Hueso, our action had slowed and we actually went several casts without a hookup. Pausing to check the tide, I noticed the ebb had slowed to slack and that is was a matter of minutes before we would see flooding tide conditions. I instructed my angler Brandon to slow down the retrieve to a crawl to keep the clouser near the bottom where the fish would be. We made a few more casts, took a break for lunch, then noticed that the flood tide had begun. Brandon made a long cast, let the clouser sink and bang on the first retrieve! The line tightens, the reel sings. "Whoa, this fish is a strong runner!" Brandon boasts. Five minutes later the fish breaks the surface in a splash and dives back under the boat. "What is it?" Brandon asks. I scratched my head in amazement and said "A Grand Slam, congratulations!" "What kind of fish is a Grand Slam fish?" Brandon is puzzled. We land the Bone - another small guy about 3 pounds - take the pictures, and I explain to Brandon amid laughs and pats on the back that what he has done is pursued by anglers world wide and is considered a lifetime achievement.There is a great lesson to be learned in this true story. Often when the conditions are bleak looking, the fish can be concentrated in schools near channels, reefs or creeks, where the current is strong enough to help their gill-action and feeding activity. When the flats are barren, do not despair and give up. Simply search in deeper and/or cleaner water. Your efforts may be rewarded as ours have often been. Click here on this link to check out some Tarpon fishing video and available Tarpon dates for this coming April, May and June! You may contact Capt. Dexter Simmons for a future fishing charter by telephone at 305-745-3304 or by email at [email protected]

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