Key West and Lower Keys

Capt. Dexter Simmons
March 4, 2002
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report

Tarpon Explosion in Key West!

The past two days have seen an explosion of Tarpon around Key West. Yesterday (March 3) we jumped 7 Tarpon in the morning and had shots at Permit in the afternoon. There were many boats ambushing the Silver Kings during the feeding frenzy on a day when the temperatures rose into the 80's (fahrenheit), raising the water temps into the mid 70's.This morning (March 4) we headed out early, expecting to find some Tarpon rolling around the basins and channels near Key West. The weather forecast was menacing "...a strong cold front is approaching the Lower Keys bringing Northwest winds gusting to 35 knots by mid morning..." but the winds had not picked up yet. So, at 6:00 a.m. we idled out of Garrison Bight and headed Northwest into Pearl Basin, where we had done so well the previous day. As we planed our way to Pearl, we noticed a few boats around Man of War Harbour, but no fish being played nor any rollers on the surface. Dark clouds dominated the sky line to the West-Northwest of Key West. "FlatsMaster" came off plane on the Northwest end of Pearl Basin settling into a slow idle, and a few seconds later Sam pointed to the West, "There they are!" His voice was mixed with excitement and anticipation for that first hook up of the morning.There was one other boat 150 yards to our West, so I carefully anchored adjacent to the current line in range of the rolling Tarpon school. First cast, BANG! Sam has a fish on, a big fish, over 100 pounds, leaping straight up into the air and throwing the hook in one acrobatic display of power. Then Phil hooks up, then Sam again, a fish throws Phil, Sam is still hooked up to a 40 pounder, Phil hooks up again, Sam's fish comes unbuttoned again. The action is fast and furious - EVERY CAST - and I look up to see hordes of Tarpon off of our port stern rolling, feeding, cavorting, RAVENOUS! Sam casts again, hooks up, comes unhooked, then rehooked a second later, then unhooked again, then rehooked again, the fish jumping almost into the boat. THREE HOOK UPS ON ONE CAST! Sam lands a 45 pounder, then Phil fights a 60 pounder. IS THIS FOR REAL? We had jumped 12 fish in 15 minutes, and hooked another 5 or 6 that spat before the jump. All this action during daylight between 6:35 and 6:50 a.m. The action continued during the next hour or so, until the forecast winds picked up to around 25-30 knots from the Northwest. We jumped a total of 19 or 20 fish (we lost count!) and had another 10 or 12 hookups that were lost before they could jump!Upon return to the dock at 9:15 a.m. we shook hands and planned for next year's trip. Phil grabbed me as I was headed for the parking lot and said "Thanks for making a dream fishing trip come true!" I smiled and invited him back for another go in 2003. As I pulled "FlatsMaster" onto the trailer I smiled inside thinking "that was the most incredible 15 minutes of day time Tarpon fishing I have experienced in a few years." I live for days like this one shared with anglers having a blast!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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