Tailing Permit in Biscayne Bay February 2009
It has been good to excellent the last few days just before those northerly winds returned to screw things up it seems, however it can be a real good thing as well to keep the fish in check. Normally in the summer Bonefish and Permit are stalked at first light till late mid morning and then back later in the day, winter keeps the fish always looking for a warm flat to feed on when the winds calm down any first warming period that has some kind of calmness about it the day should produce large schools of bones. And there has been big schools if you know where to find them all I’ll say is ocean side then again the west side too.
When you get warming days like we just had it seems like the grey ghost
Likes to think that summer is here and can disappear just before lunch, this is why I like fishing immediately after the winds start to let up and find low water at mid day with surface temps just under 70.
Permit are a little bit different they like a couple of warming days mixed in with a couple of calm days this is when you find the floaters…. Finding schools of Permit are great but when they are sitting still with their dorsal fins exposed is exciting and then placing a crab in the only spot you can without spooking them and to watch 4 or 5 fish charge a crab and eat….line gets tight ….and then set….don’t get any better!
This weekend I got to fish with fellow skipper Capt. Bret Grecko in the bay for Permit on the 14th we found mega amount of Permit but caught only 2 over 25 lbs on spin using crabs for bait on a calm mid morning, we could have had a bunch more but we got greedy and went to a fly rod and had many shot with just no takers. That day was a prime example of a spring/summer pattern with bones early and permit floating on top looking for crabs.
I think this spring will be the start of a great fishing season because the water temps have been so low for such a long period of time, the fish are finally seeing a season. Some years have not been such a shock to the fish were they actually know if it is winter or summer…the only way they can tell other than water temps being a bit low is that November through February are low light months.
Look far and you’ll see em close!
Capt. Jim Hale
www.floridasportfishingcharters.com
786-255-1788
