Spring Blossoms into Tarpon Season!
Capt. Dexter Simmons
April 9, 2016
Key West - Saltwater Fishing Report
The Fishing Report. April 9, 2016.
Spring Fishing in the Keys has blossomed into Tarpon Season with Permit and Bonefish also on the menu. It is a time of transition into warming waters and migrating, spawning Tarpon, Bonefish and Permit. Ed with an April Bonefish
Here is Scott Myers fighting some March Tarpon to the boat...
Scott had more than one helping of Tarpon!
...And another Tarpon falls victim to Scott Myers...
During April, we usually start sometime between 6:30 and 8 am depending on the temperatures of early morning waters. Here are some other recent catches!
I just returned from an excellent trip to JARDINES DE LA REINA, CUBA, where I fished and toured Hemingway's estate, here is my blog for one of the days fishing in Cuba...
Feb. 1, 2016
The fishing trip begins around 7:30 am. My guide Leonardo takes me on a 20 minute run to the Bonefish grounds. We hunt in shallow water flats surrounded by mangrove bushes. Some are tailing on the turtle grass, others are schooled up on the silty sandy shallow bottom mudding. Over a three hour hunt we hook up ten, most from three to four pounds, two in the six to eight pound range. It is great fun, feeling the line tighten, watching and listening to the Bonefish rip fly line off the reel into the orange micron backing. Whirring reel music fills the Cuban tropic air. By mid morning my gloves and are half leather and half Bonefish slime.
"Pull it in Dexter" Leonardo moves us into a channel flat and hands me an 8 weight loaded with floating line and a Tarpon leader. "Your Tarpon fly box please." He points to a brown-tan-orange Sand Devil Fly, "this one is good." After twenty minutes of poling along a clear shoal, Leonardo finds a school Tarpon in about 6 feet of water coming our way. "You see them Dexter?"
"Okay, I've got them, two o'clock, 80 feet". Leonardo positions the bow for a cast to ten o'clock. The school is now moving slowly toward our skiff, about sixty feet. Looks like there are a dozen or so juvenile poons. "Okay Dexter, cast now." I false cast once for aim and launch the fly line, leader and sand devil, turning it over for a soft landing 6 feet in front of the lead fish. " "Wait, wait, okay stripping, stripping, stripping," Leonardo coaches. Three strips and the lead Tarpon turns on the fly and eats but no hook up. I recast the fly and another Tarpon eats the fly, but is off after a 5 minute tug of war with no jumps. The school circles around and a third Tarpon eats the fly and is jumping! After about a 10 minute battle, the fish is landed! A 20 pound Tarpon caught with the Sand Devil fly!I turn to Leonardo and say "this means we must hunt for Permit to complete the grand slam!"
We spend the next three hours and find four Permit, one of which is a good shot. The Permit is tailing on a shoal bank, about 100 feet at 1 o'clock. A back cast flies within 5 feet of the tailer. Leonardo says "good cast, wait, wait, wait, strip two short, now one long...following, strip short, strip, strip, now long strip..." But no luck, as the Permit swims away out of range. "No hungry", Leonardo is spot on. A great day of fishing as the sun sets on Jardines de la Reina, Cuba.Here is a video taken during an incredible morning of Bonefishing Jardines de la Reina Cayo Chocolate flats where I hooked seventeen Bones from 3 to 8 pounds in three hours!
NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR 2017!!! YES! SPEND A WEEK IN CUBA, FEBRUARY 17-24, 2017 FLY FISHING FOR TARPON, PERMIT, BONEFISH! HURRY, THERE ARE JUST A FEW SPOTS LEFT!! RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!Call Capt. Dexter at 305-745-3304 or send an email to [email protected]
HERE ARE THE DETAILS:
Where: Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen), Cuba
When: February, 18-24, 2017
Cost: $4600 USD per angler. 5 anglers max.
Includes: Reception in Miami night before flight (on February 16, 2017).
Reception in Havana 5-star hotel (on arrival, February 17, 2017).
Afternoon Tour of Hemingway sites (on February 17, 2017).
All transfers inside Cuba.
2 nights accommodation in double room base in 5-star hotel in Havana (on February 17 and 24, 2017), breakfast included.
Transfer to/from Jucaro port to/from Jardines de la Reina.
6 nights on Halcon yacht on single occupancy; 6 days on full board basis.
Three sumptuous meals per day, packed lunches on skiffs.
Beverages on board - 10 beers & 30 drinks (water & soft drinks).
5 full days + 2 half days fly fishing with Cuban Guides (two people per skiff), guides speak some English.
Excludes: Round-Trip Airfare, Miami to Havana, (depart early morning, February 17, 2017; return late afternoon/evening of Feb. 25, 2017). (est. $450 rt)
Cuban Travel Visa. (est. $85)
Lunches and Dinners in Havana.
Incidentals.
Bookings: Please plan to deposit 50% ($2300) no later than March 10, 2016 to confirm your trip, as this location is in high demand and I cannot guarantee space after that date.
I look forward to fly fishing with you in Cuba!
This past Tarpon Season was a gas! Some really great moments!! Up close and personal with MR. SILVER KING!The GREEN FLASH OF SUNRISE brought us great luck this past Tarpon Season...Here was a nice one...The past few weeks have seen a strong migration of Tarpon rolling into the Flats for the Palalo Worm hatch. Permit were also Marching everywhere! The light and variable winds winds were prevailing and the water temps increased to the mid 80's. We were hooking big Tarpon daily. Here is a another nice one during a worm hatch! Sight casting to Tarpon on the basin flats in May and June is outstanding! Here is another Tarpon caught in this environment...Resident baby Tarpon have also been on the line... Permit are here and there if you get that lucky!!!We have just returned from our annual trek to Turneffe Flats, Belize and I am happy to report that we had great weather and an outstanding week of flats fishing! Tarpon
Bonefishand Permit
THE BIG THREE were caught during our mid July "Grand Slam" week at Turneffe Flats, Belize. Our 2016
dates are July 9- July 16, 2016! And we already have 6 anglers booked into this tropical paradise....To read more about our trips, follow this link to the Belize section of this website:
Contact Capt. Dexter Simmons by calling him at 305-745-3304 or on his cell at 305-304-5880. You also may contact Capt. Dexter by email at [email protected] and visit his website at www.keywestflyfishing.com
Tarpon Season 2016 is coming up and there are some great dates in April, June and early July for Tarpon Fly Fishing Charters with Key West Fly Fishing and Capt. Dexter Simmons. Here is a Tarpon Fly Fishing video to whet your palate! Click Here for another awesome VIDEO sequence of Tarpon Fly Fishing!
Look at the Underwater world of the Tarpon!
Key West Fishing Forecast:
Excellent for Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit!
Target Species:
Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit
More Fishing Reports:
