The weather has finally warmed up and stabilized in Key West. We have experienced the coldest water temperature that I can remember, as well as 2 days of heavy fog. My first fishing trip of the week I was mating on my wife’s boat Island to Island Charters. That day I noticed the water temperature had plummeted to 61 degrees. We struggled to even chum up Snappers. Only 2 days later I had the pleasure of fishing with Jim and Neal. These guys come down to Key West every year for a medical conference. The water temperature reached the mid 60s and once again the fishing was tough. I did find some large sized Barracudas along the gulf side, but unfortunately we did not land any. After battling the fog for several days, my clients successfully landed some nice ” Cudas ” once the fog finally lifted.

My next trip was with Paula and Catherine. These 2 ladies have been fishing with me for many years and they love to catch Tarpon. Fortunately the wind had switched to the Southeast and the water temperature rose to 70 degrees. These are ideal conditions to bring in the Tarpon. We made 3 drifts through this channel, we missed 1, we broke a 60-80 pounder off right next to the boat and we luckily landed a 30 pounder. We then headed off to do some flats fishing where we had shots at Permit, Barracudas and Sharks. It was nice change to see the return of some species to the flats after our long cold front.

My last trip of the week was with Bill. I had fished him earlier in the week as well. This day we had cloudy weather so I hit some lighter color flats hoping to spot Barracudas. After he had 4 eats, we finally landed 1. This time of the year can be trying for both guides and their anglers. However, as you can see we are fortunate to still be able to successfully fish in these challenging conditions. That being said I am anxious for Spring & Summer to get here soon!