Mike and Elizabeth from New orleans came to Key west to enjoy the scenery and possibly catch a tarpon. This is not the best of times to land the silver king but we headed out with a bait well full of pinfish. I had been finding a few schools in a channel close to Key west and they were there once again. We got up tide of them and drifted a pin fish down to them, we ended up jumping 4 and landing 3. I then went out looking for barracuda and permit, we found plenty of both. We landed a nice permit but missed out on the barracudas.

I had the pleasure of spending 4hrs with Scott/Debroah Pschurer. We hooked 2 tarpon and landed 1 around 80 pounds, we also had 3 black tips sharks on but did not land any,

Key west flats fishing report by Capt Anthony Skinner

Carter and his son 12 year old son were my clients today. We headed out at 8am and hit a few spots for tarpon, in each of these spots we found fish but they were spread out and we did not get a hook up. Shark fishing was next on the agenda, we headed out to the gulf side and found some lemon sharks resting on a white sand spot. Lucas got the first bite, the shark screamed out line and about 15 minutes later we had him boat side . The lemon shark was around 6 feet and close to 100 pounds. Carter hooked up next and landed a 5 foot nurse shark. We then switched to jigs in search of lady fish, I drifted a channel and got into them good. We hooked a few lady fish and 1 black tip shark before it shut down and we moved. We hooked up and landed a few bonnet head sharks before we headed home.

Key west flats fishing report by AWS charters

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Capt Peter Heydon. We had a leisurely 8am departure and headed out east of Key west for bonefish. We had low water and a lot of sun, I started on the bow, we spooked 2 small schools of bones before I hooked up. The fish screamed out plenty of backing and after 5 minutes, of constant pressure and fighting off 2 fired up lemon sharks, we landed a nice 6 pound bonefish. Pete took the bow and had a shot at a pair crossing a white sand patch, he made a great cast and was also rewarded with a screaming drag. Pete fought the fish to the boat for a picture and after a look for sharks, we released the fish to fight another day. Pete headed to another spot and after a bit of polling we spotted a cruising pair of bonefish, my first cast was on the money, I got a grab but did not come tight, my second was very aggressive and the bone inhaled the fly. He ran and fought for about 5 minutes before we landed the fish for a picture. We reeled in and headed to another flat that was loaded with small black tip sharks and tarpon. We had no luck with the black tips but had a feisty 20 pound tarpon smashed the fly. Pete fought this fish for about 10 minutes, weathering plenty of jumps to land the tarpon and take the picture.

Key west fishing report by Capt Anthony Skinner

The 2012 Tarpon migration has passed, It gives me a chance to look back and remember some of the highs and lows. My most memorable moment “I don’t know if this is a high or a low” was when a 100 pound tarpon ate a fly 6 feet in front of the boat and jumped in. In the process he knocked off my client Carl Knoblock, broke 3 fly rods, destroyed my rod holder and jammed a broken fly rod through 2 inches of fiberglass. This year I had the opportunity to not only teach several clients how to cast but also guided them to their first tarpon on fly. I introduced many clients to several types of hatches “guppy, crab, shrimp and palalo worm”, These hatches work the same way as a hatch on the river, find where the hatch is going on and you will find the fish. Most of the moments I would like to forget are weather related, during the 3 day Smitty and Al tournament I got rained on most days, dealt with high winds and no sun. All and all the tarpon fishing was good this season, it seemed if you had the fly, crab or soft plastic in the right spot you were rewarded with a tarpon eating your bait.

Permit fishing remained good all season when I did get out looking for them. This year I did a lot of wading for tailing permit, this is a fantastic way to get close, some of the shots we had were around 10 feet. My clients success was mixed, if you could present the fly or crab close you would get the bite, if not the permit would leave a rooster tail as he sped of the flat.

I fished bonefish just a few times and I remember, on all the trips I saw a few fish but it was not overwhelming. I did have a few caught, the coming months, I will be doing a lot more bone fishing so I should be catching a lot more then.

Many of my clients caught sharks and barracudas, these 2 are very underrated with most people wanting to catch the big 3. Barracuda are 1 of my favorite fish to catch, they are fast, absolutely crush the fly or tube lure and they jump wildly. The sharks are great because of the mystique. It is always great to see a hugh shark cruising the shallows, pitching a bait in front of the fish and then seeing him rise and eat off the top of the water.

This is the slow season in Key west but the fishing is fantastic, if you make it down we will be fishing for baby tarpon, tailing permit/bonefish and sharks.

Until next month

Capt Anthony Skinner

Key west flats fishing report by Capt Anthony Skinner

I have fished the past 3 days for permit mostly, with a little tarpon to change things up. Day 1 and 2 were the same with high clouds obscuring my vision, the end result saw us spook plenty of both tarpon and permit, with sharks, lady fish, jacks and look downs as the species we could catch. Yesterday I fished with Donald Obryan, we got good visibility around 12. The fist permit we saw was feeding heavily, after a missed shot, the next cast was perfect and we were rewarded with a screaming drag. Donald fought the permit for about 10 minutes before the hook pulled right next to the boat. We fished for a while before we saw are next tailing fish, I anchored the boat and we waded to the fish. We got within 15ft of the fish but donald had difficulty getting the crab in front of the fish. This same scenario played out about 5 more times in the next 30 minutes, before the water got to low for the permit to jump this flat.

Fished with Adam and Bill miller from Indianapolis, we headed out early for tarpon. I hit a few spots and found some rolling fish but did not get a hook up so around 9, I hit a white sand spot on the Atlantic for some migratory fish. We found a few tarpon but once again did not get an eat. We hit a few flats and spotted a permit and a few sharks before the clouds set in. I then hit a channel and hooked plenty of jacks, lady fish, and look downs. We free lined a lady fish and missed 1 black tip shark and landed another.

Key west flats fishing report by AWS charters

I had 2 half days today, my first trip was with larry and jim from Yester day and my second trip was with chad and pam stelmok. My first trip started at 6, we had a bit of trouble finding tarpon but finally hooked up around 7 with a very large fish that ate a pin fish. Jim was on the rod that got hit, the tarpon dragged us about a mile before it finally jumped, the fish was very large and tired so we saw about half. The tarpon surged again and pulled the hook. Larry was on the bow when I spotted a very large school crossing a shallow bank, we had three tarpon eat a crab before we came up tight. The tarpon ate and ran towards the boats and

when he did jump, he jumped over the bow just barely missing Larry. he finally broke the line after a few more jumps and Larry not “bowing to the king”.

My second trip we had shots at 1 school and a single tarpon but did not place the crab correctly. I headed out for some shark fishing north of Key west. We landed on a white sand spot that sharks rest on during the day, I placed a shot for Pam and she was soon hooked up with a large lemon shark. This shark fought for about 20 minutes before we brought it boat side for some pictures. chad hooked up minutes after the release and also brought in a truly large lemon shark. We had 1 shot at a permit but the water was really heating up so we headed home

Key west flats fishing report by Capt Anthony Skinner.

This report is two for 1, the first a night trip with Justin Neri, the second a full day with Larry bornheimer. The night tarpon trip started at 7:30 and I headed out to the harbor but did not spot any rolling fish. I anchored along a bank that is a feeding route for tarpon and after about 30 minutes Justin had a tarpon smash his pinfish and it was game on. This fish went absolutely berserk before settling into a tug of war that justin won, he landed his first Key west tarpon a nice 60 pounder. The sun set and we moved to a spot that I expected tarpon to be busting shrimp, sure enough we heard a few but it was rather slow. I did pitch a shrimp to a fish close by and we got a few jumps from a juvenile.

The next trip we found some schools of tarpon but could never get set on them so I headed to the flats. Our first shot was at a huge barracuda that almost hit the boat before turning off of the tube lure. The next shot Larry hooked up to a 40 pound lemon sharks that ran out a 100 yards+ of line before slowing down and eventually coming boat side. Jim then hooked another shark moments that he landed. We headed out for permit and this proved very slow but after a while I spotted a tailing fish, Larry and I got out of the boat and headed to the fish. We spotted him crossing a white sand patch and feed him a crab. The Permit streaked off the flat and kept fighting until a lemon shark took of his tail. We retrieved the rest of the fish and got a picture.

Key west flats fishing report by aws charters

Ian Black landed his first tarpon on fly today, we headed out at 5am and our first 2 spots were lifeless. Our 3 spot proved money, when a feisty 30 pounder smashed Ian’s black tarpon fly. We landed this fish after several jumps and a few trips around the boat. The next spot was slow but we did find a large school of milling fish, we jumped 1 and missed 1 before the tarpon decided they had enough of us. I hit an island with a ton of bait and a few fish rolling but no great shots. The last place was where Ian landed his next fish a nice 20 pounder that ate a chartreuse toad, we also had another grab but the tarpon missed the fly.

Permit fishing was next on the agenda, we hit a bank that the permit tail heavy on the falling tide. It did not take long before we spotted our first tailer, we got out of the boat and waded over to the fish but spooked it with the fly line. This happened over and over again but that is permit fishing on a flat calm day.