posted by admin on Feb 28
Key West Florida Flats Fishing
Surrounding Key West and the Florida Keys are large areas of shallow water known as the Flats. Key West Florida Flats Fishing is practiced in and all around these areas
There can be acres and acres of water that is less then 3 feet deep and it is home to variety of fish and wildlife.
To fish these areas often a special boat is used, known as a flats fishing boat. It’s basically similar to a a freshwater bass fishing boat, except it has a stand in the back for the Captain to pole the boat.
Some of the more sought after game fish on the flats are very spooky and pushing the boat via pole is the stealthiest way to move the boat in the shallows while Key West flats fishing.
The major difference between flats fishing and most regular fishing is that in the shallows you can see the fish and you actually cast at them, sort of more like hunting. Then wait for a bite. This can make it more exciting but also more frustrating. Wind can be a major handicap, interfering with casting and causing more ripples and waves obscuring the fish.
The most sought after fish, and also the most challenging fish on the flats are bonefish, permit and tarpon. All three can be spooky and finicky when it come to taking a bait. Some charter boats specialize in Key West Florida tarpon fishing trips.
The less challenging fish that can be targeted on the flats would be barracuda , sharks and jacks. All of which can put up a break fight on light tackle.
So even when the conditions are less then perfect there is usually something to target on the flats of Key West.
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posted by admin on Feb 28
Key West Florida Tarpon Fishing
For the vacation of a lifetime, book a Key West Florida tarpon fishing trip and you’ll know why anglers from all over the world look forward to the sportfishing season here. We get some of the biggest schools of tarpon coming through, and they stay for months, often right in Key West harbor. Key West fly fishing tarpon trips are wildly exciting and popular, for all ages. Even if you’ve never been fishing before, the excitement of seeing one of these big boys fly into the air after being hooked is thrilling. When the tarpon jump, it’s an explosion of activity, bursting out of the water as you hold on and try and keep it on the line. It’s what Key West Florida Tarpon fishing is all about.
Key West Florida tarpon fishing is fun for everyone in the boat, in fact! Photographers will also enjoy the challenge of trying to capture the mighty leaps with their cameras. A picture of yourself landing a big one during a Key West Florida tarpon fishing charter makes one of the best souvenirs we know of!
To find a Key West Florida tarpon fishing guide, just walk the docks at Historic Seaport and you’ll get to view the boats in their slips. Sometimes the charter captains are in their boats and you get to talk to them and ask questions. It’s a great way to choose your charter boat, and talking to the captain can tell you a lot about how your tarpon trip will go.
Key West Florida tarpon fishing can be done any time and in most weather. Since the tarpon roll right up into the channels right around Key West, your guide won’t have to drive far at all in order to hook up some tarpon. Of course sometimes they’ll take you further out to more remote spots for tarpon fishing, especially if it’s a combined bonefish and permit flats fishing trip. But if you’re booking 100% Key West Florida tarpon fishing, then chances are you will enjoy just a short ride to where the tarpon are feeding. There are numerous channels around Key West, and your guide will know where to set up the quick-release anchor for maximum excitement and thrill! So, even if the weather isn’t perfect, you can still get to a good tarpon spot.
You can also book a Key West Fl tarpon fishing trip online, and reserve your trip ahead of time with a credit card. Either way, it’s one of the best ways to spend a morning, afternoon or evening. And remember, it’s catch and release only! Haul in your tarpon to the side of the boat, then it’s off he goes back into the swim. Have someone ready with a camera or better yet a video camera because there is potential for some awesome footage of you catching a monster fish! Getting that magnificent jump on film is almost as great as catching the tarpon, and the screams of joy you’ll hear make the perfect soundtrack. Bet you can’t wait!
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posted by admin on Feb 28
Key West Fly Fishing Tarpon
If you’re traveling to Key West, fly fishing for Tarpon can be the ultimate experience. If you’ve never hooked a Tarpon then you’re in for a real ride! These ocean monsters are some of the toughest fighting fish in the nearshore waters of Key West. They are huge, and they give a great run when hooked. If you’re into sport fishing, you just gotta give Key West fly fishing tarpon a try. You’ll be hooked for life!
Spring time is the most popular time for Key West fly fishing tarpon, since that’s when they are here in dizzying numbers, all around and in the channels of Key West, even right in Key West harbor. Many of the Key West Florida flats fishing guides specialize in catching tarpon right in front of Key West so you won’t even have to travel far to catch that big one! That’s the beauty of Key West fly fishing for tarpon: it’s close in, and you couldn’t have a more beautiful backdrop as you wait for the tarpon to bite. Key West is right there, and if you book a Key West fly fishing tarpon trip in the evening, you get the gorgeous Key West sunset.
Actually, evening is a great time to go Key West tarpon fishing. The tarpon love to bite in the evening, so chances are you’ll hook more fishing if you late afternoon into evening. Anglers also love to book nighttime Key West fly fishing tarpon trips. Often these charters will anchor up at the mouth of a channel near Key West as tarpon run all around the boat, often in large schools. They start to really feed just as the sun goes down. You’ll see their fins rolling on the surface, and that’s when you know to get ready!
Get ready because this is when your Key West fly fishing tarpon trip is going to pop with excitement. Once the tarpon bites, hold on! It’s gonna be a train ride ’cause he won’t let go. Your guide will start the engine of the boat and drive with the tarpon, if necessary. It’s up to you to keep him on and reel the big boy in. The best part is when the tarpon jumps. They jump in the air to try and throw the hook, and it’s an amazing acrobatic display. The tarpon are large and silvery, and also gigantic! To see such a big fish jump so high out of the water is truly up there on the list of fantastic things to do on vacation. To reel in the tarpon is also one of the biggest thrills of many visitors to Key West. Make sure somebody has a camera! In fact, you’ll remember your Key West fly fishing tarpon trip forever, but only pictures will make it come alive for your friends and family.
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posted by admin on Feb 27
Key West Tuna Fishing
Most Tuna fishing done in Key West is for black fin tuna, although yellow fin tuna are caught here its much more rare. Most Tuna fishing is done trolling often on the offshore sea mounts, or even just past where the reef drops off. Tuna are also targeted on the deeper wrecks using various methods including jigging.
Some Captains will use live chum in order to entice the tuna, they will fill their live wells with small baits such as pilchards and throw handfuls of them in periodically. the small baits cluster around the boat for safety and predator fish rise in the water column to eat them.
Another form of tuna fishing which is available certain times of the year is fishing behind shrimp boats. Shrimp boats will trawl the gulf with large nets catching huge numbers of small fish along with the shrimp. Most of these little fish , crabs etc die and are thrown over board. (this is kind of funny because if you where stopped with one of this juvenile fish by fish and wildlife you could get an expensive ticket for possessing an undersized fish, and meanwhile, thousands are killed and just thrown overboard.) This chum line of dead fish attracts numerous predators including tuna and can be some action packed fishing.
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posted by admin on Feb 27
Key West Barracuda Fishing
Barracuda are common in the Florida Keys and Key West and can grow large, over 50 pounds. This makes Key West Barracuda fishing one of the easiest and most fun days out on the water. You can almost always come out a winner if you go out Key West Barracuda Fishing since they are everywhere and fight pretty good.
In some ways they are considered nuisance fish, most people don’t eat them. They can be very aggressive, attacking live baits and artificial lures, seemly more so when you are fishing for some other species.
They also steal hooked fish and can be a problem when fishing for yellowtails or other smaller fish. On days when your goal is not to go Key West Barracuda Fishing, they are a real annoyance factor.
Key West Barracuda fishing can be a blast though on light tackle, they fight good and often jump sometimes multiple times. They can be easy to catch with live bait on the reef, they seem to be almost unable to refuse a really large live baits. This can be problem when you have a limited number of live baits and are trying to fish for something else.
They will hit surface lures, but they have pretty keen sense of sight and once they see anglers they will have a tendency to follow lures but not take a shot at them.
Key West Barracuda Fishing can be done by sight fishing on the flats. This can be really fun because in the shallows they will make extremely long runs to try to escape.
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