Key West, What Better Place in the world to Fish.

Report Date: July 20, 2004

So you?re in Key West, and what do you do? Well if you ask the crew from Virginia Beach they will tell you: sleep very little, eat good food and fish your ass off.

On a recent multiple day excursion I was fortunate enough to fish with a group of guys that I would consider, ?fish nuts??All they wanted to do was fish. So that?s what we did. We had slightly less than favorable conditions on the first day. South West wind. This is not a good wind for fishing down here in Key West. However, we did manage to jump a Tarpon on bait. Knowing what I had in store for the next few days I stepped up for the challenge. The challenge before me was, how to find Tarpon when it seemed after the first day that there where not many tarpon around.

After a long search I did mange to find a school of Tarpon in a little sweet spot, which seems to produce fish when all other places fail. So Jeffrey managed to land one Tarpon about 70lbs. Jamul never did land one, however, he did jump a couple of fish on this day.

So now it?s a new day and we split up the group again. The two whom had not hooked fish on the other boat chose to go with me. Apparently I had some sort of luck, or at least had found more fish than the other boat. Now understand I have even more pressure on myself to produce fish. So that?s what I did. I found some more Tarpon. An now Jamul had managed to hook a big one about 70 or 80 pounds and we broke off the Tarpon at the boat. Nice catch!

Now at this point two guys left to catch Tarpon out of four. We have one evening trip left and one more morning half day to get the job done. So I hooked the guys up with a light tackle boat for this last evening of fishing, positive that they would have good luck. An as luck would have it they where successful in there Tarpon hunt. . Bobby caught a Tarpon!!!!!!!!!!!

So we where down by one run in the last inning and we needed a run in a big way. Knowing that the tide would be favorable I headed toward a familiar Tarpon hole. Upon arrival we had Tarpon rolling right in front of the boat. Crab on the left, pinfish on the right we where armed and ready. These fish where not overly cooperative to eat so we moved around slightly. Only to end up back in the same spot and try to tough it out. Fish on, the tarpon ate and Mac had his Tarpon on. Now I must admit this is when I felt the most pressure on myself to get this man his fish. Success. We did it. After grabbing the leader several times we broke this Tarpon off along side the boat.

As we headed in I felt we needed one good shot at a Permit. So I made a quick stop on another flat. An do you know? After only ten minutes or so we had a fish on. A nice sized Permit that would easily weigh about 25 pounds.

So Mr. Mac not only got his tarpon on this day but he caught a Permit. Some people choose to save the best for last?

Well if you want to fish and fish hard, I know a guide who I recommend. Looking back what a great challenge for me as a guide. To fish with a group of guys that have the same mad passion for the sport as I do.

Thanks you Jeffrey, Mac, Jamul and bobby.
I had a blast fishing with you all.

 

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