Captian Doug Lillard: Florida flats fishing guide to the Florida Keys, Flamingo,
and Miami. Fishing for Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, Snook, Redfish and Sharks.
and Miami. Fishing for Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, Snook, Redfish and Sharks.
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Guiding The Keys, Biscayne Bay, Flamingo
Section Three - Biscayne Bay and the Keys
Shadowed by the Miami skyline, this is where the Florida Keys begin. The gin clear water off Key Biscayne has miles of grass flats along with shallow hard bottom with both soft and hard coral growing on them. Biscayne Bay has some of the largest Bonefish in the world. Several world record bonefish have come from these waters. Bonefish, Tarpon, Permit. Barracuda and sharks are some of the main species of fish to be targeted off Key Biscayne and the Florida Keys.
Bonefish, also known as the gray ghost of the flats, with his
silver sides, allows him to reflect any type of bottom that he might swim
over just like a mirror. Some of the situations you may expect to see
while fishing for bonefish. During lower stages of the tide or when
viability is low, I'll try to look for tailing bonefish. This is when a
school or maybe single bonefish is rooting around the bottom looking for
food. In very shallow water, his tail pops up and breaks the surface of
the water. This is called tailing. A tailing bone fish is probably the
most difficult situation to catch a bone fish but also the most exciting
way to fish for them. Imagine a 6 or 7 inch tail popping up in front of
you, just waving around almost taunting you as if to say 'Catch me if you
can!'. You may also see cruising bonefish. This is where they could be
moving to another spot or looking for some food depending on their speed.
You may also come across mudding bone fish. This is where bonefish may
have found something (shrimp or crab) on the bottom and are rooting them
out, sucking in some sand or mud off the bottom and blowing it out through
their gills. This is the best situation for catching bonefish. One, they
are feeding! Two, They're not as spooky because their guard is down and
their visibility is restricted due to them mudding the area. A shrimp,
crab or fly placed right into their feeding zone usually will result in a
hookup fight. Pound for pound A bonefish is the strongest fish that swims
the flats.
Permit, some of the
situations you may encounter while permit fishing. You may find permit
tailing also. These fish average 15 to 25 lbs. They have a large sickle
tail that when it comes out of the water is truly a sight to behold. I
prefer to use small crabs for them on light line so that you may make a
long accurate cast. And it will take the perfect cast to get a tailing
permit. You will also find Permit cruising along looking for some sign of
food. You will also see them mudding and this, of course, is the best way
to get a hookup. Permit can also be found just floating on the surface
doing something that is referred to as spiking. This is where their dorsal
and tail fin just stick up above the water's surface. Sometimes there's
just one or two, 20 or even 100 of them.
Tarpon - I'll
briefly describe some of the situations you may encounter while Tarpon
fishing around the Keys and Key Biscayne. I'm mainly going to cover fly
fishing for them. But there is some excellent bait and plug casting for
Tarpon here. Fly fishing for Tarpon around Key Biscayne and the Florida
Keys is as Billy Pate sums it up best "The ultimate in Fly Fishing".
Imagine fishing in gin clear water and seeing a school of 10 to 20 or even
100 Tarpon high and happy just gulping air every so often. That's when you
see just how huge the fish really are, maybe a 120 pounder rolls in front
of you, his back 8 inches across and over 6 feet long. You have to wait
for what may seem an eternity You get your chance, you place the fly just
in front of the lead fish. That Tarpon comes up and sips it gently or may
crash and rip that fly off the surface so fast that you barely have time
to react.You may also find yourself casting to what is called a daisy chain. This must be some type of mating ritual.. I've seen a school of 10 to 20 or up to 200 to 300 fish all swimming nose to tail, in a circle either clockwise or counter-clockwise. This is important to know because it will determine just where you will need to place your fly. This is just one of the many amazing acts of nature you may encounter.
Certain areas around the Florida Keys has what is called the
Palalo worm hatch. This occurs near the full moons during May and June.
When these little worms swarm, this can bring Tarpon by the thousands. You
will see 60 to 150 lb Tarpon sipping these worms right off the water's
surface. It's probably one of the strangest and most magnificent events in
nature to take place in the Florida Keys. I'm always amazed at how many
Tarpon will appear from the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden, it's
Tarpon as far as the eye can see.Click to View Article
Barracuda This is one of the most underrated game fish
that you can encounter in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys. If you like
top water lure fishing, you'll love fishing for Barracuda. Using light
weight spinning or plug tackle and you're casting top water lures as far
as you can, retrieving them with a fast retrieve. The Barracuda will just
crash the lure with some spectacular
strikes.
