Key West Flats Fishing with Capt. Mike O'Brien Fishing Reports

The other day my buddy, Justin, and I got into some great juvie tarpon fishing on a guides day off. We are now in winter time fishing which is still warmer than anywhere else in the United States or Europe. Lots of cool fish to chase like Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit on the warmer days. On the cold days we can go for Barracudas, Sharks, Jacks, Speckled Trout, Spanish Mackerel. Just to name a few of the species.

The great fishing is just part of the equation . Being out on the beautiful Caribbean colored water and around the birds and the mangrove islands is just SWEET!!!

Fishing has been pretty good to very good in September and early October.

We have been seeing and catching some nice tarpon both in the daylight and at night.

And some crazy night time action……….

The bonefishing has been really good too

We have been catching both big and little tarpon the past few weeks. Bonefish are around in pretty good numbers and, of course , Permit fishing is good right now too!!

Rules to live by

Permit or Trachinotus falcatus is probably the hardest flats fish to catch on fly.
Below are some images of the fish and the flies we use to catch them.  The most important part the game is making a quick and accurate cast.  A good angler can get the fly to the target with only one or two false casts.  Permit are spooky and have great eyesight.  We look forward to days with a little wind which masks the noise of the fly line in the air and allows for multiple casts a fish or group of fish.  I recommend that anglers practice their casting out on the lawn prior to their Key West flats fishing trip.  This practice will pay big dividends in fishing success and can mean the difference between going fishless or adding an achievement of a lifetime to your trip.

We train ourselves to see fish swimming under the surface, mudding, tailing, and floating.  There is nothing in the angling world that compares to seeing a school of large permit with their tails popping up out of the water as they move up a flat feeding.
Sometimes we hear a splash from a permit that has just tailed so hard it tipped over.

The rod of choice for these fish is an 8, 9, or 10 weight depending on the wind or lack there of.  A saltwater reel with a good drag like a Tibor and 300 yards of backing are a must.  Use a nine to twelve foot leader.

Feeding the permit is a learned art and only time on the water and your guide can help you with this ability.  A good angler does not just make a great cast to the fish; he or she actually sells the fly.  By selling the fly I mean that the angler reads the permit’s actions toward the fly and moves it or lets it drop to entice the fish to react and EAT.

Tight Lines and fish boatside,

Capt. Michael O’Brien

Days for these guys are filling up. May is gone but March, April, and June days are still available .

Come down and fish!!!!

We are catching Cudas now but as soon as we get a warm spell in February the tarpon fishing will go off!! And permit too.

I did not fish the Cuda Bowl this year but am getting some big ones boat side. #cudabowl

I did see a giant Permit yesterday!!

Get ready for these guys…………

and these guys too

Here are some photos from the past few days

I’m getting ready for the Del Brown Permit tournament July 14-16. My favorite sponsor is