Fall Fishing in the Keys

It's near the end of September and the fishing is great.  This time of year we get some higher tides.  That allows us to fish some of the shallow flats that are not so easily accessible other times of the year.  Last Tuesday we hooked two battling tarpon on the flats.  We were throwing weedless jerk baits in about 2 feet of water - looking for snook and reds.  There was a small group of tarpon working the mullet and they erupted on our jerk baits.  The first fish was about 100 pounds and when he felt that hook - the only place he could go was straight up in the air!  A few more crazy jumps and an angler who did not "bow to the silver king" was all it took to break off on our 15 pound power pro.  We kept working the area and the next one was a little more manageable - a nice 40 pounder landed.  It's hard to beat the excitement of hooking a crazy fish like that in shallow water on light tackle. 

 

We had a lot of rain mid week and that brought a lot of fresh water into the Florida Bay.  Friday and Saturday were a little tough.  We caught plenty of small reds, a couple big 150 pound sharks and lots of mangrove snapper - but the trout, snook and bigger reds were hard to catch.  Sunday and Monday the bite was "on" the trout were biting - as many as you want and some really nice big fat ones.  We got some nice reds, hooked a nice snook, caught lots of mangrove snapper and hooked up with several tarpon.  First time Florida Keys fisher "Ellen" landed her fist tarpon - a 40 pounder.  I think she'll be back!

 

 

Thanks,
Captain Steve Murray
Phone:  305 - 393 - 1641
Email:  stevemurray126@att.net
Website:  www.tarponheadquarters.com