Key West Fishing
The geographical layout and location of the Florida Keys provide
anglers with many fishing opportunities. With the Gulf of Mexico
and Florida Bay on the North side and the Atlantic Ocean to the
south, it's no wonder so many fishing enthusiasts flock to the
Keys each year to pursue a dream of a permit on fly or to catch
some fresh fish for dinner.
The Florida Keys chain of islands flow south and west from the
Miami area of Florida. The waters surrounding the islands
provide many types of habitat for fish. Flats, or shallow water
areas, surround many of the islands and extend into Florida Bay
and the Everglades. To the west of Key West also lies one of the
only atolls in North America, the Marquesas. This area of flats
surrounding the Marquesas is 3 miles wide and has been referred
to as "the golden donut" by famous author, Jeffrey Cardenas. The
Marquesas is a magical place where tarpon, bonefish and permit
feed daily on the flats. There is more life here at this atoll,
just 22 miles from Key West Harbor, than in many of the other
areas of the backcountry of the Lower Keys. Because it is
separated from other points of land by 8 miles of brutally rough
water, the Boca Grande Channel. This shallow but wide channel
feeds water from the Atlantic to the Gulf and on any given day
can be brutal to cross in a small boat. Anglers find this place
to be most promising on days during the annual tarpon migration
while slow summer days you may have the whole atoll to yourself.
The Keys not only attract saltwater fly
fishing enthusiasts in search of their first permit on a
flyrod but light tackle anglers in search of some arm burning
fish to give them a run for their money. Many species call the
shallow patch reefs and wrecks home in the Lower Keys. Grouper,
mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, porgy, cobia, grunts, and
triggerfish should fill your vocabulary when talking about reef
dwelling fish. Many of these species will eat a variety of bait
including bucktail jigs, rubber DOA shrimp, live pilchards,
squid or chunks of ballyhoo. Bottom fishing is always better
during the cooler months here in the Keys. Fall is when many of
the larger grouper will move from deeper water where they spent
the summer back up onto the reef areas.
For the offshore enthusiast there are so many species to fish
for. Challenge your angling ability with light tackle sport
fishing for wahoo, sailfish, mahi mahi or tuna, or jump on board
a sport fishing vessel and head further offshore for marlin,
sharks, swordfish and deep drop for snowy grouper. Many of the
species mentioned for light tackle and reef fishing may also be
caught off an offshore trolling vessel. It highly depends on the
conditions and the captain's abilities.
If you have heard someone talk about fishing the Dry Tortugas they
probably had some big fish stories to tell about this fishing
playground some 70 miles from Key West. Fort Jefferson is
located in the Dry Tortugas National Park and is a tourist
attraction not to be missed. This beautiful outpost was never
actually used as a fort but served as a safe harbor for shrimp
and fishing boats traveling to the mainland Florida, New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast. Today it still serves as a safe haven from
the weather but there are many visitors by seaplane and boats
from Key West daily. There are few fishing charters with the
licensing to fish the grounds around the Dry Tortugas but if you
get to go it will certainly be a big fish event.
Loren Rea lives and works in the Lower Keys and has been a part
of the fishing community for nearly a decade there.