Florida Keys???

[fishcast]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I saw another similiar post.

It looks like I may have an awesome opportunity to go to the keys and do some fishing. I am relatively clueless about fishing down there. I will be there in the middle of March.

I plan to bring fly and spinning and casting tackle and would like to catch any fish that pulls. I know some are probably a lot harder to catch than others and we don't plan to hire a guide. We will have a boat to get around.

My main question is what islands people would recomend for good fishing? Thanks for any help....

[meatfish]

Look up tarpon and bonefish on your search engine.There are charters that will bring you out for free on the tarpon if they do not hook you up.If as you say you have a boat to get around do some research on the tarpon run as I believe they start mid to the end of march and a 100 pound tarpon would be a hoot on a fly rod.The keys sound like a good place to start.

[wahoohendoo]

ive fished key west 3 times. once was mar./april. caught dolphin,kingfish and some spanish mackeral. the later you go usually the better. the sailfish are going pretty good then too. but other good keys are(their all good)islamorada,key largo,marathon and duck key. go to the marinas and the big tarpon are everywhere, it really gets the blood pumping. ive never done the inshore fishing, but if you have your own boat i'm jealous. ask around then go exploring!

[mnhunter79]

We are going to the keys for our honeymoon the 1st week in april. Any sugestion as to which island/guide service is best for tarpon fishing? thanks.

[meatfish]

yes guarenteed tarpon

[mnhunter79]

yes guarenteed tarpon

Which island / Guide service is guarenteed tarpon?

[youngie22]

fishcast... what size boat will you have? That will narrow down where you will be able to get to. Stop by the world wide sportsman on Islmorada. Cool stop... marina in back, they should give you some good info.

[fishcast]

I think its a 16 foot boat well have....We plan to be staying in around shore

ive fished key west 3 times. once was mar./april. caught dolphin,kingfish and some spanish mackeral. the later you go usually the better. the sailfish are going pretty good then too. but other good keys are(their all good)islamorada,key largo,marathon and duck key. go to the marinas and the big tarpon are everywhere,

wahoo, were the tarpon you saw around most all of the islands marinas or just key west? And I assume the dolphin were offshore a ways? Thanks

[DonBo]

I believe Marathon is the place to go. We fished there years ago and it seemed to be the heart of Keys fishing.

[metro fisherman]

Tarpon in marinas isnt a good plan unless you like a 3 second fight till you get wrapped up.

[wahoohendoo]

yea it was just in key west (3 marinas). but i would think they all would be good. they are migrating then. it should be good in the shipping canals and some deeper flats. you cant fish for them in the marinas (too crowded and too much fish)

[youngie22]

leave today!!!! dolphin are hammering... I can taste the mahi mahi now! Probably can't plug a guide right now since not a sponsor, but I heat only good things

[Tim_Anderson]

I fished Key West a few years back during March. It was a bit early for Tarpon, which is what I really wanted to catch, and we did manage to land both of the fish that we hooked up with. Caught a few other miscellaneous fish too...jacks, stuff like that. April is better for Tarpon, and I think May is better yet.

I watch fishing shows constantly in the winter time because I intend to eventually move my guide service down there for the winter. Hopefully I will spend next winter trying to figure out how to fish down there!

From everything I have seen, Islamorada is the sport fishing capital of the keys. When the migration is fully on, they are catching them (Tarpon) big time around the big bridges that separate the keys. Much of that is pretty near shore.

And there's plenty of other in-shore stuff you can get after in the shallows by sight-fishing. Shark. Bonefish. Snook. Barracuda. Man I get excited just thinking about it.

Good luck and let us know how you do.

[rcatcherman]

Just got back from the keys today and the sailfish are going strong right now...

[tonkapat]

Yea sails would be your best option and may not have to run all that far offshore. Can always go after sharks and/or other back country/shallow water fish. Islamorada gives you a great option that way. Tarpon late april seems best.

[fishcast]

Thanks for the tips!

Cuda and shark are at the tops of our lists. They seem to be some easier fish to get to bite anyways. I have some ideas, but if people have tips on tactics, what to look for, and use (flies/lures/ bait) with cuda and sharks I'd much appreciate it....The guy we are borrowing the boat from fishes a lot and we should get some good tips from him and fishing shops down there too.