Key Largo Offshore Report
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They’re coming to take them away hay, hay. They’re coming to take them away hay, hoe. And for those of you who enjoy fishing it is time to avoid the madness that is Lobster season. Even thought the shallow water reefs are under attack does not mean you can’t get out for some great fishing action.
- Jason Le Barnes with a whopper 12 lb. bonefish caught while out with Capt. Mike Makowski in Key Largo.
My suggestion is to head into Everglades National Park for some peace and quiet. Huge schools of mullet can be found on the shallow water flats all over Florida Bay and are great indicators of active areas. Just look for the mud’s and you will find the fish. My anglers have had great success with soft plastic jerk baits rigged weed less and with no weight or ¼ ounce Johnson silver and gold weed less spoons. Thrown blindly into active muds and retrieved back to the boat. Sharks, redfish, snook, seatrout, blackdrum, and sheepheads are the main players. Ospreys can also be a good indicator of active mud’s that will hold fish.
- The Llewellyn family with a great redfish caught on live shrimp.
Over the last week bonefish have made their presence known around the Oceanside flats off the Upper Keys. From Ocean Reef to the north, and as far south as Channel 5 in Lower mat they are here and in force. The best tides have been the morning incoming tide and afternoon fall. Ultimately avoiding the middle part of the day will save you from polling endlessly with no results. Basically fish the morning and afternoon. One afternoon my clients witnessed the largest schools of bones I have seen all year so far.
- Jay Haliczer holds his largest bonefish ever weighing in at 9 lbs. while out on an afternoon trip.
Three schools averaging 60-80 fish each!!! In four hours we hooked 7 bones and landed 5, one of which weighed in at 11lbs but the average was around 8 lbs overall. Live shrimp and patience are the two best allies you can have. A 1/0 circle hook with a tiny split shot placed about 2 inches above the hook will prevent the shrimp from getting bogged down in the grass has proven to be the rig of choice. And for you fly anglers out there as long as the fly is relatively small I have not found a pattern that will not work. The permit action is day to day, with some days better than others. It seems that the early morning falling tide has been the best time to peruse these awesome fighting fish.
See you out there…
Capt. Mike Makowski
Blackfoot charters
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