LATEST KEY WEST FISHING REPORT – February 17, 2016
Hello Anglers! We welcome everyone a warm Island greeting from Capt Tony Murphy!
It seems the weather has given us a little break in the way of sunny skies and moderate to light winds for the next few days. With east to south-east winds, fishing to the west of Key West will be favorable for checking out some prime flats that have barely been touched since X-mas last year. The Permit are starting to be seen moving over the flats and shallow ledges again! Many of the morning anglers have sighted a number of Permit feeding on the grass flats, and other mornings they are nonexistent. The sunny days can only help with a shot at these brutes. The Cudas have woken up and are acting normal again and feeding as they should this time of year. The water temp has been hovering around 68′, so Barracudas will continue to be big game on the flats. On fly many anglers consider them one of the top species on the flats to target. Just remember to use a two hand strip and get the fly moving for your best chance. Using Cuda Tubes on spin can trigger a big hit as well!
The back country will still hold many species to target this time of year with the cooler waters. Jacks, Sharks, Sea Trout and many species of snapper can still be found in the basins and tight up against mangrove tree lines. Look for schools of bait around deeper ledges or puffs of muddy water in and all around the basins. Live bait or just using your favorite soft bait will do the job.
The offshore bite has also been good the last few days. Captains have been catching a few mahi; some have weight up to 15 pounds. The sailfish bite has come on strong with multiple releases reported by quite a few Captains. Anglers have also found many black fin Tuna under frigate birds in approximately 200 to 300 feet. In addition, there have been a lot of Bonitos and Kingfish landed at the end of the bar with a good west tide. We are still seeing a lot of Snapper action in just 60 -100 feet of water. Be patient with the really big Flag size yellow tail. They don’t get that big without being smart. If having trouble hooking up, try dropping down a size in your leader. This sometimes makes all the difference. As always wishing you tight lines and fish boat side from Capt Tony!