PPS Destinations Report 

KEY WEST, FLORIDA, USA

Date:        May 2005

 Reported by Dr. Chris Travis, Laguna Hills, CA, USA

(Note:  This report was filed as a personal note to me (Ernie) so please take it as such.  Thanks to Chris for sharing this with us)

We got into Key West a little late, so when you fly in, try to get there by 5PM so you can get a good night's sleep. It is fairly easy to get there.  It takes a day, because of the time zone changes.  Coming home takes a half day.
Morning comes early...wake at 4:30 AM and on the skiff at 5:30 AM, lunch and lots of water in hand for you and your guide.  That is tradition down there.  The early morning is the best for tarpon.  It takes anywhere from 5 minutes to 40 minutes to get where you want to go in the skiff.  The only speed is high speed in those sleek things.
 
Anyway, morning came early for Gary Bogachus (a prosthodontist in Washington) and myself.   It really took us a half day just to think about fishing. It is important to have one fisherman per guide.  There just are not enough shots at the tarpon to share time on the casting deck.  The first two days were tough...windy and overcast... do not make for good sight fishing and that is what you want to do.  You want to shake in your pants as a fish bigger than you is gliding towards the skiff.   The first two days didn't allow us a shot except to very close gulpers almost without a chance.  They gulp because tarpon have lungs, as well as gills.  That is the only way you see them when windy and overcast.  So, no fish were hooked.
 
The last four days were perfect....no wind and sunny, sunny, and more sun.  I cast to hundreds of migrating or laid-up tarpon with floating line.   I was able to get nine in the last three days with numerous other eats and follows.  My biggest was about 120 lbs, a real jumper and fighter for about 50 minutes.
 
There were conditions where I had to shock tippet down to 44 lbs and long leaders, the water was so clear and calm.  The tarpon would take only sparsely tied flies with a 10 wt. rod and a very delicate cast.  Thanks goodness most of the tarpon in these conditions were under 100 lbs, or the fight is a quick one.  One area, in particular, Mooney Harbour in the Marquesa Key, the depth is about 3 feet and the water gin clear.  I cast to many tarpon that just would not take the fly.  They knew something was up.  Finally with a small shock tippet of 39 lbs, I was able to jump a few tarpon, but could not get one in before the tippet broke from abrasion. 
In tarpon fishing, it isn't how many you land, it's how many you jump, or how many you cast to.  The reason is simple..if you land the giant, the odds of a shark getting that fish is pretty high.  Also, the tarpon might die from the fight just because they fight as if they are going to die.  They are too valuable and are beginning to show a decline in numbers.
 
My best day had me jump 5 and land 2, the biggest a 6ft giant.  I cast to a fish that the guide estimated at over 170 lbs, the largest one he had seen in two years.  Needless to say, I screwed up the cast after he told me how big it was.
We are talking slapping the water with an 11 wt line right over her head.  I didn't even just leader the darn fish.  Tarpon fever is real, and it happens every time you see one.  You just have to get over it and get used to it.  When you hook one, it is direct drive to a beast, and you have no idea what power they have.  Just hook your line to the rear fender of a Ford truck and step down full tilt on the peddle.  That is a close enough analogy.

Key West is like being on a tropical island, but with all the amenities of being home.  The people are very colorful and the dining is as good as it gets.  Your day goes from about 5:30 AM to about 2PM. You have a cold beer on tap at Turtle Kraals with your guide and other colorful guides and their anglers. Talk about all the odd things that went on that day.  Then, you walk into the shower with your quick dries on, lather up the clothes, rinse them and hang 'em up, wash yourself, re-hydrate, and take a nap  We stay at an old historical house that has been renovated that has happy hour at 6PM with good food.  That can be your dinner, or dine out at the best sea food places on the map, after that. 

The town never sleeps.  We walk to the skiff in the morning (5 min walk) and the place is still jumping.  The time to go is May and June. When the tarpon fishing is slow, you pole onto a flat and go after permit and bones for a slam.  This year, the water was a little cool, and the permit were still out on the wrecks.   Last year, I did get a slam and the permit was about 30 lbs.  Some of the best permit flats in the world are around Key West.  It is not good to go over Memorial Day, the last week-end in May.  It is crazy with cigar boat races and all the trimmings.
The shopping is great, and it is user friendly for the ladies..... para-sailing, water skiing, scuba diving or snorkelling, sun bathing, swimming, jet skis, and fishing.  Just a fun place.  Lots and lots of habitat for tarpon!  Maybe the best tarpon flats sight fishing on the planet.
Tight lines,
Chris