Monthly Archives: June 2006

Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and Tailchaser Charters, here with your June fishing report:

Summer has finally arrived; we have had some absolutely gorgeous days out on the water, very light winds, calm seas and great fishing. The water temps are rising pretty fast now, we are seeing temps around the mid 80.s on the reef and in the shallows, the gulf stream has averaged about 17 to 32 miles offshore from Key West, providing some great fishing excitement, here.s how things are shaping up for this month.

Here’s how things are shaping up….

Offshore:
The Gulf Stream has averaged between 17 and 32 miles to the south of Key West, this has helped to give us a few different currents close to shore. In about 180 to 220 feet of water there has been a great color change that has produced some good Sail fishing and a few nice dolphin in the 20 to 30lb. range. Setting up for a troll or drift along this color change can make for some great action. With the beautiful conditions offshore lately, we have been able to head offshore to fish for the Dolphin, the weed lines are nice and large and the schoolies eager to feed. We have been doing very good on the Wahoo, there have been lots of areas with large pallets, sheets of wood and debris floating providing great fishing.

Deep off the Reef:
Deeper off of the reef, the wrecks have been producing plenty of Amberjacks, Muttons, and some nice Black Groupers. These wrecks are in about 220 to 240 feet of water. When the stream is very close the currents are a little strong and we need to use lots of weight, but on the days the stream is far out, you re in for a real treat. When the currents are light and the wind is in the right direction, we have been anchoring up on the deeper wrecks lately and simply having our way with the fish! Dropping whole ballyhoos to the bottom has produced nice Black and Gag Groupers along with my favorite the Mutton Snappers. Dropping a fresh live Ballyhoo to the bottom is sure to get nailed!

Gulf Wrecks:
The gulf wreck action has been very hot on the Cobias and the Permit. The Cobias are averaging between 12 and 40lbs., some even topping 62!, and have been in really large schools. The Cobias have been showing up lately on the closer in wrecks and reefs and always like to hang on the channel markers, hoping we toss a bait there way. The snapper and grouper bite has been good with gray snappers being caught up to about 5 lbs. We are at the tail end of the Permit spawn and the Permit have been studs! The average fish landed has been in the high twenties to mid thirties! The fish are very hungry and have been eating crabs like they are snickers bars! The sharks are very active; most of them are Bulls, Black tips and Lemon sharks. As soon as you get a good chum slick started they are as far back in it as you can see. These powerhouse fish are very strong fighters and a challenge on light tackle. The average sizes to the sharks is between 250 to 400lbs. The Bull sharks are the most abundant and they are very aggressive and will hit just about anything that lands in front of them. We are still getting into nice size schools of Bonita at some of the other farther out gulf wrecks and by tying off to any of the dozens of shrimp boats anchored in the gulf. Shrimp boat fishing is some of the best action trips you could possibly go on.

Atlantic Wrecks and Reefs:
Now that we are on our third Mutton Spawn, this has turned out to be one of the best years in a long time. The average fish has been in the upper teens to mid twenties. These guys are very hard fighters, providing exciting runs to the bottom, screaming drag the whole way. The yellowtails are here in good numbers and sizes; the average has been about a pound and a half with some topping three pounds! Yellowtails these sizes are called Flags, they are a true beauty to catch and look at. (Not bad in the skillet either!)

Flats/BackCountry:
The Tarpon are still here in great numbers in and around the Harbor and in the channels. The schools are quite large, most of them in the 70 to 120lbs classes. The largest landed lately topped the scales at over 162lbs. The Permit have been showing on the edges of the flats in pretty good numbers, most schools are between 4 and about 10 each. These guys are returning from their annual spawn offshore and are looking to feed. The Barracuda and Sharks are all over the flats; just about any bait thrown their direction is sure to get looked at. Basically any species that you target on the flats will be a good choice for a very productive trip in June.

This is Captain Paul Tryon, Give me a call to book your day with some of Key West’s best guides here at Key West PRO Guides and have some fun fishing! Until next month, keep those reels screaming! For booking information with Key West PRO Guides or TailChaser Charters, you can call me at 305-296-6602 or visit my website:

www.keywestproguides.com or www.tailchasercharters.net

Tight lines,

Capt. Paul Tryon