Monthly Archives: August 2006

Summer is in full swing; we have had some absolutely gorgeous days out on the water, very light winds, calm seas and great fishing. The water temps are pretty stable with temps still in the lower 80s on the reef and in the shallows, the gulf stream has averaged about 14 to 22 miles offshore from Key West, providing some great fishing excitement, heres how things are shaping up for this month.

Offshore:
The Gulf Stream has averaged between 14 and 22 miles to the south of Key West. This has given us some nice back eddies to fish for the Dolphin and the Sails. We have seen a bit of weed scattered here and there and lots of floating debris to keep the schoolies around. The Offshore has been hit and miss, I know a lot of boats that have ran 10-15 miles past the wall looking for the right weed line and saw nothing and on the way back in see birds and nice patches only 10 miles from shore. The nice thing about offshore is that it is always moving, whether it’s the main stream to the east or one of the many back currents, it’s usually always moving. You just have to get out there and see what she brings your way! There have been a color change in around 300feet lately, there have been a few sails caught there, but for the most part it has been a little slow. Off to the better news!

Deep off the Reef:
Deeper off of the reef, the wrecks have still been producing plenty of Amberjacks, Muttons, and some nice Black and Gag Groupers. The wrecks that I am referring to are in waters from 180 to 245 feet deep. These wrecks always produce nice quality fish and there are lots of them to choose from. 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 wrecks and reefs are doing quite well on the Cobias, Sharks, Snappers, Gags and Permit. We have been running out to the further wrecks and towers to sight cast to the Cobias with great success. The conditions have been great for this style of fishing, clear water and calm seas. The Permit have been hanging on the bogger wrecks and have been taking crabs without hesitation. Most of the Cobias have been in the upper teens for weight and are all quite hungry. The Gag groupers are hitting anything dropped there way with a vengeance. We have been using these new Tormenter Jigs, the Ballyhoo series, with outstanding results. We have been even catching nice Yellowtail snappers on these jigs along with very nice sized Grey snappers.

Atlantic Wrecks and Reefs:
We are in the middle of a very good Grey snapper spawn this month. The grays head out to the deep reefs around the full moon of August and spawn, creating a very rewarding experience. The average Grey has been over 4 lbs. with some topping 8lbs. They drop there guard a little during the spawn and make it just a little easier to fool them, what a great fight. We have also been doing well on the Yellowtail snappers. They are a little deeper than the grays this time of the year and are here in good numbers and sizes.

Flats/BackCountry:
The Tarpon are still around in pretty large numbers in and around the harbor and in the backcountry channels. The schools are quite large, most of them in the 45 to 90lbs classes. The largest landed this past week by Capt. Johnny Irwin was more than 80lbs.. The Permit have been showing on the edges of the flats in real good numbers, most fish are in the 15 to 25lb. range. We have had large schools of Bonefish taking advantage of the great conditions flooding the flats in good numbers; the biggest one landed so far at 9lbs. aboard the SeaBreeze with Capt. Johnny Irwin. Again, 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