Hello from Key West, This is captain Paul Tryon with Key West PRO Guides and Tailchaser Charters, here with your October fishing report:
Fall has finally arrived! This past week has given us a nice cool north to north-east breeze and light winds to keep our seas nice and calm. Looks like the tropics have finally calmed down and we are looking forward to some great fall fishing action.
Here’s how things are shaping up….
Offshore:
Offshore we are getting into some schools of Dolphin still and have been finding some rather nice weed lines out in about 700-800 feet of water. As the water temps continue to drop with the approaching cold fronts, the Sailfish and Wahoo action should increase with great results. On the reef we are starting to see some nice Black fin tuna showing up, Most of them are in the upper teens for weight and are very aggressive feeders when live baiting with the live Pilchards. Our live bait situation is pretty good, we have been able to consistently catch more than enough and anyone who knows there fishing knows you need the ‘livies’.
Deep off the Reef:
The deeper wrecks off of the reef have still been good with Amberjacks, African Pompano, Barracuda, Bonita and smaller sharks. With the currents being light and the wind 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! Now that we have the water temperatures starting to cool off, the Black fin tuna should start to come around and spread out over more of the deeper wrecks. The last few deep water wreck trips have each found a few hungry black fins and what a blast they are on the light tackle.
Reef/Wrecks:
The gulf wreck action has been really good. We always have great Cobia action in the fall, most of these brutes average 20lbs.+ and some routinely get hooked up in the 30 to 40lb. range. 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. 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. We have been battling 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.
Flats/BackCountry:
The flats and backcountry trips are heating up really good now. The Permit are on the edges of the flats and seem to be enjoying the cooler waters we are getting. The average size permit the past few weeks has been around 20-25lbs. and very eager to feed. The bone fish are in good size schools with the average size fish weighing in around 7-8lbs. There are still lots of Tarpon here, the morning and late evening bite has been the best with the water temps rising. Some of the Tarpon schools are hundreds thick and we are seeing several schools at a time all in the 30-40lbs. range, perfect for fly or light spinning. 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 October.
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