Key West Salt Report

[SteveGibson]

So is it a stretch to think of them as the Bluegills of the ocean?? I may be targeting something more "sporty" but they save the day when nothing else is biting.

They were very aggresive and did take the topwater popper like what was mentioned. The ones we encounted in the deep channel were a large school but nothing very sizeable. The ones on the flats tailing the Rays were bigger and fought much harder. Sure wish we had a better shot at those Permit early in the day, will have to wait until next year to try again.

Thanks for the info everyone, I sure have learned alot in one trip out.

C-

I would say it's a stretch. I had a charter yesterday during which we caught spotted seatrout to 24 inches, pompano and redfish to 32. The last fish of the day was a 15-pound jack crevalle, which easily outfought any fish we'd caught. It was no contest.

I'll take jacks 10 pounds and up all day long.

Last year, I had a fellow from Marietta, Ga., out and we experienced some slow fishing in bad weather conditions. Late in the day, I saw a massive wake coming toward us. Only trouble was there were no boats around. So, I figured it had to be fish.

My client hooked up and we knew it was a monster fish. He nearly ran out of line, but managed to work the fish in nicely. After about 40 minutes, the line went slack. I thought the fish had worn through the leader, but the jig's hook had straightened.

I waded back to the kayak to re-rig, but instead grabbed a heavier rod with a topwater plug. When I got back to the spot, I saw the wake about 300 yards away and heading toward us. When the fish got near enough, I chunked the plug their way and hooked up immediately.

I handed the rod to my client and he held on. We ended up getting spooled for the first time in my life.

I got a good look at the fish in the school. They were jacks in the 25-pound range.

Bluegill? Hardly.

Big jacks are some of the toughest customers in the salt.