Key West Salt Report

Fishing Saltwater Fly Fishing
1

Friends of ours live in the Keys 4 months of the Wisconsin winter, and invited us down for a week of R&R. I had never fished salt before, but quickly talked him into an outing, booking thru the Saltwater Angler. 8am on Saturday we headed out on a beautiful sunny day, a full 80 degrees warmer then what we had left.

4 miles out we came to our first flat, and the first fish we spot is a 5 foot hammer head shark. I wasnt quite ready for this! A few casts later the hammer head gives chase and comes right up to the flats boat! He turns off after almost slamming into the side of the boat and I ask the guide, what exactly am I in for??

We then see Permit, Jacks, and Tarpon far off. We fumble around getting our bearings and have a shot at a couple fish, but nothing doing. We then have come clouds roll in and like someone turned out the lights, the fish were gone. We stalk around for 2 hours without seeing a fish. Our guide complains they might be there and are harder to see without the sun, but we’re pretty sure the flat emptied as we took a very hard look around.

We head off to another area and run into a school of Jacks in a channel. We land 5 or 6 fish in rapid succession, and get some fun out of the way.

Our spirits up, we head to another flat. We only find some small sharks we couldnt tempt, and decide to tail Stingrays to target some Jacks. A coulpe of rays later, a Jack hammers my topwater popper and I learn quickly what it feels like to be in my backing. I also learn quickly why drag on a salt reel is so important. This 6 pound Jack fights like Champ! 10 minutes later, I finally get the obligatory photo.

I have another chance at one a little later, but he throws my hook set. All in all, a succesful outing being my first.

I dont read much about Jacks being a highly prized gamefish (compared to permit, tarpon, bonefish, etc) but I was certainly impressed with its fighting ability. Any idea why?

I definitely think I will want to do this again!

2

You’re probably going to be hooked for life on the salt. What wt rod were you using? See any Permit or Bonefish?

3

I witnessed a guy break an 8wt on a small jack.

Jacks get a bad wrap because you usually catch them when you are targeting other fish…many a trophy redfish have just turned out to be a small jack with a lot of fight in him.

But, you are right, pound for pound, they can be a hoot and has saved many a fishless day for me.

4

Was using an Orvis T-3 9 weight with Battenkill Large Arbor reel. We saw no bones, but did get a report of them the day before from another angler, who managed several including one pushing 10 lbs.
We did see permit in the early first hour on the flats, but my fly rod wasnt rigged up for Permit yet and the spin casting rod was throwing a topwater crab that they werent interested in. I then rigged up for Permit and we didnt see any the rest of the trip.

I still cant get over their fight. Its going to be a long year until Im back to try it again :frowning:

5

Tie the tails of a Snook, Redfish or Speckled Trout to the tail of a Jack of the same weight and I’ll put my money on the Jack pulling any of the other three fish around the bay all day long.

6

Jack Crevalle are awesome gamefish that don’t get much respect in Florida. Along the Atlantic coast beaches you can encounter schools of them which may hold fish in excess of 30 lbs. A jack that size will certainly put your tackle to the test. I love catching jacks as they are very aggressive and love to take topwater lures. As another poster commented, they can sometimes be a nuisance when you are targeting tarpon. Sometimes, between them and the ladyfish, another misunderstood fish, you can’t get your fly to the tarpon before one of them grab it. Watching a school of jacks annihilate a school of mullet is an awesome sight.

Capt. Chris M

7

they save the day many times for me when its too windy to get out on the flats…they fight very hard in the freshwater also…nothing like a jack to liven up the peacock bass fishing

8

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-

9

The fascinating thing about most fly fishing is you will never know it all. Doesn’t matter which fish or where, the fat lady can sing all day, and you still won’t have all the answers.
Isn’t it grand!

10

Welcome to the club cheli38. The Salt is a great place and can offer up some amazing experiences. I have to warn you though. You have now been infected with something far more Virulent that Bird Flu or Anthrax and it is totally incurable. There are no shots or pills that will temper your symptoms. The ONLY treatment that will help in any way is to make regular trips to the saltwater with rod in hand. The problem with that treatment is that while it offers temporary relief, it actually strengthens the symptoms and makes the illness worse : )

Jack Crevalle are great fun. Remember, Permit are Jack?s as well so it?s all in the name. I really enjoy targeting Jack?s, especially when some other species just aren?t willing to play along. You can almost always count on the Jack?s to cooperate.

11

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.