Cold Fishing In The Keys

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		Home Fly Fishing Reports Skills Fly Tying Guides Schools e-mail Index		It may have been the the last week of December but daytime highs in the low 50's and night time wind chills in the low 30's was certainly not typical for the Everglades and the Florida Keys. If this was my own backyard, I would have stayed home like most of the flyfishing anglers, but when you trailer a skiff almost a thousand miles, well it's time to consider all the possibilities before considering retreat. Earlier in the week we had done well with our fly rods with the ladyfish and speckled trout in the waters around Flamingo. Ebb tide in Rocky Channel and flood tide in Snakebite Channel were the the most productive locations we found. The water in East Cape Canal was very dirty and did not produce any fish for us.
					The best of our fly fishing in the everglades was in Rocky Channel. Staked out on a good drain from the flats we caught and released almost fifty fish on one ebb tide. Ladyfish, speckled trout and a few small jacks. As long as the current was flowing, the trout and ladyfish would hit almost any small fly we presented. As the current went slack, small jacks accounted for most of the action. At one point during the maximum flow, we hooked either a speckled trout or a ladyfish on about every other cast, with several double hook-ups.
				As much fun as the trout and ladyfish were, it was not exactly what we had hoped for. The are plenty of trout for us to catch on the Carolina coast. Evaluating the weather forecast and all the possibilities, we broke camp and headed for the Keys. The forecast was glum; cold front, after cold front was all the weatherman would offer in the foreseeable forecast. Deep cuts in the Keys seemed to be our best hope at anything more exotic than a speckled trout or redfish. It's not the type of tarpon fishing that Stu Apte demonstrated in his videos, but they were tarpon, and the did jump for us.	Fishing 550 grain high density shooting heads for tarpon in the Florida Keys would not be my first choice, but with seawater temperatures dropping every hour, it seemed to be the most prudent choice to save the trip. Most deep cuts in the Keys will hold resident tarpon year-round.
				Vaca Cut in Marathon is one of the deeper cuts in the Florida Keys, and has a well deserved reputation for year-round tarpon angling (although not many fly anglers chase tarpon in the inlet in late December. We saw only one other nocturnal angler in the three nights we fished the cut, and he was bait fishing.) All of our tarpon on this trip were taken from the shadows of the Vaca Cut Bridge. As the water temperature continued to drop during our three nights of fishing, the deeper we had to present our flies in order to produce fish. All black patterns that pushed water were the top producers. Deep water Whistlers and large black Woolly Buggers worked well. Flies with a slim profile, like a an all black Clouser did not produce any fish. This nice snook took a bendback Yack Shad presented in the mouth of a canal on Vaca Cut.
				Fishing trips don't always work like you plan, dramatic changes in the weather can require changes in your fishing tactics to insure success. Keep an open mind whenever you travel, and don't leave home without your fast sinking fly lines. Harry Hall
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