Florida Keys Backcountry Fishing Report October 17-23, 2012

Posted on 10/18/2012
| | More
The fishing in the Everglades National Park remains phenomenal. The water temperature is coming down and with that said the fishing is just going to get better. Last weekend we experience some windy conditions through out South Florida. We fished the Flamingo area first thing in the morning with great success. I anchored up right next to a dried out runoff and rigged my customers  rod with a 1/4 jig and Berkley Gulp Shrimp combo. Before I got done explaining to Frank at the bow what to do John had already made his first cast and right away his rod got bend and a big Snook came out of the water. We fished the last hour of the outgoing tide and the beginning of the incoming. We caught a bunch of really nice Redfish, Snook, Sheepshead, Snappers, Jacks and Trout. When the water started to get a little higher off we went to fish some shallow areas. We headed back east and worked the mainland shoreline in between Flamingo and Key Largo. The wind was blowing hard and pushed a lot of water out making it supper shallow pushing my bay boat draft to its limits. We worked the shoreline carefully with the trolling motor casting white jerk baits rigged wheedles and it didn't took long before we started seeing some big pushes heading our way. We ended up with an incredible action packed afternoon. Big Redfish, Snook and some amazing battles with giant Jacks made for an outstanding windy day of fishing in the Everglades National Park. With the cooler water temperatures comes a great bite in gulf waters and around the park boundaries. It's that time of the year where one of the most exiting fisheries in the Florida Keys starts to happen and that is the Spanish Mackerel. Plenty of chum and some good current will get you in the action.
There are plenty of resident Tarpon hanging around our local bridges and channels throughout the Keys. A live well full of pilchards is the way to go. The Bonefish action remains solid all throughout the Keys with the rising tide being the best. Look for Permit to be cruising on the deeper edges of the flats and banks looking for a meal. So get out on the water and take advantage of the many fishing opportunities the Florida Keys has to offer.  
Captain Juan Garcia