Keys Trip Partner

[Derek Douglas]

Hey folks,

I'm looking for someone who would be interested in splitting a guide/lodging/rental car for a few days of fishing somewhere between Islamorada and Marathon.

24 year old dude, respectful and responsible military member. Enjoys whiskey, catching fish, and good food. I'm flexible on dates and arrangements...would just like to save some cash and have a friend along.

If you're interested, feel free to reply or email me at: Derek.j....@gmail.com

-Derek

[Yambag Nelson]

My buddy and I go every year in May but decided to go to Mexico this year instead. 

Not sure if you have ever been but there is some great camping if you are looking to save a few bucks.  We like to drink at the Lorelei. 

Good luck.

[Derek Douglas]

Thanks for the tips! Any recommendations on camping areas? I'll definitely stop in for a dri k when I go down.

[Yambag Nelson]

Any of the state parks are good but my favorite is long key. Nice sites and It is located on a decent wadeable flat. Curry hammock and Bahia Honda are the other two. Both are decent, curry hammock has a channel where you can blind cast for snapper and other small stuff. Bahia Honda has a nicer beach

[Charlie Church]

Bahia Honda is amazing but usually books up pretty fast. I ran into a pretty sizeable school of bones my first time at that campground (in march!?!?!) on the flat behind it. That bridge is also loaded with tarpon but you'd need a kayak to fish it well. 

Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge is a good backup. It's really affordable and has some great fishing in the area. Spanish Harbor is a solid tarpon spot and the flats on the inside get a lot of fish on them. 

Hope that helps.

[Yambag Nelson]

Its also loaded with hammerheads and bullsharks. 

How do you land a 100lb tarpon from a kayak?

[Charlie Church]

Yambag, same way you'd land any other big fish in a yak. It gets done all the time. That being said, it'd probably be pretty hard there. I have spent a few weeks fishing it from both boat/kayak and have learned how much those fish like to wrap around some pilings.

That being said, it'd be a lot easier on those ocean side flats in May. And out there, it'd be a lot easier to see a shark coming up on a fish.

[Yambag Nelson]

I have spent a lot of time fishing the keys for tarpon and I cannot fathom how difficult it would be to fish for them from a kayak. From positioning your boat, to seeing them, to making the cast, to feeding them, would be extremely difficult. Never mind once you actually hook them. I highly doubt it happens all the time. Maybe baby tarpon, but the big migratory fish, I don't think so.

[Jeffrey Silvan]

A quick google search will turn up tons of pictures. I guess it's your definition of "all the time" but it's certainly not uncommon. I only been to the Keys a couple times to fish for migratories, but every time I've been out (for tarpon or otherwise), I've seen 3 or 4 people on kayaks chasing the big boys. I also know quite a few people that go offshore for sailfish, marlin, and tuna and launch a kayak to fish from the mother ship. There's a pretty crazy big game kayak fishing community out there.

On Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Yambag Nelson <northstreet...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have spent a lot of time fishing the keys for tarpon and I cannot fathom how difficult it would be to fish for them from a kayak.  From positioning your boat, to seeing them, to making the cast, to feeding them, would be extremely difficult.  Never mind once you actually hook them.  I highly doubt it happens all the time.  Maybe baby tarpon, but the big migratory fish, I don't think so.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/707d5565-5bc5-4d17-856c-ce36dd3839cd%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Richard Farino]

Doubter beware - http://blog.avfoni.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/avfon%C4%B1tpam.jpg

;)

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tidal-potomac-fly-rodders/CANiFxBzgdwX777_vS1CDgFYk%2BtmzVZsYysC8vvKvoEh83_mMaw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Yambag Nelson]

I could easily see where it can be done using a spinning rod which seems to be how most of the ones I saw on google were caught.  Its hard to tell how many of those fish were caught on a fly rod (if any). 

On Friday, April 29, 2016 at 9:22:27 AM UTC-4, Jeff Silvan wrote:

A quick google search will turn up tons of pictures. I guess it's your definition of "all the time" but it's certainly not uncommon. I only been to the Keys a couple times to fish for migratories, but every time I've been out (for tarpon or otherwise), I've seen 3 or 4 people on kayaks chasing the big boys. I also know quite a few people that go offshore for sailfish, marlin, and tuna and launch a kayak to fish from the mother ship. There's a pretty crazy big game kayak fishing community out there.

On Fri, Apr 29, 2016 at 9:17 AM, Yambag Nelson <northstreet...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have spent a lot of time fishing the keys for tarpon and I cannot fathom how difficult it would be to fish for them from a kayak.  From positioning your boat, to seeing them, to making the cast, to feeding them, would be extremely difficult.  Never mind once you actually hook them.  I highly doubt it happens all the time.  Maybe baby tarpon, but the big migratory fish, I don't think so.

--
http://www.tpfr.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tidal-potomac-fly-rodders+unsub...@googlegroups.com.

[Craig Bonfield]

Derek-

What time of year were you thinking of making a trip? And what species do you want to target?

As others mentioned, Long Key is cheaper 'lodging' option between Islamorada and Marathon and has a great bonefish flat right out front of the tent camping sites located on the East End. Unfortunately the campground fills up way in advance (they are currently booking and for April 2017). There may be some tent sites open in August at the earliest. Like others mentioned, Curry Hammock is another option, and you may find a bit more, but still limited availability for the summer, but the sites are not quite as nice as Long Key and you won't have the same type of bonefishing right off your campsite. Bahia Honda is a bit outside of the range you gave (on the West side of the seven mile bridge) but does have good camping and a decent beach/flat out front for bonefish, barracuda and at certain times of year snook.

Partnering on a charter is for sure the way to go, particularly if it is your first time fishing in the Keys. If you let me know what you would like to target I (and I'm sure several others here) can give you a recommendation.

As far as Tarpon fishing from a kayak, it certainly can be done consistently for the larger fish although as others have mentioned the strong tides around the bridges make it highly technical for fly-fishing. Bahia Honda in anything but a Hobie would be an immense amount of work and presentation would be challenging. You'd be far better off out front casting at schools of fishing cruising West. These fish are going to be more likely to key in on a fly anyways.