Florida Keys Report

[Phil Lilley]

Cold front equals alittle wind and 65 degrees. Not good for fishing but cold?!?! Cold is what the local think. Crazy people!

What a trip. Four days on a nice houseboat and taking the flats boat out for fishing everyday. Lots of sunshine and beautiful water. And not too crowded. Locals said we were between seasons- holiday and snowbirds.

We polled lots of grass flats of 12 to 18 inches of water for bone fish and saw 14 one morning. I casted for 2 with no hookups but I can say I casted for one! Baracudas kept cutting our lines but did manage to land a few. Saw a ton of sharks- bonnet head, hammer head and lemon. In deeper water we saw black tips and others I couldn't identify. Lots of rays and sea turtles. Got some good pics.

We tried the reefs but was slow- locals said reef fishing had been slow because of cold fronts.

Caught alot of mangrove snapper for dinner fare each day. Found an old boat wreck in Long Key Bight where we did the best.

Staying in the channel and following charts was a challenge. Motoring accross a flat and leaving a path will cost you $100 per foot fine which really puts the fear in a "tourist".

2 more days of pay and back to the real world on Monday late. Hopefully we'll pull alittle of this beautiful weather home with us. Sounds like we need it.

[Danoinark]

Thanks for the report...I am there vicariously.....

[Rolan Duffield]

Phil:

Hope we see some of those pics soon. That might take the chill off of us up here.

Sounds like you're having a great trip.

Rolan

[Phil Lilley]