Key West Report
 

Key West Report
Spent 2.5 days in Key West and stayed at the Merlin Guest House which was one street over from the main drag Duvall Street. Got some great advice from the members here. We had the Conch Fritters at B.O.s Fish wagon and they were the BEST fritters we had in KW. Had lunch at El Siboney and it was awesome. Brunch at Blue Heaven and was great as advertised. Happy Hour at Alonzo’s where they had a 4pm tarpon feeding (which was my first close up view of 100 pound tarpon). Five people, 3 pitchers of beer, tons of half price appetizers, total bill after two hours - $58.00 – Happy Hour is definitely the time to eat.

Mallory Square was interesting to say the least. Some great and funny street acts. Once we parked the car we spent the entire time getting around on rented bikes – parking and driving is a PIA in town – bikes are the way to go if you can do it.

Fishing – I spent about 4 hours fishing. Two hours of daytime casting on some flats on Boca Chica Key – nothing but a single Barracuda follow. Then on Sunday night my son and I headed out after watching a sunset with the family. We fished a local bridge after dark from 10pm to midnight. It was really dark with no bridge lights. Casting bucktails it took us an hour to get some action. We kept getting short strikes using bucktails and porkrind. Had no idea what was hitting them. I took the pork off and had an almost immediate hookup that jumped 3 or 4 times then threw the jig. 3 or 4 casts later I hooked up with a jumping freight train that completely spooled me! I went back to the car for my extra spool and patiently tied on another leader with shaking hands. A few casts later another freight train – into the backing it went. As I contemplated purposely breaking him off it turned and came back towards me. After 30 minutes I landed and released my first tarpon. Not sure how large it was but I couldn’t lift it out of the water so my best estimated guess was around 70 pounds. After releasing it I sat down and shook while my son Nick managed to hookup and jump another 6 times before it threw the jig. My one bit of advice to anyone – do not use backing on a reel to save money on braid – you may need all the line available to land one of these monsters. Bring heavy tackle – a rod with a lot of backbone! You’ll need all the help you can get. Now I know why boats always chase these fish – you don’t have that luxury from the beach.

Here is a 7 minute video of the one we landed. Rated R for expletives. KW Tarpon2 - YouTube

Thanks again to all for the very kind advice and suggestions – you helped my family make the best of our short time in KW.
Regards,
DZ

Awesome DZ!!!!!

Yeah DZ,that is the Silver King baby!!!
lifetime of memories for you and the boy

Sooo awesome!! No striped bass can equal that.
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That's fantastic!

Nice work DZ!

Freakin' awesome! I love how you got it surfcaster style with a bucktail! Nice fish!

i think thats one of the best s-b.com reports ever. Congrats DZ.
Family, food,beer, sunsets and tarpon. I dont think it gets any better.

Yes. Great report! Even getting spooled is exciting! I can relate to the feeling as you "patiently tied on another leader with shaking hands."

Nice going, Dennis. A trip to Key West is still on my bucket list.

That.s awesome DZ / memories / that,s what you,ll have :fishin:

Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah!

I wanna go!

Awesome report.

That video is sick...gotta love the fire in the dragons eyes.

ive watched this video twice.

Very happy for you Dennis. Totally Awesome...

I have to be totally honest, although a lot of the video is tough to see due to the darkness, my adrenaline was pumping the whole time. Thanks for sharing your story DZ.

Tight lines catch fish
Gilly

awesome Dennis. I hope to do that someday before they plant me.

Very happy for ya having a great time in the Keys....May is tarpon month in the keys.....:)

That is most EXCELLENT Dennis :btu:

I got one like that but from a boat the one time I fished in Fla.
What an awesome accomplishment

Very nice!

I'll be down there for Jan and Feb in the new motorhome. Cannot wait

Congrats Dennis. Glad you had such a great time. You are most welcome to stay with us next winter. The motorhome sleeps 6 to 8.

Very cool. You're driving it down there, or is it already there? Are you staying on Key West, or nearby?

Looks like a great time Dennis! Nice you got to share it with the boy too... Congrats to you both and thanks for sharing!
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Man, oh man, I got the shakes just reading this!! After posting my suggestions, I promptly infomed the wife that we (and that 'we' does not include our 3 small boys) are going down there in May 2014 for 3-4 days...it will be my 10th trip down there...

"We had the Conch Fritters at B.O.s Fish wagon "

Were there roosters walking around in there? What a great place...

"Brunch at Blue Heaven"

Did you have the lobster eggs benedict? My wife says the bloody mary's there are the strongest she has ever had...

"Happy Hour at Alonzo’s where they had a 4pm tarpon feeding (which was my first close up view of 100 pound tarpon). Five people, 3 pitchers of beer, tons of half price appetizers, total bill after two hours - $58.00 – Happy Hour is definitely the time to eat."

$58 - you can't beat that for all that food/drink, and a tarpon feeding to boot.

"Mallory Square was interesting to say the least."

I get freaked out when, what I think is a statue, is actually a person painted like a statue, and not moving a muscle. I like the guy juggling pins that are on fire, on top of a large unicycle.

As to your fishing...congrats! Landing a tarpon from terra firma is no small feat! I never heard of using a bare bucktail. Did you just find some bridge that looked promising, or did someone recommend that bridge to you? Can't wait to watch the youtube video.

Appears that you, like me, may have contracted a lifelong infirmity called "Keys Disease". Be warned that there is no cure, the only thing you can do to address the symptoms is go down every couple of years.

To those here that say they want to go there before it's too late...please go. All of us here feel that spiritual connection to saltwater and fishing. This place is a Mecca for those who feel called by the salt. There is so much fun stuff to do, the atmosphere is so casual your heart rate drops to 6 beats a day (unless you are fishing), the seafood is incredible...

Yuo cannot take $$ with you to the next phase. If you are tempted, do what you need to do to get down there. If tarpon is your thing, April-May is the time to go. I have a 59 pound striper under my belt, caught in 5 feet of water on a 12 pound spinning rig. That fight was pathetic compared to tarpon. Ask DZ - their strength and agility in unbelievable.

My favorite fishing trip is chasing tarpon in the AM, then ending the day br dropping live bait over a reef or wreck, for snapper/grouper that we immediately bring to a waterfront bar that turns the fresh catch into an unbelievable meal. The variety of fishing is staggering.

DZ, I hope my suggestions helped in some way, and i learned from you to hit Alonzo's at Happy Hour. I have been in there late at night to drink, never eaten there.

You'll remember that tarpon for a long time. Imagine a 70 pound bluefish, on steroids...

forgive my typos, got the shakes again...

Conch Republic, see you in one year!

Thanks for the kind comments.
Paul - so nice of you to invite me - so generous of you.

Having never fished for Tarpon I sought out the advice of respected fisherman and author John Skinner. John and others including Jimmy Fee, and Rudi Babikian gave me some sound advice about what to use and when to fish. I knew the hookup to land ratio with large Tarpon was meager at best so my milestones were to at least hook a Tarpon, then maybe actually see it before losing it, and lastly land it (hopefully).
I remembered that Skinner had told me the Tarpon sometimes get very finicky and to downsize my presentations when that happens.
I have done lots of bucktail fishing for striped bass and hooked many nice bass from bridges but it's impossible to describe a hook up with a Tarpon. The strikes were savage and immediate jumps were sheer adrenilin pumps! The splashes when the Tarpon landed shattered the silence of the inky darkness. I know you're supposed to bow to the Tarpon when it jumps but if you can't see it jump how do you know when to bow? I remember thinking why can't I just hook a small one? Really funny how something new can reinvigorate why we love to fish.

One more thing on the spiritual side: My good friend Tim Coleman passed away last year on May 3rd. Timmy would spend the winter living in his trailer on the lower keys. He always told me stories about Tarpon from the bridges. Last April, a month or so before he passed, Tim called me when he returned from Florida - he said, "Dennis you have to come down to Key West next winter and fish for Tarpon with me - all night fishing from bridges, you'd love it." Tim was always very soft spoken but I could sense the excitement in his voice. Anyway I hooked the Tarpon on one of the very bridges that Timmy fished - probably standing in his very footprints - almost a year to the day after his passing. I'm sure he was smiling at me from above.

This thread is choking me up. Jim in CT, to follow up on your advice to visit before its too late. I've been to the keys about 5 times. 3 for fishing, 2 for fun. As a kid, My dad always talked about going for barracuda. We never had the $$ to go and as I grew up an on my own and my parents moved to FL, I finally talked him into a trip. I planned the whole thing with a guide. I flew to my parents house in FL and we drove the 4 hrs to key West. crashed at a hotel and hit the water about 5am. What followed was one of the best days fishing I ever had. Ripping tubes and topwaters as fast as we could in water less than 2 ft deep while 25lb cuda slammed the lures and ran. Each hook up was followed by 6-8ft lemon sharks circling the boat trying to get the barracuda. The guide used the push pole to chase the sharks away. We had the best day on the water in my life. When we returned, we were beat and needed a beer. My dad and I were on cloud 9. We couldnt wait to develop the pictures. We went to the first bar we could find (wasnt hard) and sat down for a few beers. I was about 27 and it was the first time I ever was at bar with just me and my Dad. We just BSd and laughed about the day. Despite all that I've expierenced, that was one of the best days of my life. Flash forward about 10 yrs later and my Dad was gone. no one saw that coming. I have the memories and pics from that day and they're priceless. to Jim's point, dont wait.

i subscribed to the mag when Tim was the editor, saw him at Watch Hill one night years ago. Told him I as a subscriber, and he was very gracious with me. A very, very nice man.

You bet your butt he was smiling down on you...

Great story, thanks for sharing...

I remember the day I landed my first tarpon, about 100 pounds. I held him up as best I could, captain took some pics with a disposable camera I bought for the trip. Like you, I couldn't wait to get them developed. Went to the first photo place I could find. Sign on the store said...

"One hour (or so) photo".

That's the vibe down there...casual like you can't believe. I went to a bar next door and got rip-roaring drunk waiting for the pics.

Next time down, I really want to try spearfishing. I have my scuba certification. I'm just not sure I want to be in the water with a bloody fish.

Last time down, we fished on a 32 foot yellowfin with a captain named Steve Lamb (dreamcatchercharters.com), great guy. His leg was all scars - he got attacked by a barracuda years ago while spearfishing...

Hey Dennis I am curious what did you use for equipment, like rod, reel, line strength, etc.

Sweet congrats been down there a few times had some great fishing memories with friends and met my wife in the Miami air port
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Paul,
I used a Spheros 8000 with 30 pound Power Pro. It was matched with a GLoomis Escape 3 piece Travel Rod. 8"3" Heavy Spinning rated for 12-20 lb line 3/8 to 1 ounce lures with a fast action. Even so I felt undergunned fishing from shore. In the video you could see I had a hard time turning the fish to land it. I would have liked a rod with more backbone and a reel with higher capacity. I would have felt more in control with my VS 250 matched with an 8-9 foot heavy action rod. I used 50 pound mono leaders which were pretty abraided after hookups. Probably bump the leader strength up to 60-80.

DZ