Light Tackle Fishing

The Florida Keys stretch some 100 miles out into the ocean and have oceans on all sides and fish galore. Several of the Keys have a huge reputation for world-class sport but for many years now Key West has held the reputation of being simply the best sport fishing location in North America simply for the huge variety of fish that inhabit the oceans around the island. Fishing in Key West attracts anglers from around the world and for very good reasons.

The inshore fishing around Key West includes tarpon fishing, permit or sharks, the reef offers snapper and grouper and offshore there’s a whole host of species including dolphin, sailfish, wahoo, kingfish, tuna and cobia. With such a variety of species and with water on all sides you’ll be hard pressed to find an excuse for a bad day’s fishing whatever the weather gods can throw at you.

Although there are a number of offshore boats operating out of Key West, our primary interest is light tackle fishing. If you’re not a keen angler you’ll be asking what I’m talking about, so let’s start with a simple explanation. The offshore boats tend to be larger with a greater degree of luxury such as air conditioned lounges bunks and showers. They cruise around offshore towing a number of lures behind the boat and when a fish is hooked the designated fisher sits in the fighting chair to play the fish to the boat. A light tackle boat is quite a bit smaller, normally around 26 – 30 ft long, with no accomodation and an open deck. Normally powered by twin outboards, they reach great speeds and are able to fish spots many miles from Key West. Each person on the boat is armed with a rod and reel, and when a fish bites it is the angler’s job to hook and reel in the fish unaided. The offshore captains will normally operate in water at least 200 feet deep whereas the light tackle boats are at home fishing anything between 20 ft deep for tarpon around the harbor to two or three hundred feet deep offshore whilst fishing for dolphin, wahoo or sailfish.

You don’t need to be an expert angler to fish from a light tackle boat, the captains enjoy nothing better than seeing someone catch their very first fish. All of the captains are most helpful and they will do their very best to make sure that you have a great fishing experience, and hopefully a fish or two to take home with you or have prepared at one of the local seafood restaurants. All of the light tackle boats have a large selection of top quality tackle for anyone that doesn’t have their own tackle. All that’s required from you for a great day on the water is food and drink, sunglasses, a hat and plenty of sunscreen.

Our next articles include a more detailed description of a day fishing for sailfish, tuna, grouper or tarpon, but for the time being we’d urge you to get out there and catch some of our wonderful fish.

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