Contributing Writer
Capt. Mike Bartlett
Key West Fishing Charters
June has finally arrived and I couldn’t be more excited! May, at least the first half, proved to be quite challenging. Tarpon fishing at best was inconsistent for me, hard to get on a pattern for any length of time. I had a few really good days but definitely more difficult days during this time. The wind blowing in a different direction seemingly everyday and late season cold fronts didn’t help. With the new moon coming up and the wind turning back east we should see some improvement, hopefully.
As I state in every article I write involving June, it is my favorite month of the year. People I fish with often ask “When is the best time to come fish the flats?” I always respond with “June”.
Why is June such an awesome time to fish the flats for me? Let’s discuss… shall we…
Let’s start with the biggest factor, the weather. In June we typically see a more stable weather pattern as we head into summer. We’ll experience lighter winds out of the east and southeast most days as cold fronts are a thing of past now and it’s still a bit early for any major tropical system. We can’t rule out completely anything tropical as we may get a low pressure system or tropical wave pass by but we usually don’t get hit by a tropical storm until July. Of course we get pop up thunderstorms frequently, which is something we just have to deal with as it occurs.
The other big factor that affects fishing on the flats is the tides. We are far removed from those awful winter tides when we get days with literally not tide at all, it will be like a pond as far water movement goes. In June and through most of autumn we can find a favorable tide somewhere. Around the full and new moons is when we get those awesome negative low tides I love for fishing tailing bonefish.
As for the fishing, it’s awesome. The tarpon migration is in full swing, but winding down toward the end of the month. Permit are back from spawning offshore and bonefish are everywhere.
Baby tarpon are more reliable these days, in the back-country mangrove islands and along some of the creeks and flats on the ocean-side. And my favorite thing, flat calm early mornings looking for rolling and feeding tarpon.
I know this sounds too good but that is why June is my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll still have a few hard days of fishing and crappy days of weather but in general there are way more good days. And the good days of weather combined with preferable tides results in awesome fishing on the flats.
There you have it,
short and sweet, just like me!
Capt. Mike Bartlett
