Well, summer is officially over now and I miss it already!! But to be honest I don’t miss the heat and humidity of September. I love the summer here in Key West and I do like the heat, but by September I am ready for some cooler weather. We don’t get any breaks from the heat until around mid October when we get some north in the wind and a 7 in the front of that night time temperature reading.
Now that we are approaching winter I will be switching tactics on the flats. Bonefish and permit will still be around, they are available all year long for us, but tarpon will be making an exit. I am already seeing a lot fewer than what we were back in September and early October. This is normally what happens in late fall as the wind turns and comes more out of the north and we start to cool down. I’ll still look for them on the right days but for the most part I will focus my attention on bonefish, permit and barracudas.
As temperatures get cooler and we have a couple strong cold fronts push through, the big barracudas will move in to the shallows. I have already started seeing some solid three to four foot cudas on the backcountry flats and will see more and more as we get deeper into winter.
The big barracudas are a staple on the flats around Key West throughout the winter months. They begin to show up good in November and December and will be all over the flats through April. As the water warms into the 80’s in late April and early May I won’t see as many and by then I am mostly looking for tarpon anyway.
Barracudas for some strange reason have a weird reputation. Most flats anglers love them, they get big, are super fast, very aggressive, and most of the time will leave the water when hooked. And they have an impressive face full of daggers, what’s not to love.
But yet every year I still get a few people who have no desire to chase barracudas. That is until I explain to them how awesome they are on light tackle in the shallows!! I think most anglers that don’t like barracudas have had them eat stuff they were trying to catch for dinner. Happens a lot when we’re fishing the reefs for snappers, you got to be quick before the tax man takes his due.
I will admit though they can be annoying when you are trolling offshore (especially when you pay for a charterboat) for things like tunas and dolphin. There’s much excitement until you find out it’s just a barracuda.
I’ll write more about barracudas in January or February when they are around in good numbers and I can get some fresh pics. For now I will enjoy the ones I find while bonefishing and hopefully jump a few tarpon before they disappear until spring.
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate.
Capt. Mike Bartlett
