Kokomo
In The Florida Keys

by Capt. Steven Holmes
Editor of the Jacksonville Fisherman

In recent years the Beach Boys immortalized the upper Key’s with the song Kokomo, and the tourists commercials have refereed and described it as The Paradise of the Americas Caribbean. For me I was fortunate enough to be born in south Florida with neighbors owning vacation cottages in Islamorada who would invite me to come along with their kids for vacations. Today it feels like I am returning to those childhood days every time I return. While the islands have grown up considerably it still has a pace all of it’s own.  For this reason I find it best to only plan weeklong trip to the keys. It takes me a few days to unwind and slow down to the Caribbean step.

June is known as the Silver King month with Giant Tarpon abounding in the 10 foot deep channels on the west side of the islands and the passes coming in from the Atlantic. Passes of particular interest are the north and south side of Matecumbe Island, especially Indian Key pass. Bonefish have moved onto the flats, Grouper and Yellow tail are darting among the reefs, Dolphin schools have just migrated in close (400-500 ft deep water, approximate 8-10 miles offshore), and Snook, Red, and Trout are waiting for you in Everglade’s backcountry. Add this to the excellent 30-50 ft. deep crystal clear water reef diving and the hardest thing you have to think about is deciding where to go each day.

For those of you who have never fished the keys I want to basically say that the same five basic principles of fishing locally also apply to the keys. Fishing is strength forward and somewhat easy and the hardest part of fishing the keys is learning your way around.

Some great spinning and bait-casting fishing is available for anglers fishing with light and medium light tackle. Use a weightless hooked live shrimp for Bonefish on the flats or small feather jigs for Snapper in the grass flats are the best approach. The best fishing spots for Snapper tend to be on the flats near Mangrove Islands around shoals and other structures. Bone fishing on the sandy high-tide Atlantic side Matecumbe Island beaches is excellent. Best lures are small 1/8 and ¼ oz feather flats jigs by Gulfstream lures for Bonefish and for the backcountry Snapper I like the new Mirr-O-lure’s plug because it does an outstanding job of imitating a small baitfish in distress.  I used the universal color of a red head and white reflective body 44MR11and Karen used the black back and white reflective body 44MR22. Because we were using light 10 lbs. test line I tied on a peace of limp abrasion resistant 20-lb. leader using an Albright knot. (They didn’t get the name Snapper for nothing)

One of the easiest methods of fishing the crystal clear waters of Florida’s Keys reefs is Feather Jigging. It’s so simple; the only hard part is not knowing what you will catch next. Mangrove and Red Snapper, Mackerel, Grouper, Barracuda and a number of other species all fall for the allure of the jig fluttering toward the bottom.  Gulf Stream lures feather jigs come in all sizes. Work the light 1/8 & ¼ oz just like you would normally work a jig and grub here in the shallow waters. Offshore fishing the 7-mile reefs (20-40 Ft. deep) I used a ½oz to 1oz white or yellow feather jig. The way you fish them is to allow it to flutter to the bottom and jigged up and down. It’s that simple. Add a peace of shrimp for flavor and smell and you have a lure that just cant loose. It’s the imitating of an expiring fish in distress near the bottom that gets the most action.

I want to tell you about some backcountry fishing Karen and I spent a morning having a blast. Karen was using a medium light action 6’ G-Loomis spinning rod with 10lbs-test line and I used a 6’ G-Loomis medium action bait-caster with 12-lbs line. We were catching Mangrove Snapper and got into a school of Barracuda. That morning we must have caught 15 Barracuda measuring up to 4 ft. fishing with the small Mirr-O-Lures plugs. The Barracuda just could not resist the top water lure’s action.  Just add a peace of wire or 30-lbs. tests leader and hang on.

SALTWATER FLY-FISHING:

This article was reprinted from Jacksonville Fisherman August 98
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