This week has brought  huge tides to the Lower Keys with the seasonal "King" tide. The King tide occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned at perigee and perihelion (what ever that means?). That translates to high water everywhere for a few days which can make sight fishing tough. We have also been blessed with the first cold front of the year which directly followed Hurricane Matthew causing water temperatures to drop to the mid 70's. So as of late, Tarpon and Bonefish have been hard to come by. But that has not slowed down the fishing, rather changed up the game plan. Cooler water has increased the amount of bait fish such as mullet in the basins from Big Pine to Key West. This in turn has increased the amount of predator fish into the area. Big Jacks, Barracuda and feisty Black Tip Sharks have made their presence known by exploding on pods of bait fish. Targeting these fish on both spin and fly tackle can be an exciting and rewarding experience. Nothing pulls harder than a big Jack and sight fishing a full grown Black Tip Shark on a 10wt fly rod is a heart pounding event. Both the anglers patience and gear are fully tested! 

Great things are happening here in the Lower Keys. As the air temperatures starts to drop, the fishing heats up! Bonefish and Juvenile Tarpon have been the target species of choice over the last week with good numbers of both being found almost everywhere I have looked. I am finding Tarpon  throughout the day but are much more prevalent either early or late.  Evening trips can provide endless opportunities at theses smaller versions of the "Silver King". Once the sun is up, Bonefish can be found cruising the shallows looking for a meal. A well place fly or live shrimp is seldom refused.