Key West Pro Guides - Light Tackle - March 2023 Fishing Report
By: Capt. Paul Tryon
With March's arrival the fishing action explodes in Key West! We are entering a time of some of the best fishing action of the entire year. Tarpon have begun to arrive and are flooding into shallows of the back country. This becomes our fastest paced action trip with a wide variety of sport fish and predators for the light tackle angler to pursue. Sailfish are offshore, Permit are cruising the flats and the bottom dwellers of the reef and deeper wrecks are gathering in numbers. It's a time of exceptional action when fishing in the waters of Key West!
March kicks off our Tarpon season in Key West. See “Back Country” helpful insights to anglers interested in Tarpon fishing.
Reef & Wreck: “Light Tackle”
March typically has some wind with it, therefore the waters on the reef verses further offshore will remain far more comfortable most days. This continues to be a good time for the angler with concerns about rough sea conditions to head out to the nearer shore wreck sites as well. The Cobia action continues to be outstanding. Cobia should remain excellent for the next few months and always provides hard fought battles with great yields for the table fare anglers. The Snapper family continues to produce and with March we expect steady action targeting the Mangrove and Yellow Tail action. The large Mutton Snapper are provide some exceptional days on the reef now. The Grouper family as always provides outstanding action however the harvest of Grouper ended January 1 with the season now closed until May 1 in Monroe county (all of the keys). Our elusive Permit is always challenging, the Permit is a sought after sport fish and prized by anglers from around the planet. March typically shows a marked improvement from the last few months and we are on the way to excellent Permit action always by April. The predator action with Barracuda and Sharks continues to be crazy good.
Light Tackle Reef & Wreck …..Target Species:
Amberjack…”Slow” improving greatly by months end.
Barracuda…”Very Good”
Cobia…”Excellent”
Grouper…”Very Good” (season closed to harvest during March)
Mangrove Snapper…”Very Good”
Mutton Snapper…”Excellent”
Yellow Tail Snapper…”Very Good”
Permit…”Excellent”
Shark…”Excellent”
Notable:
This is a time of more stable slowly rising water temperatures so fishing conditions in general will settle in and improve, friends. We still recommend fishing morning trips if going shallow as they remain the most productive over the later afternoon hours for the serious angler but again the afternoon trips are good. The PM half day trips have improved and can be quite enjoyable especially for those people just looking to stay in calm waters and enjoy a fun few hours catching fish. Reef trips in the afternoon fishing slightly deeper waters along with the patch reefs can be very good trips for later in the day departure times. Sharks are plentiful and active. Pursuing these heavy weight monsters on light tackle is challenging to say the least and talk about something you cannot do at home!
Let's go Fishing!
Call Key West Pro Guides today to book your charter 305-747-4650 daily 8 AM to 9 PM. Remember 2-4 weeks in advance is recommended for peak fishing season dates December through June. Our legendary guide team is always in high demand. We look forward to your call!
www.keywestproguides.com
305-747-4650
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