Permit on Fly

I fished with my buddy Captain Peter Heydon this morning for some good ole Key West flats fishing.  We started early in hopes of a tarpon since the winds have been out of the south and quite warm.  We saw a couple roll and marked a few but never a bite.  Our hopes of a flats grand slam were dashed in the first hour of the trip.

We headed off to the Gulf side for the beginning of the incoming tide.  Pete was on the bow armed with a 10 weight and his personally hand-crafted crab fly.  We had a couple of shots at permit in deeper water, but they were hard to see and behind us so the angles weren't great.  Finally we both were staring at an area in front of the boat that I think we realized at about the same was alive.  It turned out to be a school of about 10 or so smaller permit and Pete presented his fly to the middle of the school.  The permit were chasing the fly and zipping all around it when about half way back to the boat that most awesome of feelings when fly fishing for permit, his line come tight and the fly rod developed a deep bend.

He's not the biggest permit out there but he had the biggest heart.  It took what seemed like an eternity for Pete's permit to finally come boat side.  I snatched him out of the water for many photos and Pete made the release.

This is also the first permit on fly on my Beavertail BT3 skiff.

Captain Mike Bartlett
http://www.keywestflats.net/
http://www.facebook.com/CaptMikeBartlett