Over Under - Cobia on Fly!

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Key West Fishing Report - Capt. Ted Lund

Pictured below is Ft. Lauderdale angler Bill Andersen with his first-ever cobia on fly, a 28-pounder. It was taken on a 12-weight outfit on a wreck in the Gulf of Mexico with Over Under Key West captain, Ted Lund.

Slightly cooler weather in the first week of October has brought with it plenty of baitfish and some great fishing here in Key West and the Lower Florida Keys. Couple that with what has been absolutley flat-calm, grease slick, wind-less days and you've got a recipe for fantastic Fall fishing.

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf wrecks are probably offering some of the best variety right now from cobia and permit to mutton, mangrove and yellowtail snapper, king and spanish mackerel and a host of other species. Normally we chum with shrimp boat bycatch in the Gulf, but pilchards have been so plentiful, we've been loading the livewell and creating a hatch of our own over the submerged structure. During the last week, slightly cooler weather has brought with it hoardes of cobia, with some wrecks holding schools of 100 or more fish. On Sunday, Bill Andersen of Key West caught more than a dozen cobia on fly with me, including his best fish yet, a 28-pounder. Permit to 30 pounds are holding on the same wrecks and love nothing more than to slurp a live crab drifting in the current.

Offshore

Late season dolphin are making a good run off Key West from the reef edge out to Wood's Wall nearly 20-miles south of Key West. Although there haven't been too many giant fish, there have been plenty in the 12 to 15 pound class. It's a great time to pull out the light spinning or fly rods and have a blast. Although a little earlier than normal, blackfin tuna and little tunny are beginning to show up on some of the deeper water wrecks like the Cruiser and Wilkes Bar. The tuna are averaging 15- to 18-pounds, and as they fatten up over the winter and move further west on some of our other wrecks, fish in the 25-pound class will be the norm. This is pretty much a live-chumming game, and there have been plenty of pilchards and sardines around. If the bait sticks around in the kinds of concentrations we've been seeing, it should be a really good year for chumming pelagics.
The lack of wind has also brought about some good conditions for swordfishing, both night and day. If you want to catch a broadbill swordfish, now is the time.

Reef

Yellowtail and mutton snapper fishing has been good on the Atlantic reef edge from American Shoal all the way down to Tail end and beyond to the Dry Tortugas. The fish are biting better in areas of dingy or off-colored water, where you get the Gulf Stream blue mixing with inshore green. Chunk baits of bonito, mackerel or similar oily fish work best, especially when you chum with liberal amounts of majua. This is all 12- to 20-pound spinning tackle and plenty of fun. Anyplace you find the snappers, chances are there will be a big king mackerel or two lurking around; its a great time to put out a big conventional with a live blue runner and see what happens. Several fish in the 40-pound class were reported this week.

Inshore

Late-season tarpon continue to make things interesting for anglers fishing live mullet or pinfish in the channels throughout the lower Florida Keys. Most of the fish are smaller this time of year, but a few in the 100-pound class have been released. This is a great opportunity to get out of the heat and sun, as the best times to fish them are in the early morning or in the still of the night. These same channels are producing a few snook, some large jack crevalle and legal mutton and grey snappers as bycatch. If you enjoy casting artificials, you can get in on the fun as well... all of these fish love hardplastics like the Bagley Finger Mullet or Sebile Magic Swimmer.

Flats

We've really seen an increase in activity on the flats since air and water temperatures have fallen. Gone are the 90-plus degree water temperatures. With a return to the lower 80s, bonefish and permit are extending their hours on the flats letting anglers have some good full days of fishing. Calm conditions have made the fly fishing tough, but spin fishermen casting crabs (permit) or shrimp (bonefish) are hooking up regularly.

Captain Ted Lund - Email Captain Ted

Ted Lund, formerly of Saltwater Sportsman, recently joined the OU Sportfishing Team. Look for a full press release to follow shortly. Ted will be opening up a Key West location for OU, in addition to assuming the lead Media Relations role for both OU Sportfishing and Mirage Sportfish.

[Captain Juan]

Nice report. Thanks for sharing.

Cobia on fly is always cool. What kind of fly....crab or eel pattern?

J