OUTDOOR FLORIDA MAGAZINE ARTICLE BY CAPT. MIKE TAKOVICH FEBRUARY 2008 KEY WEST FISHING REPORT by: Capt. Mike Takovich

Bonefish and permit are still biting pretty well this February. The talk of the town though
In the Lower Keys is REDFISH & SEATROUT. In the lower keys redfish are not a very common site but as years have passed since the net ban, they are comming back in really good numbers! It has not been uncommon to find a school of 10-15 Reds and to add to the fun you can also find them mixed in with the seatrout when they start to make a mudd while feeding. A mudd is what we reffer to when seatrout dig with their mouths in the grassy and mudd mixed shallows creating these enormous patches of mudd. Saltwater seatrout are different from freshwater trout, they have lots of teeth and very thick scales compared to freshwater trout. Although they do share one unique characteristic. Spotts all over there silver and dark body. One way to tackle both of these species redfish and seatrout is with small crabs and live shrimp. One of my favorites though is an artificial bait known as the Berkley Gulp pattern, i use these with a neon green weighted jighead that makes it clearly visible in the low visibility of the muddy water. Also this artificial bait has an oily shrimp residue in the packaging so it does have quite a bit of smell for the fish to pick up on.
All thats needed is and outfit 10-15 lb test and a Flourocarbon leader about 20 lb test either with a 2/0 Gamakatsu Circle hook for the live bait, with a bobber at the top keeping the bait just off the bottom. The same outfit can be used with the artificial baits and by just blind casting into the mudd patch reeling slowly and jigging a little every coupl seconds when ensure a good constant bite. I myself have had quite a few client interested in doing this type of fishing and in the past few weeks we have averaged over 150 seatrout and quite a few reds mixed in. When you are trying to tackle reds only the best way is to find an area on the flats that has some dark tanic acid water around it (tanic acid is the brown water that flows out of the magroves mostly after a hard rain or really high tide) when fishing these areas try taking cast either with live baits mentioned above or artificial bait like the one mentioned above.
Flyfishing is another great way to target these fish. And flyfishing for them is my favorite way to do it hence the name of my boat......The Fly Trap.
Usually any type of shrimp pattern with weighted eyes works well. Also a pattern that works well is a merkin crab which is generally used for permit and bonefish but reds and trout eat
Them up too. If you wish to try some of this fishing with the best of the best, contact
Capt. Mike Takovich of Fly Trap Charters.

Fly Trap Charters is available for charter 7 days a week, and can be reached at
(305)896-5299. Operating out of Dolphin Marina
At Mile Marker 28.5 Little Torch Key
Or visit Fly Trap Charters online at WWW.FLYTRAPCHARTERS.COM

Capt. Mike is also Pro Staff for Penn-Reels, Hewes Light Tackle Boats, Mercury Outboards, And Stiffy pushpoles. Capt. Mike is also an avid member of the Florida Guides Association. As well as the Lower Keys Guides Association.
Fly Trap Charters is fully insured and holds a 1600-3000 GT unlimited Captains License