Fishing in the Harbor Keys: The View from My Office

I have to have one of the greatest offices in the world. I run fishing charters and guide trips in the Florida Keys. I ended 2006 fishing the backcountry of Key West. Now that I finally have a camera I can share with you a few of the views from my office window.

On December 31, 2006, my crew and I fished around the Harbor Keys North of Stock Island. It was a bit windy, but the backcountry islands offer a leeside for comfortable fishing. These islands are uninhabited by man and are not only a great place to fish, but a great place for birding as well.

Pelicans, Cormorants, Ibises, Frigate birds, Ospreys, Merlin and Falcons are just a few that you can see. There are several varieties of Herons and Egrets that will be fishing right along side of you. The varieties of fish are just as diverse as the birds.

Tarpon, Permit, Bonefish, Sharks, Grouper, Snapper, Redfish and an occasional Shook hang out around the islands. That day we were targeting anything big on light tackle. While waiting for the big girl, we caught and released 30 or more mangrove snapper. The real name for the Mangrove is the Gray Snapper. That name is just too plain for the Keys, so Mangrove is their common name down here. The average Mangrove we caught was only a couple of pounds, but they were hungry and fought well for their size.

The big fish must have been taking New Years Eve off. We managed to boat only one Black tip Shark and missed a shot at one more. Very slow for this area where it is not uncommon to have five or six bigger fish on in a half-day. Still the one shark made the trip for my crew from Chicago. Black tips are strong fighters and a twenty to thirty pound fish on 12-pound test line is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of that one expecting many more to follow. Don't worry I will have plenty of big fish photos in no time. This article meant more to showcase my office anyway.

The main areas I fish out of Key West are the Mud Keys, the Harbor Keys and the Bay Keys. They all have the same wonderful scenery with the Mangrove islands filled with birds, surrounded by turquoise deeper water and golden brown flats. The surrounding shallows keep the water around these islands calm and fishable in all but extremely high winds.

I hope you enjoy the view from my office and plan a trip down here soon. Whether you like to fish, bird watch, or just want to go for a tropical boat ride, I am sure you will enjoy a trip to the Keys.