Florida Keys Fishing Trips

Fish Marathon Key and local waters for Tarpon, Bone Fish, Permit, and many other species.

Capt. Mark King 
 

863-677-0983  Cell

Email Mark

We are catching BIG fish here in the Keys. Thinking about booking your Tarpon trip?

Mark King 
 

863-677-0983  Cell

4 hours morning trips $450.00

Evening trips 4 hours $450.00

$100.00 for third person

Offering live bait tarpon trips

Fly fishing and conventional tackle trips

The chart below will help determine when you will want to plan a trip for specific fishing opportunities to Marathon Key and adjacent waters.

Legend: E ~ Excellent, G ~ Good, F ~ Fair, P ~ Poor

Tarpon: Megalops atlanticus

Appearance:

Tarpon have a distinctive dorsal fin ray that extends into a long filament, a large upward pointing mouth and very large scales

Habitat:

Primarily inshore fish, preferring shallow estuaries around mangrove forests, salt marshes or hard-bottom/seagrass communities of the Keys. They tolerate a wide salinity range, and as juveniles, enter fresh waters.

Behavior:

Tarpon can gulp air and remove oxygen by means of lung-like tissue near their swim bladder. This "rolling" effect is one way to spot tarpon. Anglers catch tarpon that weigh 40 to 150 pounds on average. Tarpon do not mature until 7 to 13 years of age. They spawn offshore between May and September.

State Record:

243 lb, caught near Key West

Fishing Tips and Facts:

Live shrimp or pinfish make good baits, but plastics and Keys-style streamers work too. When sight fishing, land your presentation softly in front of a tarpon at an angle that lets you withdraw your lure away from the tarpon. Tarpon are not eaten. A tarpon tag is required for harvest

Permit: Trachinotus falcatus

Appearance:

Permit are deep-bodied fish with a very deeply forked tail that gives them the speed to catch crabs and other invertebrates in seagrass flats. Pompano are similar but not as deep bodied and rarely grow larger than 6 pounds.

Habitat:

These coastal fish inhabit tropical grass and sand flats, near reefs and wrecks.

Behavior:

Spawning occurs primarily in early summer and again in fall. Permit have a specialized plate at the back of their mouth that helps them crush hard-shelled animals.

State Record:

56 lb 2 oz, caught near Ft. Lauderdale

Fishing Tips and Facts:

Anglers cast live crabs to schools of permit hoping to catch one of these line-stripping fish, which also take shrimp, clams and occasionally small fish. Permit are most common in south Florida. This member of the jack family can reach 40 inches and 50 pounds, but most are about 25-pounds. They make a tasty meal.

Bonefish: Albula vulpes

Appearance:

Silvery, with torpedo-shaped body and conical snout.

Habitat:

Bonefish primarily inhabit inshore shallows of the Florida Keys, often in water that is less than 1 foot deep

Behavior:

Bonefish have deeply forked tails that provide power for chasing prey in lush grass beds. Keen eyesight and a skittish nature make these fish a prized trophy for saltwater anglers. They travel in small schools prowling grass beds and sand flats for shrimp, crabs and other invertebrates. Average size is 3 to 5 pounds but fish weighing more than 10 pounds can be found in Florida.

State Record:

16 lb 3 oz, caught near Islamorada

Fishing Tips and Facts:

Live shrimp or jigs tipped with fresh shrimp are the best baits for conventional fishermen. Fly fishermen patiently pole through shallow flats stalking these elusive fish. Bonefish are very seldom eaten and should be carefully released.

Mark King 
 

863-677-0983  Cell

Email Mark