Tide: -0.4ft low at 8am, 2.9ft high at 1pm
This past weekend Chris and I made the long trek down to the Keys in search of the elusive flats permit. We studied satellite images for a solid hour prior to leaving Chris' house in Miami at 4:30am. We came up with a decent plan and shortly after sunrise started our 15 mile mission to catch one of the most difficult fish there is to catch on the flats. To our surprise, it didn't take long to find a few of them cruising the deeper grassflats. Although the opportunity for a shot at these fish never came, we were happy to see them so early in the day. A few hours passed with only a few cuda and shark sightings. At the last of the incoming tide we made it to our final destination; a string of spotty white sand flats in close proximity to the ocean. As we eased on to the edge of the first flat, Chris spotted a big permit tailing a short distance away. The permit was moving fast but Chris kept up by push poling himself into the 15 mph east wind across the sand to within casting range. He made six casts to the fish and finally got the bite by landing a crab pretty much on top of its head. The fish immediately fled the flat toward the channel and all I heard through the gusts was "I GOT HIM AND HE'S BIG!". It turns out it was big, Chris' largest permit to date at 23lbs!
We were both so ecstatic after releasing the single fish we traveled all this way for that it didn't matter if we caught another fish. Fortunately, the bite was just turning on. We made our way onto the flat again and I immediately spotted a smaller fish cruising just out of range. I grabbed my make shift dowel rod push pole to catch up but lost sight of him in the process. I started pedaling up wind again and while Chris was poling next to me he spotted the same permit heading straight towards us. I had no visibility on the fish since I was sitting down but apparently he was right in front of us. Chris could see him and had me pitch one 15ft away from the bow of our kayaks. The crab landed in front of the fish and without hesitation, he crushed it! The excitement quickly wore off though as the hook pulled after a few seconds of drag being pulled. I was heartbroken and honestly thought I missed my chance. I rebaited and continued poling the flat. Not two minutes later I saw a permit make its way onto the flat a long ways away from the adjacent channel. This fish was LIT UP and was moving RIGHT AT ME faster than any I've seen thus far. I had one shot at this fish or it would spook. This is when the stars aligned and things just fell into place. I pitched a crab and it landed two feet ahead of its path. Blink and you would've missed the eat! It crushed the crab and ran across the entire flat in a heartbeat. The fish pulled me past Chris who was already talking to people on the phone about his permit. We were so giddy at that point that I think we both thought we were in a our own world. In a way we were..it was a tropical paradise in the middle of February with permit feeding with abandonment. After a hard fought fight, I landed my first permit at 26lbs, and probably the best fish I've ever caught!
