It was a beautiful winter day in the Florida Keys, and Rhona Chabot and I were cruising west of Key West in Capt. R.T. Trosset’s 39-foot Yellowfin, Spindrift. Our destination was a ledge some 65 miles west of Key West harbor, where Trosset’s son, Capt. Chris Trosset, had spotted a school of massive kingfish a few days earlier.
Chris Trosset had landed two dozen kingfish weighing more than 30 pounds and two that were north of 50. King mackerel are one of my favorite fish to catch on a fly rod, and I really wanted one more than 40 pounds. This was going to be my chance.
I’ve been fishing out of Key West for 50 years, and I still find it magical. It offers the best light-tackle sport fishing in the United States. The diversity of species you can target staging out of Key West is mind boggling. You can fish flats on the Atlantic and Gulf. It’s the best place to catch a permit on the fly in the United States. You can deep-drop and fish wrecks, reefs, ledges and shrimp boats.
You can troll for blue marlin or take a shot at a swordfish. Tuna, mahi, kingfish or wahoo? They’re all here. I continue to be surprised by these waters and the variety of species you can chase.
The fishing pressure has increased significantly since I first started coming here as a young Navy JAG lawyer. In the old days, you didn’t have to run as far as you do
