August in the Upper Keys is full of options. One could find fast action on the reefs or dolphin offshore, but Capt. Greg Poland prefers the shallow stuff this time of year. Whether it’s classic skinny-water targets like bonefish, snook, tarpon, permit, and redfish or huge sharks cruising the flats, Capt. Poland loves the thrill of fishing in less than 3 feet of water.
With ocean-side flats on the front and Florida Bay and the Everglades National Park on the backside, one of the toughest decisions Poland faces each morning is which way to go. Aboard his skiff or his 25’ Contender Bay Boat—from GTB Boat Sales on Key Largo—all options are in-range, and the Everglades are just a 10-minute run from the docks. The whole area is a playground for the shallow-water angler.
Permit and Bones:
Permit and Bones:While bonefish show up on the flats on either side of the island, permit stick to the Atlantic side, either on the flats or out on the near-shore reefs. Capt. Poland said the best way to catch either species is with bait.
For permit, he’ll fish a live crab on a 3/0 hook with a 7-foot spinning rod spooled with 15-pound monofilament and a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader. For bonefish, Poland sizes down to 10- or 12-pound mono with a 10-pound fluorocarbon leader. He sight fishes for bonefish with live shrimp, but he also catches a lot of fish dead-bait fishing. The technique involves Power Poling down in an area where the bones should be. Capt. Poland then rigs a hook with a single live shrimp and a half of a dead one.
“There’s a live shrimp that’s jumping around with a dead one that’s just sitting there smelling,” he said. It’s a remarkably effective technique.
Tarpon and Snook:
The bay side of Largo is a hotbed for tarpon and snook. This time of year, there will be plenty of slot-sized and larger snook along with juvenile tarpon from 2 to 4 feet in length around the mangroves.
Capt. Poland starts his mornings cast-netting the preferred bait: pinfish and pilchards. Depending on conditions, he rigs them with or without a cork on a 3/0 or 4/0 hook and a 2-foot leader of 40- to 60-pound fluorocarbon. Then he goes looking for some moving water and pitches the baits around the mangroves. Even with 60-pound line, a 32-inch snook or a tailwalking 4-foot tarpon is a handful, especially in these snaggy, shallow environs.
Sharks:
Sharks:Finally, and what Poland called “last, but definitely not least,” are big sharks. Capt. Poland hung into his first big shark when he was just10 years old and fishing Florida Bay on a guided trip with his dad. The captain tricked the fish into biting by dragging a dead ballyhoo in front of its nose. He then handed the rod over to a young, enthusiastic and impressionable boy. Poland has been doing the same thing ever since.
“I wonder why I ever do anything else,” he said. “They’re big, they’re powerful and they’re fun.”
With a heavy spinning rod or up to a 30w conventional setup, he fishes bait on an 8/0 circle hook and 4 feet of wire. The first order of business is to deploy a frozen block of chum. Then, if he’s caught a good live bait like a jack crevalle, he’ll fish it. If all he has is dead ballyhoo purchased at the bait shop, that works just as well when fished just like Poland saw the captain do it many years ago.
On windy days, Poland sometimes even deploys a kite, just like the ones used offshore. He’ll bait it with a live blue runner, and wait for the show to begin.
“There’s nothing like seeing a 10-foot lemon or hammerhead come up out of the water to eat that bait in 3 feet of water,” he said. Unless you go see for yourself, you’ll just have to believe that’s the truth.
From offshore to the backcountry, Capt. Greg Poland is skilled in all the fishing the Florida Keys have to offer. Check out his website at www.gregpoland.com.