Wreck Fishing

[bigcamel33]

Trying to put together a trip with two other fisherman, I'm on fly, they'll be on spin. I've seen numerous fishing shows on tv in which the hosts locate a wreck or some interesting bottom structure, chum a bit (likely off-camera!), and get into a melee of varied species caught at or near the surface...is this a viable way to spend a day with a guide or am i living in fantasy land? we'd be up for any part of florida, and would like to do this in Jan/Feb this year. If we could access this sort of fishing and be reasonably close to a place where we could then head offshore and scare up some mahi, wahoo, etc, that would be ideal...Thoughts/recommendations, I'm all ears!

[flynny]

I did this on a chartered reef/wreck fishing trip off Key West last March and had a blast....lots of different species to catch, on the same trip, from sharks to amber jack to sailfish. I am sure Capt Chris Lembo can assist you - I think he may be a sponsor on this site, or at least he offers a lot of good info.

[lemaymiami]

The place to be is Key West alright. The Delph family, Bob Trosset, Jose Wejebe, are just a few of the guys that put anglers on fish out of Key West. You'll find a good selection on Cyberangler.com where a cross section of guides from that area post fishing reports. Good Luck

[soundownsam]

Key west is the spot for that kind of fishing. I'm hoping to get down for that over X-mas sometime.

Sam

[E-Glades]

you might also try getting a hold of Mike Holliday - out of Stuart, FL.
He has some really interesting techniques for really big beach cruiser Jacks,
and Cobia - and seems to get into the Bonito regularly on fly. Catches a lot of Snook. Tarpon not available for your time slot. Had a photo of an angler with a massive African Pompano ! He works for Mavericak Boats last I heard- but I have no contact info for him.

[Capt.ChrisLembo]

There are plenty of wrecks around Key West to use this technique. Some are deep (240') some are shallow (10') some in the Gulf and some in Atlantic. Most of the shallower and more FF friendly are in the Gulf. There are also a few large towers in the Gulf.

Anchor up current and set out chum to get the fish away from the wreck and excited. Throw in the fly and/or live/dead bait and anything can happen. Cobia, Jack Crevelle, Permit, Amberjack, Goliath Grouper, Red Grouper, Gag Grouper, Black Grouper, Snappers, Sharks, Cudas, Spanish Macks, Cero Macks, Kingfish. I had a pack of 50+ pound Redfish hang around a wreck for 3 hours once. We hooked 20+ on fly after the whole school came up following a hooked fish. So.....you never know what you will get.

Usually better in the winter as the shallower water is too warm in the summer. Sometimes it is on fire and sometimes slow and you have to move around a little.You won't find many Mahi in the winter and Wahoo fishing would require a time investment. It is probably not viable to do both in one day as it may take some running time to find the producing wrecks that day and the longer you sit on it the better things get. Fish move around alot so one day may be completely different from the next.

As far as flies I pretty much only use Bill & Kate Howe's Alf and FPF patterns as they resemble Pilchards perfectly.

350-450 sinkers are a must.