Tricks and Tactics for Fishing Keys Bridges

by John Kumiski

The archipelago of the Florida Keys stretches for over a hundred miles to the south and west of the Florida mainland. From Key Largo to Key West, miles of bridges connect the Keys like pearls on a string. These bridges provide habitat for lots and lots of fish.

Since the construction of the new Overseas Highway bridges, many of the old bridges have been maintained strictly as fishing piers. Even for the landlubbing angler, great fishing is available from these bridges year-round. All that's needed to get in on the bridge fishing action is some tackle, some bait, and sometimes a little chum.

If you take the advice contained in this Special Report, mix it in with some local knowledge garnered at local tackle stores, and add a little exploration in, you'll have a recipe for some great angling off of these Keys bridges.

Tackle Needs
Tackle needs depend on the location of the fisherman as well as what he's chasing. From a boat anchored by or under a bridge, the basic spinning rod with 10 or 12 pound test line will handle the smaller bridge fish such as snapper under most circumstances. Tarpon chasers with boats might want conventional plugging or boat tackle with 20 pound line, and anglers fishing from the bridge itself will want a beefy stick like this, too. Of course, bridge fishermen who want tarpon are going to need some serious tackle- like a boat rod loaded with at least 50 pound test line.

Let's discuss snapper and other smaller sized panfish first. Terminal rigs should be kept simple. For snapper and other "panfish", use a three way swivel or dropper loop to attach one or two hooks near the end of the line. Use as small a hook as possible. During my family's most recent expedition, we used #4 hooks.

During the day you might not even want a shock leader, as the heavier line puts wary fish like the larger snapper off. As night comes on and their wariness decreases, using a 25 or 30 pound shock leader can be a good idea.

The kind of sinker you use depends on the bottom, and its size depends on the current flow. Sinkers with a round shape snag the rocks and corals around the bridges less frequently than do angular types. It might be a good idea to attach the sinker to the main line with a lighter piece of line (say eight pound test) so that if the sinker does snag, you can break it off without losing the entire rig.

You should carry sinkers in sizes from 1/4 to three ounces or so for bottom fishing, again using the smallest one which will hold the bait on the bottom. During our recent bridge fishing, we used just split shot during slack tides to give the bait the most natural drift possible.

On my most recent trip to the Keys, my boys and I had excellent success with snapper livelining small pinfish with a single hook and no weight at all. We fished from a boat, well after dark. One local told me he regularly catches mangrove snapper up to five pounds by doing this.

Of course you may prefer to try for tarpon rather than panfish. The bridge tarpon fishery is an established tradition. The angler typically uses live pinfish for bait, suspended beneath a breakaway cork on a twenty pound outfit. Hooks average about size 5/0, and leaders consist of about four feet of 100 pound mono.

Again, on our most recent trip we simply cast the pinfish out without any float at all, just livelining it. We also hooked up by doing the same thing with live blue crabs. Keeping the hooked tarpon out of the bridge pilings proved to be more than my sons could handle, though.

Techniques
An excellent suggestion if you want snapper and other panfish is to use a block of frozen chum, available almost anywhere in the Keys, which is put into a chum bag and tied to the boat's anchor or suspended from the bridge, weighted down with dive weights. Unless weighted down, the block floats on top. Getting it down near or on the bottom will pull fish in even during the heavy current flows during the middle of the tide. Without weighting the chum down your best fishing will come around the slack tide periods, simply because only then will the chum have a chance to sink down near the bottom where the fish you want are hanging out.

Lots of different baits can be used. You can use frozen shrimp with good success. Strips from mullet, pinfish, or squid all work well. Ask at the local bait and tackle shop what has been working best lately, then follow their advice. Live pilchards, pinfish, or other small baitfish are perhaps the most deadly baits you can use.

Don't cast out away from the bridge. Get the bait down next to a piling. The fish use the pilings to break the current flow so they can relax in an eddy while the current sweeps food items past. To maximize your success you want your bait to be in the same neighborhood as the fish and your chumbag.

Fishermen always want to get out away from shore and often go way out onto the bridge. This can be a definite mistake. At either end of the bridge there is often a large eddy where food, and therefore fish, collect. Try these places first, and if nothing happens, then move out onto the nether regions of the bridge.

Finally, as as might be expected, fishing will be worst during the middle of the day. Night owls do best at this game, with dawn and dusk being the other prime times. It's too hot to fish from the bridges during summer days anyhow, although boaters can use one bridge for shade while fishing the other one.

Night fishing for both tarpon and snook can be highly successful. Usually you want to fish a bridge that's lit. The fish stay in the dark at the edge of the shadow line, moving into it the light to feed. Sometimes you can see them cruising back and forth and can sightfish them.

The best baits for this include live mullet and ladyfish. Lipped plugs like the Magnum Rapala or the Bomber Long A work well too. Jose Wejebe told me he fly fishes at night all summer long off of lower Keys bridges (he lives on Big Pine) using poppers, and catches tarpon in the 20 to 50 pound range. He also says no one takes advantage of this fishing.

Tarpon fishing around Keys bridges is an institution in the middle and lower Keys, starting at about the Channel #2 bridge and working on down to Key West. Although the large fish (100 pounds and up) are mostly taken during May and June, smaller fish are found around bridges during most of the rest of the year.

Some fly fishermen dredge around these bridges, using a sinking line and flies like those in the Whistler series. But most fishermen who actually want to catch tarpon use live bait, primarily pinfish or mullet. Whole, live blue crabs (with the claws removed for the safety of the angler) also make good bait.

For boaters, if you want to fish a bridge and there are other fishermen there when you get there, watch them for a few minutes before joining in or you may mess up their fishing and incur their wrath. Generally, boating tarpon fishermen will get upcurrent of the bridge a quarter or half mile and then drift down close to it before motoring back upcurrent to repeat the procedure.

Fishermen on the bridge drift their baits with the current, fishing on the downcurrent side.

Regardless of whether they're in a boat or on a bridge, tarpon fishermen make a leader consisting of four or five feet of 80-100 pound mono. To the business end they tie their hook, one popular choice being Mustad's 9174, size 4/0-6/0, depending on the size of the bait. Generally a float is used.

Some folks use a piece of styrofoam, rigged to break away. Others use a balloon for the same reason. Neither is recommended. There's enough plastic pollution around without fishermen adding to the problem. It has been well documented that sea turtles mistake balloons for food, eat them, get terminal constipation, and die. Fishermen should not be contributing to that problem, either. So what should you use as a float?

Most if not all of the tackle stores in the Keys sell cork floats which can be rigged with a wooden peg to break away on the strike. These floats are inexpensive, and are made of naturally occuring materials which will biodegrade rather than pollute. Use these by attaching the float at the top end of the leader. You might consider simply tying up to the bridge piling and casting a pinfish without a float out behind the boat. This will produce plenty of action, too.

Cast the bait out as far from the boat or bridge as you can, or let the current carry the line away from the bridge. Let the bait do the work of attracting a tarpon. Again, dusk, nighttime, and dawn are the best times of day to do this.

Another excellent tarpon technique involves the use of a lure called the DOA TerrorEyz (If you're not familiar with this bait go to www.doalures.com). Anchor upcurrent of the bridge, close enough to cast to it, or at least to its shadow. Tie the TerrorEyz to your 60 or 80 pound shock leader with some type of loop knot. Cast the lure out at right angles to the current and let it sweep into the shadow of the bridge directly downcurrent from your boat.

At this point most fishermen would reel the bait in and cast again, but you can simply put the rod in a holder and wait. The bait will hover in the current vibrating until the fish can't stand it any more, and suddenly you're hooked up. Again, good luck keeping it out of the pilings!

When you get a bite, hook the fish solidly several times as soon as possible. You want to avoid gut hooking these magnificent fish. Boaters can follow the tarpon around during the ensuing battle. Bridge fishermen had best be prepared for a slugfest. Keeping the hooked fish out of the pilings is always a major problem, and once they get in there barnacles make short work of your line.

Once the fish tires boaters generally lip-gaff the fish to remove the hook. Some strong guys even just liplock them with a gloved hand. If the fish is deeply hooked, cut the leader close to the fish's mouth. Either way, revive the fish before releasing it.

Honestly, I have no idea how a guy on a bridge thirty feet above the water is going to deal with a whipped hundred pound tarpon down in the water below. It's a problem I would love to face some day. If any readers have any information on dealing with this particular problem, I certainly would appreciate your letting me know. Write to me or call in care of Argonaut Publishing!

Tackle Shops for Bridge Fishermen
There are some fine tackle shops in the Keys, specializing in outfitting the fly fisher. Most bridge anglers want to avoid these places. You want to go to tackle shops that sell bait and dispense advice to go along with it. Here is a partial list [all phone numbers in area code (305)]:

- Key Largo
The Yellow Bait House 451-0921
Tavernier Creek Marina 852-9022

-Islamorada
Abel's Tackle Box 664-2521
Bud and Mary's Marina 664-2461
Caloosa Cove 664-8057
Islamorada Tackle 664-4578
Papa Joe's 664-5005

-Marathon
Big Kahuna Bait and Tackle 743-4500
Duck Key Marina 289-0161
Seven Mile Marina 289-9849
Tournament Bait and Tackle 743-8103

-Sugarloaf Key
Baypoint Marina

-Key West
Garrison Bight Marina 294-5780
Waterfront Bait and Tackle 292-1961

Conclusion
Keys bridges provide a wonderful fishing resource for all fishermen, one which anyone who's interested in can easily take advantage. Try the advice contained here on your next trip to the Keys. Besides ending up with a mess of tasty snapper and God only knows what else, you will have a blast, too!

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This article was written by John Kumiski of John Kumiski Outdoors and Travel. Contact him at his website www.johnkumiski.com or via email at john@spottedtail.com. Copyright John Kumiski.

John Kumiski 's most recent fishing guidebooks are How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System (Argonaut Publishing Company), and Fishing Florida's Space Coast (Argonaut Publishing Company).

John Kumiski's newest book is Redfish on the Fly- A Comprehensive Guide .

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© John Kumiski. 2007