KEY WEST – Permit fishing in the Lower Keys for some is not just to fish for these elusive silver creatures -- it’s an obsession. For Jon Ain, of Vail, Colorado, adding a few more fly-caught permit was no easy task this week. Ain avidly fishes for permit and he managed to add 5 more fish to his total record of 238 permit on fly.
There is only one man who revolutionized fishing for permit with a fly rod, which was Delmar E. Brown, who is better known in the fishing community as the late Del Brown. Brown unfortunately passed away in 2003 at the age of 84. He caught 513 permit on fly in his lifetime. To give you an idea of how tremendous that is, the next record holder for permit is probably Ain, according to Russell Thornberry, of the D.O.P.A.P (Distinguished Order of Permit Angling Purists). His legacy lives on though as a little fly called the Merkin. The Merkin Crab is probably the top selling saltwater fly in history.
This fly emulates a crab fleeing into the grass or trying to bury itself in the sand. The dumbbell eyes allow the fly to sink rather quickly, while the feather or rubber band claws trail behind making the crab fly look as if it is swimming and very much alive. The initial shape of the Merkin was more oval shaped like a live blue crab might look, but many patterns have developed over the years that have a more tapered look and allows the fly to move more quickly towards the bottom.
Permit are known for having great eyesight and hearing. Therefore presenting the fly to them requires plenty of accuracy and if you get the permit’s attention, their likelihood of following the fly is much greater. Fly anglers certainly should not expect to catch a permit on a fly on their first day of saltwater fishing, and possibly not any day after that. Those who do manage the feat of enticing, hooking and landing a permit will certainly be the focus of envy at the dock. After all, they have achieved the greatest goal in saltwater fly fishing, in my opinion.
This brings me to the focus of this weeks report, the first annual March Merkin Permit Tournament. I got the opportunity to attend the captains meeting on March 14th and it was such a pleasure to be in the presence of some of the best permit guides and anglers in the area. Permit fishing is as tough as it gets here in the Keys and 23 boats were up for the challenge.
The tournament was out of Hurricane Hole Marina and was hosted by Jon Ain and Dave Horn, both avid permit anglers who have spent much time chasing permit in the Keys and in other spots in the Caribbean.
The tournament was created because of the popular demand for a permit tournament in March, since the Del Brown was moved to July by popular angler vote. Historically the weather has been windy and therefore tough fly fishing for permit. Many of the anglers who normally fish the Del Brown were delighted to be able to fish this week.
Lucky for all participants, the weather was pretty nice. Although you would think the leader board would be filled with a history of the best permit angling ever, at the end of three days of fishing, only a handful of boats actually managed to land a permit on fly.
“We had 15 shots but saw permit in spurts,” said Ain, describing his first day of fishing. Ain, fishing with guide Capt. Doug Kilpatrick, was all warmed-up for this tournament, having caught a hefty 31- pound permit the day before the tournament.
The next two days played out nicely for Ain and Kilpatrick, landing two permit on fly. “The third day was so calm it was hard to get close to the fish,” Ain said. He described to be how difficult it was to make an 80- foot cast with complete accuracy.
Largest Permit and First Place went to Jon Ain with guide Capt. Doug Kilpatrick. Ain caught 2 permit during the 3 day tournament, one weighing 28- pounds, the other 18- pounds. Second place went to Moe Slayton who was guided by Capt. Mike Guerin, and Third Place was awarded to Tom Rowland who was fishing with Capt. Ernie Maynard.
This tournament was unique in that permit were counted by inches. Each inch earned 4 points. As proclaimed on the back of their stylish tournament tees, “Every Inch Counts.”
Elsewhere, fishing has remained steady in the Key West area. Light tackle fishing for tarpon in the Harbor area has been steady but not really ‘on fire’ yet. Reef and wreck fishing has been the best bet this week with plenty of nice mutton snapper, yellowtail, cero mackerel and the occasional cobia.
