Permit is my favorite fish in the ocean. After years of guiding clients on the Florida Keys flats, here is the spin-fishing setup I trust: a 7-foot medium-heavy Saint Croix Avid, a Daiwa Saltist or Ballistic in 3000-4000 size, 20-pound Daiwa J-Braid, about 18 inches of fluorocarbon leader, a 4/0 short-shank circle hook, and a live blue crab. Cast past the fish, surf the crab back on the surface, let it drop at intercept. When you feel the thump, rod tip high, just start reeling. Do not strike. The single biggest change I ever made was J-hooks to circle hooks. My hookup rate went from about 40% to nearly 100%.
Yesterday I posted How 2 Tuesday Ep. 213 — the deepest spin-fishing-for-permit conversation I have ever recorded. It is part two of a three-part permit series, and it pulls everything together with Ep. 37, the first time I put the whole rig down in one place. This article is the written companion. The gear part is the easy part. Presentation is where most anglers get tripped up, and that is what I want to walk you through here.
Why I Want You to Hear This One
A few pieces of this work better as audio than text — the reasoning behind the choices is hard to compress:
Read the article for the map. Hit play for the reasoning.
I love fly fishing for permit, and I have done a lot of it. From what I have watched over the years, spinning tackle catches more fish — and it is not close. "I don't think that anyone would argue with me to say that it's far more effective to catch a permit on a spinning rod." You can cast much further. You can throw a bait the fish actually want to eat. None of that makes it easy. "There's nothing about permit fishing which is a layup." If you are a fly angler who has not broken through yet, my honest suggestion is to catch a couple on a crab and a spinning rod first. The experience tends to make people better fly fishermen for permit, not worse.
I run four rods through the year — 7-foot medium, 7-foot medium-heavy, 8-foot medium, and 8-foot medium-heavy, all Saint Croix Avids. The 7-foot medium-heavy is the battle axe. "It's heavy enough that I can fight any size permit very, very quickly to the boat."
The 8-foot rod comes out when I need extra casting distance, usually summer on calm days. This part trips people up: "As it gets progressively calmer… that is gonna be when we have to cast the absolute furthest." Wind covers the noise of the boat. Calm flats are silent flats, and the fish can sense you from a hundred yards out. The harder it is blowing, the closer you can get.
A 3000-4000 size, with capacity for 200-350 yards of braid and a drag that handles a long fast run. "They're not that expensive. They handle everything that I throw at them." Daiwa Saltist or Ballistic for the workhorse setups. Saltiga or Certate if you want to step up.
One quirk worth knowing — when I drop to 8-pound braid in summer, I step up to a 4000 or 5000, not down. The fish may run further and I want the capacity to let them.
Braid only. "There is not one thing about monofilament as far as permit fishing, in my opinion, that is superior to braided line." Distance wins shots, and braid casts further. I throw Daiwa J-Braid — 20-pound most of the year, 8-15 in summer for light-tackle work, 30 around heavy structure. The pound test of the braid is not what you are fishing — the leader is.
Fluorocarbon, 15-30 lb. Better abrasion resistance than mono, it sinks, and it refracts less light, so it is less visible to the fish. I keep mine short, about a foot and a half. "If you have too much, you have to cast the knot." Keep the braid-to-fluoro knot outside the rod tip when you cast and your casting will be cleaner.
Braid to fluoro: J-knot or double uni — both work. Leader to hook: clinch knot, not a loop. This is counterintuitive to a lot of people. "If the leader and the hook are one, that hook seems to find the corner of the fish's mouth better than when it is on a loop and it's allowed to swing around." Tie it tight.
This is the biggest single gear change I have ever made in my permit fishing. For years I used J-hooks. Clients would feel a bite, set the hook, and come back with just the crushed shell. Once chemically sharpened circle hooks became easy to find, I switched. "The hookup percentage of permit went from about 40% to almost a 100%. It was astounding."
My number one is the Offshore Angler / Worldwide Sportsman 4/0 short-shank circle. Gamakatsu is second. Owner is third. 5/0 if I am running a larger crab. 2/0 or 3/0 with smaller summer crabs. "I'd not feel comfortable throwing a J-hook at a permit."
Through the very edge of the carapace — the "earlobe" area, not through the body. Go through the white internal part and the organs leak out and the crab does not last. Put the hook point on the edge of the shell and drill it back and forth with your fingers until the point comes through clean. The hole stays small. The crab stays alive. The hook stays put.
"I don't really know anyone that's gonna debate that the best bait for a permit is a live blue crab." Ranked best to worst: live crab, live shrimp, jig tipped with shrimp, bare jig, imitation crab. Imitations look right but do not act alive — "they act like a dead crab." A live crab, the thing is kicking and screaming and making noise as it goes down. A permit comes over and pulverizes it. Big difference.
2 to 2.5 inches across the carapace. Three is starting to get big and draws refusals from smaller fish. Smaller than 2 inches, add a split shot above the crab to gain casting distance — not my favorite, but it works.
Legs moving so fast they click against the shell. "That permit sees that crab, he's coming over, he's going to eat it." Claws on if you can get them — claws make the bait noisier and more attractive. Bait shops often remove them. That is fine, you will still catch fish. With claws is better.
This is where I have watched most spinning-tackle permit anglers go wrong. The instinct is to throw the crab right at the fish. From what I have seen, that misses fish. The opposite is what works for me — cast well past and well ahead of the fish, reel slowly so the crab surfs the surface, and at the intercept point let it drop.
"The most effective presentation for a permit, regardless of tackle, is when you cast in a way that the fish feels like it discovered that crab. Like, all of a sudden, that crab was swimming on the surface. It sees that permit, and it shoots to the bottom."
There was no splash. From the permit's perspective, a healthy crab was swimming and dove for the bottom the moment it saw the permit — exactly what a real crab would do.
There is another option in the toolkit — the splashless cast. Low and hard, feather the line, drop the bait almost without splash very close to the fish. "That cast is an excellent cast to have in your toolkit… but it's also kinda risky because if you don't do it quite right, you slam that crab right into the water right in front of the permit and you scare them." I keep it in reserve. The cast-past-and-surf-it-back is my default.
Circle hooks set themselves under steady pressure. Here is the sequence:
I got the "reel against the drag" piece from Mark Krowka. The reason it matters — a permit will sometimes turn back toward you, the line goes slack, and a circle that has not fully seated can fall out of the corner of the mouth. A few extra reels against the drag gets the hook home.
If the crab pops out the line goes limp. "Stop what you're doing. Stop everything, and the fish will likely think that the crab just got out of its mouth on its own and will come over and it will attack it again." Often the same fish comes back for a second look.
Permit do not run for the horizon — they circle the boat at speed. Have the outboard ready to swing, and be ready to push the rod deep under the trolling motor if a circling fish runs under it. Try to fight the fish around the bow so you can move with it instead of walking the gunwale.
Use a landing net. "That will cut the fight time considerably, and you can get that fish back in the water if you choose to release it." Rubber or knotless mesh — better for the slime coat. Net head-first, hook out in the water, photo if you want one, release.
Permit live across a wider range of water than most anglers realize. "The permit is one of the most widespread fish from deep water to shallow water, and everywhere in between, you can find them."
On spinning tackle you can fish them on the flats, on nearshore patch reefs and coral heads, on wrecks in water shallow enough to see the bottom, on deeper wrecks, and out off the reef on spawning fish in the wide open. The Florida Keys is where I do most of mine. The principles travel — the rod, the reel, the leader, the hook, the bait, the presentation all work wherever permit live.
I love both disciplines. If the goal is to put permit in the boat, spin wins — more shots, more distance, a bait the fish actually want. If the goal is a permit on fly, fly is the answer and the trophy is bigger. I used to think I would rather catch one on fly than 10 on bait. "That was before I ever caught 10 on bait. Then I caught 10 on bait. It's pretty fun. You should catch 10 on bait."
The piece I want you to take away if nothing else — the cast past the fish, the surf back on the surface, the drop at intercept, and the reel-don't-strike circle hookset with a few extra cranks against the drag. Those are the four pieces that took my permit fishing from marginal to consistent. The rest of the gear list helps. Those four are what changed the math.
My battle axe is the Saint Croix Avid 7-foot medium-heavy fast action (VIS70MHF). It handles 12-20 lb line and has enough backbone to fight permit away from structure. I step up to an 8-foot Avid on calm summer days when extra casting distance matters.
A Daiwa Saltist or Ballistic, 3000-4000 size, holding 200-350 yards of braid. Daiwa J-Braid: 20-pound most of the year, 8-15 in summer for light-tackle work, 30 around heavy structure. Braid only — no monofilament.
About 18 inches of fluorocarbon, 15-30 lb — short enough that the connection knot stays outside the rod tip on the cast. Double uni or J-knot for braid to fluoro. Clinch knot leader to circle hook, not a loop knot.
My hookup rate went from about 40% on J-hooks to nearly 100% on circles. Circle hooks set themselves as you reel, finding the corner of the mouth — better hookups and better for the fish on release.
Live blue crab, 2 to 2.5 inches across the carapace, with legs clicking — followed by live shrimp, then a jig tipped with shrimp, then a bare jig, with imitation crab in last place.
Through the edge of the carapace — the "earlobe" area, not the body. Put the hook point on the edge and drill it back and forth with your fingers until the point comes through clean. Avoid the white internal part.
Do not strike. Feel the thump, hold the rod tip high, start reeling slowly. As the weight builds, keep reeling. When the fish runs, keep reeling against the drag for a few more seconds to fully seat the hook in the corner of the mouth.
Permit hear and feel the boat. On calm days the flats are silent and the fish can sense you from a hundred yards out. Wind covers boat noise and lets you get closer. The calmer it is, the farther the cast has to be.
Past it. Cast well past and ahead of the fish, then surf the crab back on the surface until it intercepts the fish. Let it drop at intercept. The permit thinks it discovered the crab on its own.
Skip it. Every cast is a concussion for the crab. Three or four practice casts and the bait is half what it was — the legs stop clicking and the fish lose interest.
No. If a shrimp dies, the toxin can wipe the whole bucket of crabs. Two coolers, always — shrimp in one, crabs in the other.
Spinning is more effective for putting fish in the boat — more shots, more distance, a bait the fish want. Fly is a bigger trophy and a harder discipline. I recommend that struggling fly anglers catch a couple on spin first to learn how the fish reacts.
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