Catching a permit on fly is the most difficult and most rewarding way to take my favorite fish, demanding a technical poling skiff, a crab-pattern fly, an accurate close cast, a controlled sink, a firm strip-set, and a true partnership between the angler on the bow and the guide on the platform. In this How 2 Tuesday, the final part of my three-part permit series, Captain Brandon Cyr walks through the fly setup, the presentation, and the eat. Press play above and follow along.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Permit are widely regarded as one of the most challenging fish in the world on a fly rod, and they give almost no second chances. Across this series the premise has held: permit are my favorite fish, and fly fishing for them is the most difficult but most rewarding method. It requires a technical poling skiff, real teamwork, and a presentation that has to be close and accurate the first time, because a permit that senses anything off will refuse and move on.
Captain Brandon Cyr covers the fly rod, reel, and line setup along with leader construction and fly selection. The flies are crab patterns, including Merkin-style crabs and other crab and shrimp imitations chosen to match what permit are eating and how the fly needs to sink. The setup is built around getting a realistic crab imitation in front of the fish and letting it drop naturally, which is the whole game when you take away the live bait that makes spinning tackle so effective.
Cyr describes getting the fly in front of and close to the fish, then letting it sink, followed by a strip or feeding sequence that imitates a crab. The cast has to be accurate and close, the sink has to look natural, and you have to read the fish's body language to know when it has eaten. It is a precise, high-pressure sequence, which is exactly why a permit on fly is so prized, you have to do several hard things right in a row with no margin for error.
A strip-set means setting the hook by pulling the fly line with your stripping hand rather than lifting the rod tip like you would in freshwater. Cyr emphasizes the strip-set because it keeps the fly in the strike zone and drives the hook home into a permit's tough mouth without pulling the fly away from the fish. Lifting the rod, called trout-setting, is one of the most common ways anglers blow a permit eat on fly, so the strip-set is a fundamental skill for this fishery.
It is essential. The series describes it as a dance on the flats, the angler on the bow is the arms and the guide on the poling platform is the eyes, working in unison from a quiet technical poling skiff. The guide spots the fish, positions the boat with the push-pole, and calls the shot, while the angler manages line and delivers the cast. Without that tight communication and trust, the small window a permit gives you closes before you ever get the fly in front of it.
Spinning tackle, covered in part two, is far more effective because you can cast a live crab much farther and get more shots. Fly fishing trades that effectiveness for difficulty and reward. You give up the live bait and the distance, and in exchange you take on the hardest version of the challenge. For many anglers, fooling a permit with a crab pattern on fly is the pinnacle of flats fishing precisely because it is so hard to do.
This is the final part of the permit series, and it is the one a lot of people have been waiting for, how to catch a permit on fly. Permit are my favorite fish, and fly fishing for them is the most difficult but most rewarding method there is. It builds on everything in parts one and two, the seasons, the boats, the spinning game, and asks you to do it the hard way. Brandon Cyr breaks it down in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Without a live crab to do the work, everything rides on the fly and the presentation. Brandon gets into crab patterns, leader construction, and the accurate, close cast that has to land right the first time, then the controlled sink that makes a permit commit. I let him walk through his specifics in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The moment a permit eats a fly is subtle, and recognizing it, then answering with a firm strip-set instead of a rod lift, is what separates a landed fish from a lifetime of near misses. This is where the teamwork between bow and platform matters most. Brandon explains how he reads the fish in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is the sequence Brandon Cyr lays out for fly fishing permit. He covers each piece in the audio.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above and follow along.
Catching a permit on fly is hard enough that landing one stays with you for life. That difficulty is the whole point, and it is why this method closes out the series.
Take the seasons and booking from part one, the tackle and presentation from part two, and this fly breakdown from Brandon, and you have the full picture of permit fishing in the Keys. Press play in the player above.
Captain Brandon Cyr · permit · fly fishing · Florida Keys · Key West · poling skiff · crab fly · Merkin · strip-set · Captain Nick Labadie · Permit Fishing 101 · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
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