Permit fishing in the Florida Keys is a year-round fishery centered on Key West, with the best flats action from June through the first cold front in fall, a pre-spawn window in late February and March, and an April offshore spawn, and success depends on matching the right guide and boat to the way you want to fish. In this How 2 Tuesday, part one of a three-part series with Key West captain Nick Labadie, we lay out the permit calendar and how to book the right trip. Press play above and follow along.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
According to Captain Nick Labadie, permit are a year-round fishery in Key West, but his favorite stretch is summer, from June through the first cold front in October or November, when winds are lighter, days are flat and beautiful, and fish are tailing on the flats. If pressed to pick, he names July, August, and September. Late February and March offer aggressive pre-spawn fish and lots of sightings, but a cold front can empty the flats, so that window gives you some of the best and worst fishing.
Labadie says April is the one month he would not recommend coming for flats permit, because most of the population moves offshore to spawn. The fish trickle back by May depending on moon phases, and by June everyone is back in town. That said, April is a great time to catch permit in big schools offshore, so it is not a dead month, it is just the wrong month if your goal is sight fishing for tailing permit on the flats.
Both Tom and Labadie agree it matters less than people think. Tom would rather pick a good time of year and fish whatever tide is available, though when pressed he looks for a tide of 1.5 feet or higher between ten and two early in the week so there is water on the flats. Labadie says there is no single perfect tide or moon phase, the biggest limiting factor is sunshine, which you cannot predict. A bigger moon phase with bigger tides does not hurt, but he would not get too worked up about it.
If you are fly fishing on the flats, Labadie says you definitely want a guide in a technical poling skiff. The push-pole lets the guide quietly position the boat for the perfect fly shot, where a trolling motor turning quickly would blow the fish out. In a bay boat with a trolling motor and a live crab you can chuck the bait wherever you want and catch plenty that way too, but for the quiet, technical fly game, the poling skiff is the tool.
Communicate clearly and match the guide to your goal. If you are one hundred percent fly, find a guide who fishes that way from a poling skiff, since a great guide might simply not do the kind of fishing you want. Labadie recommends The Angling Company, the fly shop in Key West, as a resource for matching anglers with good fly guides. If you just want to catch a permit any way possible, it is harder to find the right person online, so ask around for word-of-mouth recommendations.
Labadie says to ask the guide directly what they expect from you, because permit are one of the most challenging fish in the world on a fly rod and give no second chances. You need a pretty good cast. Practice helps, though nothing in the backyard fully prepares you for line management and fish coming at angles. He describes it as a romantic dance on the flats, the angler on the bow is the arms and the guide on the platform is the eyes, working in unison, and he loves the challenge more than the accomplishment.
We are embarking on a three-part series on permit, my favorite fish, and Key West is the epicenter of the fishery, with Nick Labadie on the cutting edge of it. In the Keys we are lucky to have basically every situation you can find a permit in. This first episode is the overview, the seasons, the guides, the boats, so you can book a trip and find what you are actually looking for. Nick lays out the year in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The late February and March pre-spawn brings aggressive fish and a lot of sightings, but a serious cold front can throw you for a loop and empty the flats. Permit are one of the first fish to come back after a front, while tarpon and bonefish sulk in cold water. That is the gamble of booking far in advance, you cannot know the weather four months out. Nick and I talk through how to weigh it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
A guide can be wonderful and still be wrong for your trip if they do not fish the way you want to fish. If you are one hundred percent fly, you need a poling-skiff specialist. If you just want to catch a permit any way, that is a different search. It all comes down to communication from both sides. Nick explains how to have that conversation in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is how Nick Labadie and I suggest planning a permit trip in the Keys. We walk through each piece in the audio.
I walk through each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above and follow along.
The single biggest thing you can do to set up a great permit trip is communicate. Tell the guide what you want and listen when they tell you what is realistic for the season and the conditions.
This is just part one. Next we get into the spinning tackle and techniques, and then fly fishing for permit, so the whole picture comes together across the series. Press play in the player above.
Captain Nick Labadie · Tailing Water Expeditions · Key West · Florida Keys · permit · poling skiff · The Angling Company · pre-spawn · flats fishing · fly fishing · live crab · tarpon · bonefish · 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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