Key West Tarpon Season, 2009

Tarpon Season in Key West has always been a Three Ring Circus with the main acts being the fish, the anglers, and the guides. Put them all together for almost four months a year and it was an insanely entertaining and undisciplined time to be on the island. I was in the thick of this for ten years, fishing and guiding from 1995 to 2005, until I finally felt that the insane were overrun by the undisciplined.

When I left Key West for the unspoiled flats of Vieques I swore I’d never look back. Of course, looking back was the very first thing I did, and still do it every day down here. I constantly talk about Key West and compare it to Vieques on almost every single charter that I run. I’ve also been fortunate enough to get back to my old home island in the Keys a couple times each year and catch up with my buddies like Irish Kevin and Capt. Mike Bartlett.

So right now I’m in a position to be in Key West with my new flats boat by early May of this year, which is also the height of tarpon season. As of right now I’m open for guiding on the tarpon flats of Key West for at least five of the best weeks this coming Spring. The annual migration of these fish lasts until early July and most resident guides will be booked up well in advance for this. Since I’ll be booking these trips myself the rates will be $350 for a half day and $475 for a full day.

If anyone is interested in fishing Key West for the coming tarpon season please feel free to either call me at (787)435-4833 or shoot me an e-mail at gmckee1@hotmail.com.