Permit Fishing in the Florida Keys
Unbelievable is an understatement; this is the largest permit I’ve ever laid my eyes on. At 6 a.m yesterday morning, we set out from Cudjoe Key, FL, with hopes of catching some permit. After traveling nearly 45 miles offshore to a wreck, we initially landed a couple of nice cobia and snapper, but no permit. Around 9:45, we hooked a sizable fish on a free line with a fiddler crab on a 1/4 oz jig head. Matt battled this fish for nearly an hour in the @deckgear fighting chair, while I maneuvered the boat to keep up. As the fish neared the surface, we were shocked by its size—none of us had ever seen a permit this large before. Just as it reached 15 feet of water, I spotted a large bull shark closing in on him and hollered at Matt to bring the fish up quickly. To our amazement, it was the biggest permit we had ever seen, measuring 39 1/2 inches and weighing nearly 31 pounds. Truly incredible, these are the days we dream of.