Key West Permit Fishing

Permit are pound for pound one of the strongest fish in the world. Their primary diets consist of mainly crabs but are known to eat shrimp and other small fish. Locally permit are found in the backcountry on the flats, over hard bottom, on the wrecks, and patrolling the reefs looking for their next meal. Permit make long drag screaming runs of 200 yards of line on their first run. They have the ability to use their wide bodies late in the battle and keep their head down. This makes them one of our best sport fish available Key West.

Permit range from 12 to pounds, frequently exceeding that, with larger fish in the 40-pound range not uncommon. On lower tide phases, permit are frequently occur on the deeper edges of bay and ocean side flats and banks and are often found feeding on top of these areas on higher tide phases, sometimes tailing. Also found in varying depths of deeper water on reefs, coral heads, sea fans, rocks, wrecks and occasionally “floating” on the surface in huge schools.

As with tarpon and bonefish, permit range from Biscayne Bay to Key West, the Marquesas and Florida Bay. They can also be found up the east and west coats of Florida, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Central America; to mention just a few of the places that Permit are found.