WR: In terms of trends, movements, even paradigm shifts within the food / restaurant industry – what are you guys seeing specific to the idea of sustainable seafood?

LB: We’ve noticed that the specific species that are proclaimed as overfished or “safe” change gradually over a few years as the stocks fluctuate, which makes the subject murky and difficult to track for the average seafood consumer. Increasingly, though, the restaurant chefs have stepped in and become the conduits for that information, which is a huge help to everyone. Chefs, by the way, are also the people driving the search for local species that are tasty and rare in the marketplace, but abundant in the oceans. Chefs want their food to stand out–and diners are becoming more adventuresome–so an exotic local fish with a clean bill of health is tastier than an endangered bluefin any day.

WR: Have you noticed any impact of the BP oil disaster in the gulf when it comes to buying and cooking seafood?

LB: We’re still seeing some Gulf fish and shellfish coming into markets in the Lowcountry–because it’s a long coastline, and not every fisherman has (yet) been touched by this. But we’re not sure for how much longer that’ll be the case. And for some of our friends, like Susan Spicer, chef of the New Orleans restaurants Bayona and Mondo, who just filed a class-action against BP on behalf of the region’s chefs, the restrictions on commercial fishing that are in place are already keeping them from doing their jobs.

WR: Why do Southerners make such good cooks? Or is that totally myth?

LB: Southerners are great cooks because they tend to be better informed about their culinary heritage, and at the same time they wield what we call a “spirited resourcefulness” in the kitchen–a gift for improvisation that celebrates (rather than apologizes for) the genius of using what you have on hand creatively and avoiding a third trip to the grocery store. It’s hard to put a finger on, but it’s basically a MacGyver frame of mind that crosses over from the world of the great outdoors, into the kitchen, into the homemade hooch shed and back into the kitchen again. We cook to have fun and to pull off great heists.

WR: When you’re not cooking it yourselves, where do you guys like to eat seafood? Care to share any of your favorite haunts?

LB: We prefer to eat seafood as close to the docks as possible, and we favor places that proclaim the source of their stuff, and serve it in season: The Wreck in Mt. Pleasant, SC, The Shrimp Shack on St. Helena Isl., SC, Nick’s Fish House in Baltimore, Five Islands Lobster in Georgetown, Maine.

WR: Do you guys ever cook what you catch?

LB: Of course, last season we nabbed striped bass, blue crab, shrimp and oysters–although we rarely cook the latter!

WR: What are you guys digging outside of the kitchen these days?

LB: Ted’s into esoteric cheap sneaks from the 1980s; Matt’s been collecting 19th century photos of the southern outdoors. Matt’s settling into his new role as dad–and Ted as uncle–to Arthur, born in September, just before the book launch and our book tour.

WR: Thanks fellas.

LB: Rave on!

Check out www.simplefreshsouthern.com for technique videos, bonus recipes, and a schedule of where you can catch the Lee Bros. in person.

And if you’re angling for some earth shattering mouth candy, poke here:
boiledpeanuts.com

We all landed in Belize City in the rain within a few hours of each other. The film crew, photographer and Costa folks shared a sense of accomplishment having all arrived safely after the months of planning that went into this trip. Our goal was to track down some fly fishing guides we’d read about who chase Permit, widely regarded as the most difficult fish to catch on a fly rod.

These guides are leading the fight to protect Belize’s fish rich waters from the development boom that’s trickling down the coast. They’ve done well of late, getting catch and release protection for Tarpon, Bonefish and Permit, but there is much work to be done. We’re particularly interested in the Permit because in Florida, our own backyard, we’ve got zero protection for them; more on that later. We’d find the first guide on our list, Lincoln Westby in a place called Hopkins.

PART ONE, HOPKINS

We drove more than four long hours on bad roads in the rain through the forests of Belize to get to Hopkins. The spouse of one of our crew had sent some mix CDs along, the theme from Star Wars (oddly appropriate with the lightning storm on the horizon) blared as we crossed narrow bridges and took detours caused by the enormous amounts of rain that had been falling for the past couple of weeks. A beautiful, exhausting drive finally came to leg-stretching end when we pulled up to a bar called King Kasava in Hopkins. Lincoln was waiting for us, a Belikin beer in his crushingly strong hands.

Soon the Belikins were in our hands too and we ate like kings; Garifuna Shrimp, Fried Snapper, Beans and Rice or Rice and Beans (they’re different you know) and the list goes on. We’d happily be returning to this scene nightly in the coming days. Before the night was out we met a young rasta-inspired guy named “B.B.” He hung out with us and kept us laughing while we were in Hopkins. I asked him a few days later while we watched “the coconut man” walk a tightrope in Placencia what B.B. stood for? “Nuthin bro, it’s French for baby.” So “B.B.” became “Bebe” in my notes from there on out.  Travelling makes you tired, and we certainly were, I’d come from Brooklyn, others from Texas, Oklahoma, Atlanta and Florida. We made our way to the guesthouse and set the alarm for 5AM.

View the Belize photo galleries

Beep, beep, beep… that was quick. The rain was so heavy that I had a look outside and decided to get back in bed, realizing we were in no hurry to head out. I lay there and wondered how we would shoot a film and photography about fly fishing if the weather had other plans. It had been raining for two weeks after all. But thankfully, by noon, the skies turned blue and save a stray downpour or two it was bright and sunny for the rest of our trip.

Lincoln Westby’s Blue Horizon Lodge is on an island about 7 miles from the coast in the middle of some of the greatest Permit flats in the world. His lodge is built on an island that was literally built by Lincoln and his wife with their own hands. They carried load after load of crushed shells, sawdust, tires, and sand in their little boats to the mangrove until it was finally actually an island. Today they sleep six anglers and their small staff in peaceful, secluded Permit heaven.

Lincoln is a sage, a wealth of passion and knowledge that spills out of his giant personality no matter the subject. He’s got a booming voice that you can’t ignore and wisdom and opinions that you shouldn’t. We followed Lincoln around for the next few days with cameras, microphones and notepads, covering every subject from fishing, to history, to conservation, to earthquakes, to things that disappeared forever into the fog of late night beerdom. We were all touched by Lincoln’s passion for what he does. And if the fishery is going to be protected it will be because of guides and passionate people like Lincoln that make it their business to do whatever they can to help.

The night before we left we were treated to a performance of traditional Garifuna music by a group of locals. It’s one of those incredible things you experience that you don’t plan on being exposed to when you travel, but never forget. As the drums played to silence in the distance, we packed up to leave. The next morning we headed back to Belize City and caught a boat to San Pedro in Ambergris Caye. Our only stop between the two destinations was the Hattieville Prison Gift Shop. It’s said that prisoners escape after dark, go out drinking all night and then sneak back in before sunrise. By the looks of the prison, that is entirely possible. At least one in the crew bought a hand carved Permit, from among the many impressive pieces of prisoner art. It was the only Permit the crew caught on the entire trip.

PART TWO, SAN PEDRO

After an hour and a half the engines wound down and we drifted into a pier in the middle of this bustling resort town. We’d heard several times that 20 years ago, San Pedro was like Hopkins is today. That is, a small fishing town with virtually no tourism business. Today however, take fifty steps in any direction when you exit the boat and you could buy a cocktail, a t-shirt or a hamburger. It’s hard to imagine that Hopkins will transform to such a large degree. But with a new international airport going in down south near Hopkins, it most certainly will.

We met up with an ex-pat named Mike who owns the hotel where we all stayed in San Pedro. We loaded all the gear onto his boat and headed further down the island to the hotel. As the boat idled to a stop it was suddenly obvious that it was mosquito season. These were big, healthy and impressive mosquitoes. So big in fact our photographer, Chris Ross could only watch as his assistant was carried away by one and never seen again. We settled in for what would be a very different experience than the one we’d had in sleepy Hopkins.

View the Belize photo galleries

Abbie Marin, his father and his brothers are all fly fishing guides. And like San Pedro, they have a lot of energy. The pace of the fishing in San Pedro mirrored that of its people. A thought that when considered was true of the Hopkins fishing too. In Hopkins it was slow, quiet and calculated. In San Pedro it was intense, pressured and youthful. We had the treat of watching Abbie fish with his brother Roger. They’ve no doubt spent countless hours on the water together and know what one another is going to do before it’s happens. A constant flow of conversation in English and Spanish drifts over the water with the skiff. How’d they do? Watch the film and you’ll see Abbie swing for the fence with the bases loaded. Wink, wink.

Abbie, like Lincoln, is doing all he can to help protect the waters of Belize. Yet in San Pedro the development has arrived and is booming. Hopefully, people that travel to Belize, especially those who travel to fish will take the time to find the guides and lodges that are woring hard towards helping Belize to develop and grow the right ways. Development for a country like Belize is a great thing and is much needed, but as is often the case, things develop and change at so fast a speed that traditions often get bulldozed with the trees and washed away with the dredged beaches. Travel and fish responsibly and encourage others to do the same, and with that I’ll step down from the soapbox.

By the way, I hooked a Permit in Hopkins, the first one I ever casted to in fact. Notice I said “hooked” one and not “caught” one. The whole, sad thing is on video that’s painful for me to watch. But I watch it nonetheless. It’s like roadkill. I hope I get another shot at such heartbreak again sometime. And I hope that if you travel to Belize you’ll support people like Abbie and Lincoln so that they can continue to fight the good fight. Cheers,

Brian Jordan
Contributing Writer

The permit brings about an issue central to conservation as it pertains to angling; “sustainable fishing.” It’s an idea that every angler that truly cares about fishing and fish should know about and support. It’s simple, if waters are properly protected the native fish and the fishery overall will be healthy and vibrant. And that means generations of people can depend on the fishery for food, for income from commercial fishing or guiding or simply for the many thrills of recreational fishing. But if the waters are unregulated and unprotected the fishery will suffer. We’ve seen it first hand many times in different parts of the world and our own backyard.

Last fall, as mentioned in the previous post we travelled to Belize with award-winning documentary filmmaker Bradley Beesley to see first hand what’s going on with the fishery there, specifically permit. (You can see the film here.) We got to know some passionate fly guides who chase them and are doing everything they can to protect the fishery that has always been so important to Belize. They’re in a bit of a Catch 22; they’ve got great fishing, which means more tourists, which means more development which then threatens the fishery.

In Belize, permit, tarpon and bonefish are now catch and release only. But it wasn’t always this way (watch a couple of locals talk about the ‘good’ ole days).

Protecting a species allows the fish to reproduce and to be caught and released again by the next sportfishing gringo. And such folks usually spend a fair amount of cash on a fishing trip.  But that same fish caught and killed might fetch just a few bucks at a market, and only once. Healthy fishery = prolonged benefit for everyone.

In Florida, we are teaming up with the Bonefish Tarpon Trust to initiate the first ever permit tagging program in the area. (Read more about that here.) At the very least the tagging program should help determine how many permit there are in the Keys. And if the numbers are sparse, there will be support for protecting these awesome fish. Contact the BTT if you’d like the chance to help tag permit but remember you have to catch one to tag one. Good luck with that.

Permit are often referred to as one of the most elusive game fish that swims, captivating salt water flats anglers for years in their quest to catch them. And yet, little is known about them. What are their spawning and migration patterns? How healthy is the fish population? What regulations are needed to ensure adequate stock for future generations? Why do they piss me off so much when they won’t eat my obviously well placed fly? How can someone go 13 years without catching one and still get excited to go try again?

The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust is concerned that the lack of a stock assessment on permit, significant shortcomings in fisheries data, and a general lack of information on permit biology leaves permit extremely vulnerable to overfishing in Florida, the only place we can catch them in the states. Costa is teaming with the BTT to help understand these fish better through a four-year tagging study. We caught up with Aaron Adams, Executive Director of the BTT, about the fish, the tagging program and what he thinks it will provide in the way of insight.

WR: It seems like permit are just as mysterious and elusive when it comes to research as they are in regards to catching them on a fly. Your thoughts?  
AA: Without a doubt. Just when we think we know about their biology, they show us that we don’t. But on the other hand, we know so little about permit that everything we learn about their biology is new. So that is rewarding. And don’t get me started on the challenge of catching them on a fly, I’ll start to twitch uncontrollably.

WR: Why study permit now?
AA: Here we are in 2010, and there has never been a stock assessment of permit. We don’t have a reasonable idea of how many permit are harvested each year – whether for recreation or commercial purposes. Other than a complete crash in the population, we really have no idea of how the permit population is doing. Can you imagine hearing that about trout fisheries management like that in a place like Montana? We want to have the data on the fishery *before* there are problems so that it can be properly managed. For far too many fisheries, there has been no data available until the fishery collapses, and then the challenge is to fix it, which often doesn’t work.

WR: Some folks claim there’s no need to protect these fish, what do you think about that?
AA: I think that the overall failure of humans to effectively manage fish of any sort is very strong evidence that permit do need protection. Left to self regulation by fishermen (recreational or commercial), I can’t think of a fishery that wouldn’t be in trouble. I think there are a couple issues here. First, the common statement that there are no signs of trouble so why manage the fishery. It’s like health care – proactive treatment is far more cost effective and better for the patient than emergency room care after the fact. Same thing for fisheries – if you wait until a problem is obvious, it is already too late. Second, we suffer from a general lack of historical knowledge. Other than those who have fished Florida’s waters for 50 years or more, current anglers really don’t have much of a historical perspective of permit populations for comparison to today. That’s not to say that anglers’ observations aren’t useful, they are, but we have to realize the limitations.

WR: We’ve talked to people who find them really good to eat, ever tried one?
AA: Yes, I have. When I lived in the Virgin Islands (which has some very good permit fishing, if you know the spots), permit were occasionally kept for food. They are tasty, though not nearly as tasty as pompano. But I was able to do some guided wading trips, and make $300 in a day, for catch and release permit fishing. With that kind of income, permit as table fare didn’t make much sense.

WR: What’s threatening permit currently?
AA: There are a number of potential threats, but without data on the fishery it is hard to know what should concern us most. And that is the real motivation behind this project – to get the first real data on permit in Florida so that we can, for the first time, make an assessment of the status of the permit fishery, and so we are able to monitor the fishery over time to ensure its long term health. This will be the first real data on the Florida permit population, so will establish the baseline. But there are concerns in a few areas. First, much of the recreational harvest of permit occurs over artificial reefs during late spring and summer. Based on research done about eight years ago, this is the spawning season and the reefs are spawning locations for permit. So we are concerned that harvesting too many spawning fish may have negative impacts on the permit population. Other species that have had their spawning aggregations targeted for harvest, such as Nassau grouper, have suffered precipitous population collapses. A second concern is that the commercial harvest is really unknown, and recent regulations changes may actually increase the commercial harvest of permit. For some it is difficult to identify permit vs pompano, so to a great extent they are regulated as a single fishery. But this makes identification of commercial landings difficult, and we are concerned about this harvest. This is especially a concern because the  commercial harvest is mostly juvenile permit, which haven’t even had a chance to spawn yet. And a third concern is about juvenile habitat. Juvenile permit require sandy beaches as nursery habitat, and these areas suffer from activities like beach renourishment, jetty construction, and pollution.

WR: Tell us about the vote coming in April from the Florida Wildlife Commission.
AA: The FWC commissioners have already decided to accept recommendations of their staff regarding permit regulations. The vote in April will be the formal acceptance of the new regulations. Our concern is that the new regulations don’t address concerns about the permit fishery, and are in no way a precautionary approach to management. You can find out more details on our web site:
http://www.tarbone.org/conservation-initiatives/make-permit-catch-a-release-in-florida.html

WR: Describe how the tagging program works? What do you hope to learn through the program?
AA: The tagging program will depend on the support and efforts of guides and anglers to get tags in fish and to report recaptures. The most important information from the tag and recapture of permit will be estimates of movements of the fish. Right now, we have no idea where the permit that show up on the artificial reefs in summer come from. Do permit in the Keys stay in the Keys or do they migrate up to Tampa or Stuart? Is the permit population in Florida one big group, or are there different sub-populations in different areas of the state? Tag and recapture data will also provide a look at the fishery, things like catch rate. And if we get enough fish tagged and recaptured we may be able to get an estimate on population size. By measuring permit when they are tagged and recaptured, we can estimate growth rate by comparing lengths at those two times and combining with the time between tag and recapture. And with information we have on growth rates so far, we can use the lengths of captured fish to determine the age structure of the population. All of these factors are important in conducting a stock assessment of permit.

WR: Once the tagging starts, how long before we have enough data to know how permit live within Florida’s waters?
AA: This is currently designed as a five-year program because it will take that long to develop a meaningful database. The key will be to get as many tags as we can out quickly, and then to build on that number with strong, consistent effort. I expect we will start to get meaningful data in about a year and a half or so.

WR: We took a trip to Belize over the fall to catch permit with two local guides from Hopkins and San Pedro. They are ardent permit supporters. In fact, the Belizean government has passed legislation to protect tarpon, bonefish and permit. It makes huge economic sense for the local economy. Can Florida learn anything from that?  
AA: Recreational fisheries have a large and increasing economic impact. This is just now being realized by management agencies, and they are just beginning to adjust their management strategies to reflect this. If the fisheries can be made sustainable through good management and conservation, the economic benefit is a value in perpetuity. One of the things we have to do to ensure this is to conserve and protect habitats. The second thing we have to do is to make sure we don’t over-harvest the stocks. In Belize, they saw the economic value of fishing-related tourism, and decided that the best way to sustain this significant portion of their economy was to protect the three most important species – bonefish, tarpon, and permit – by making them catch and release.  Tarpon are virtually catch and release in Florida already, by virtue of the trophy tag. Bonefish are a gamefish (no commercial sale), but there are indications that some harvest does occur. Given the value of bonefish to the Florida economy, any allowable harvest seems a bit silly. Permit, unfortunately, can be harvested commercially, and recreational harvest is a big unknown, so not as high a value has been placed on permit. So Florida is on the right path.  The big issue, however, is that whether a species is given catch and release status or just made a gamefish, fisheries management agencies really need to shift gears and think about fisheries in a different way so that the economic value of the fisheries are maximized while ensuring a healthy fishery and quality experience.

WR: For a fish that’s so hard to catch on fly, what makes them vulnerable off the flats?
AA: They gather in large groups to spawn (spawning aggregations) on artificial reefs and reef promontories in late spring and summer (in Florida, in Cuba and Belize the spawning season is longer). During these times they are not the wary fish of the flats, so are relatively easy to catch. And there can be thousands at a time that are easily accessible.

WR: How important is a healthy fishery to the economies of the gulf coast and Florida?
AA: Extremely important. Some examples – the seasonal recreational fishery for tarpon from Virginia to Texas is worth more than $6 billion per ear. Over its lifetime, a bonefish in the Keys is estimated to be worth $75,000. A recent study of the economic value of recreational fisheries in the Everglades put the annual value at more than $991 million. In Florida, the recreational fishery is worth more than the citrus industry.

WR: What’s the craziest story about this fish you’ve ever heard?
AA: In the 1990s I lived on St. Croix, USVI, and worked for the local fisheries department. One day we were using SCUBA to do fish counts on a reef. There were two of us in the water and one guy topside on the boat. While we were counting fish, our topside help (Hector) was passing the time by using old bread to chum for ballyhoo, which he then caught with a small hook on a 10 pound test handline. This would be bait for the next offshore trip. All of a sudden Hector saw a big wake crisscrossing the chum slick. He put a big chunk of bread on the larger hook on a heavy handline, and threw it into the slick. The fish took the bread, and 10 minutes later a 25 pound permit was boatside. When I was coming up the anchor rope at the end of the dive, I saw this permit swimming around in circles near the stern – since the handline was 80 pound test, Hector had just wrapped it around a cleat and left the permit in the water until we were ready to head back to the marina. I have not heard about anyone else catching a permit on bread.

WR: How can people participate and help with the tagging program?
AA: Contact us at bonefish@mote.org or call 239-283-1622. Be warned – you must be committed to actually doing the tagging, we can’t afford to have unused tagging kits floating around in the bait well. And this program is for any angler who fishes for permit, whether fly or spin, lure or bait, flats or offshore. If you catch permit and want to contribute to this effort to obtain data on permit, please help us out.

WR: Is there anything else on the issue you’d like to share?
AA: Time has past when anglers could go fishing, go home, and forget about it until the next trip. If anglers want to be sure that our fisheries are around for future years and future generations, it’s essential that they become involved in conservation and conservation-oriented research is essential. Be part of the solution, and no whining later.

WR: Thanks Aaron.
AA: Not a problem. Maybe I’ll see you on the flats.

by Chico Fernandez.

It’s often said that the weather never gets too hot for permit on the flats. Even in the high heat of summer, when most bonefishing is done early and late in the day, permit are seen tailing during the middle of the day, in weather that is too hot for many fly fishers—particularly if you come from up north and are not used to 90-plus temperatures and high humidity.

But it can easily be too cold for permit. So during winter and spring in South Florida and the Florida Keys, when air temperatures drop into the 50s and below, you may have to wait a while before permit fishing gets consistent enough for you to hop on a plane with a handful of permit crab flies and make the trip south. But you still may have a burning desire to make this your year for a permit excursion. Well, how soon you can fish for them depends on how harsh a winter we’ve had in South Florida.

You see, even during a cold winter (like this year), if we get a few days of hot weather the permit will come from the reefs, in hours it seems, and feed all over the flats. Fishing can be good, even spectacular.

But the problem is that you never know till the last minute when these situations will occur. Most of the permit fishing in December, January and February is a last-minute thing that mostly the locals can take advantage of…and we do. But for you to book a trip months in advance in such unpredictable weather conditions is a gamble I would not advise, if permit is your only fly-fishing target. Best to wait till it warms up some, and then take the chance. And to some degree permit fishing is always a chance, isn’t it?

The good news: short of during a few windows of warm weather in the winter, the permit have not been fished much, so you may want to be here when they come on the flats for good…when they haven’t been pressured. I would say this is probably by March, that in most years you can count on enough warm days to bring the water temperature above, say, 70 degrees or so. Mind you, I’ve seen times when March was impossible; but, year in and year out, I’d take a chance on March, particularly in the Miami area.

Prime Locations
For permit in South Florida, you have the Biscayne Bay area and adjacent keys close to Miami, and the Florida Keys, from the Upper Keys to Key West. This is an area more than 150 miles long and many miles wide. There is lots of room to hunt the shallows and many permit opportunities. Believe me, you want to come.

By the way, the weather-related fish-kill this year in South Florida did not affect permit, because they could reach the warmer waters of the reefs in a couple of hours; but it did affect and kill thousands of snook and other inshore species.

One of the best guides in the Miami and Biscayne Bay area, in my book, is Capt. Bob Branham (954-370-1999). In the last 30 years I know of many big bones and large permit taken from his skiff. He has a wealth of knowledge on permit in Biscayne Bay. I asked Bob about early predictions for the fish.

“No doubt that after cold weather, it takes the permit longer than the bonefish to come up on the flats. I like to see (water temperatures of) 70, even 72 degrees before I feel we have a good chance at permit. And even when they first come on the flats, they may not bite as well for a while. And any quick cold snap makes them go back to the reef. Probably by March you are OK to come, but remember weather is weather and I’ve seen years when April was too cold.

“As far as conditions, give me a new moon or full moon with strong tide movement. Permit seem to take a fly better in strong current. By the way, the Biscayne Bay area usually warms up a little sooner than the Keys, and that is something to keep in mind.”

The other area that is so productive and famous for permit, of course, is the Florida Keys. A friend and guide who has fished the Keys for close to 30 years is Capt. Tim Klein (305-852-1512). Tim and his clients have won many Keys flats tournaments throughout the years.

“For me, March is still too cold in our area to take a chance (coming down here) when you live up north. Better to wait till April or May. And when you book, have the captain pick strong tides, and hope for a windy day so you can approach permit close enough for a cast, and have bright light to see them. If it’s flat calm, permit will sit with their dorsal fins out, instead of tailing and feeding on the bottom. And it’s almost impossible to make an approach then.

So if it gets flat calm, go fish for bonefish or tarpon until the wind picks up.
“But the best permit spot in the spring is probably north or south of Islamorada,” Tim says. “Somehow Islamorada itself is better for bones and tarpon at that time. The area of the Middle Keys and Lower Keys is great for permit, and of course Key West is well-known for permit. However, come fall, Islamorada can be very good.”

No doubt the ideal permit day is a windy one, blowing 12 to 15 mph and lots of sunshine, with few clouds to create glare. Flat calm? You often can’t get within 100 feet before these wary fish spook. Overcast? You can’t see them coming at you until it’s too late. However, find them tailing and you’ve got a chance.

Every guide with whom I spoke for this column agreed that May and June, during the middle of the big-tarpon season when most fly fishers only have big poons on their minds, is a great time to fish for permit on the flats.
As far as my favorite time in South Florida for permit, I think I’d take autumn, when most anglers have gone back north and it’s just us locals on the flats. Now, if you want to fish abroad, I’ve had great luck out of Belize, in the Turneffe area and out of Ambergris Cay. I’ve also taken many permit in the Yucatan, especially the Ascension Bay area.

Permit Flies and Tackle
Overall, the best flies for permit are weighted flies that hit the water and dive down, like a crab or shrimp trying to escape by reaching the safety of the bottom and burying themselves. For the past 15 years or so, we’ve been using mostly crab patterns for permit, and they are great, no doubt. But many anglers today are doing well with weighted shrimp patterns. Captain Branham is a shrimp-pattern fan, while I think Captain Klein is more of a crab-pattern man. I too am more of a crab fan, but in the last year or so I’ve also used weighted shrimp patterns with good results.

As far as specific patterns, there are so many, mostly small variations of the same theme, that the list would be endless. Still, the classic Merkin (Del’s Permit Crab) is a great fly, as are a variety of epoxy-head shrimp patterns; and I’ve taken a few permit with weighted Spawing Shrimp patterns. A collection of green or tan crabs and brown or tan shrimp makes a good starter kit. Know that each guide you fish with will have flies that are well-proven in his area. And local fly shops in Miami and the Keys also have the flies you need for the area.

Because permit flies are usually bigger and heavier than bonefish flies, we need a heavier fly line to cast and turn them over in the windy conditions that permit fishing requires. I’ve found that a 10-weight is a good all-around permit rod for South Florida. From time to time, I see an angler using a 10-weight rod with an 11-weight fly line to make casting easier, but I don’t like the heavy feel of that outfit.

As a matter of fact, if the fly is not too big, say a size 1 or a 2, I’ll even fish them with my 9-weight. And for smaller permit in the Yucatan area of Mexico, where I cast a small size 4 bonefish-crab fly, I’ve even taken permit with 6-weight rods; but that’s another story.

I change my leader length with wind conditions. If it’s too windy for me to cast easily, I may use a leader as short as 9 feet. On a mild 10 mph or so day, or for tailing permit (which tend to be spooky), I’ll probably use a 12-foot leader.

In South Florida, I always use 12-pound-test tippet, between two and three feet long. This is strong enough to land any permit, and still thin enough to allow a weighted pattern to drop with good speed. And I always tie on a permit pattern with a loop knot to allow the fly to drop fast; a clinch-type knot slows down the sink rate.

Feeding the Fish
Most of what a permit eats—crabs and small shrimp—moves very slow, often just laying on the bottom. So retrieves are slow. The classic method is to cast a crab pattern close enough so the fish sees it, and to watch for a reaction as the crab dives to the bottom. Often the fish rushes the fly and takes it on the drop.

If your cast is not close enough, the permit may not notice your fly. In this case, just strip it slowly until you see, by body language, that the fish has detected the fly; then stop stripping and let it fall.

Often a permit will swim to a crab fly that is just laying on the bottom, look at it for a while (what seems like an eternity to a fly fisherman) and pick it up. It’s great when that happens! Other times, you may want to retrieve the crab very slowly and see if the permit follows and takes it.

Captain Branham offers some good advice on crab-pattern retrieves: “If you let the crab drop, or leave it on the bottom to get a strike, many good crab imitations will work. But if you are going to try and retrieve the crab, even at mid/slow speed, make sure your crab pattern does not spin when being moved. Most patterns with legs and claws on one side will spin. And if they spin, chances are you will not get a strike.”

I concur with Bob on this one—many patterns are beautiful and extremely realistic but they don’t “swim” well. A Merkin, with rubber legs on both sides and a feather tail, swims pretty well, for a crab fly.
If you have weighted shrimp patterns, which are usually long and more streamer-like, you may try the cast-and-sink method; but you can also let the fly sink to the bottom or close to the bottom and then retrieve it slowly. I’ve taken lots of permit this way.

Despite the fly-fishing advances that have occurred since I first targeted permit in the 1950s, fishing for them can be hard. I don’t think of it as a hobby; but more as a passion. For some even an obsession. If you want to join the club, do yourself a favor and practice your casting with a 10-weight rod, a 10-foot leader and a crab fly with the hook cut off. Practice, practice, practice.

Excerpted from Fly Rod and Reel Magazine:

http://www.flyrodreel.com/magazine/2010/permit-pursuits?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter