No-fail permit bait for the wrecks.

Kings from the Gulf of Mexico stock get bigger than those from the Atlantic stock, and both stocks inhabit Keys waters from the winter through May. Competitors in winter kingfish tournaments in the Keys and along the west coast run long distances to reach Gulf grounds around the Marquesas for the biggest fish. For recreational anglers, much closer productive grounds include Edmund Lowe Shoals and Smith Shoals (Nos. 49 and 2 on the FS chart for Key West), the many wrecks, and plenty of small shoals which aren’t even on charts. Blue runners are by far the favored baits when trolling, and when anchored, kings respond well to cut bait, baited jigs and live baits. Live pilchards took two kings for us in quick succession that morning, and two more made their presence known by cutting our lines, at which time we said thanks, and goodbye, to that wreck.

A school of permit looks like a coral head rising to the surface out of nowhere.

We scanned the waters for that sight at the Sturtevant Wreck, our next stop, and D’Antoni stood on the bow on the approach ready with a live crab to cast to them. We didn’t see them, maybe because the water was cloudy, so we anchored upcurrent from the wreck and D’Antoni clipped the anchor buoy to his line. “When you hook a permit at a wreck,” he said, “throw the buoy and get away from the wreck or risk losing the fish in the wreck.” If there’s enough current, it’s better to drift away than to start your motor, which can spook the school when you come back to them. You need to decide beforehand whether your position requires that you throw the buoy and if so, prepare to do it immediately on hooking a permit, because the fish will get to the haven of the wreck quickly.

Permit cruise around the wreck, but sometimes they hang down deep by it, so if you get marks on your fishfinder in the middle of the column, try varying weights, from splitshot to egg sinkers, to get your bait down. Permit have excellent eyes, and swivels put them off, so use as clean a presentation as possible. D’Antoni even likes to use a brown hook to match the brown crab.

He suspected that the permit were right below the surface, and he took the bow again and cast toward the wreck with his live crab weighted with a splitshot and let it freeline toward the wreck. His rod bucked, and he struck and hooked the fish. We dropped the buoy, and drifted for the 10-minute fight. After the permit’s fifth strong run, D’Antoni tailed it.

“Pound for pound, permit are tougher than cobia,” D’Antoni said. “In deep water, they run down and don’t stop. Keep the pressure on him and his head coming up, and if he runs, help him by lowering the rod and letting him go, but stay on him.”

In fact, we landed the three permit that we hooked when we threw the buoy and drifted away, and we lost two in the wreck when we held the anchor.

By then, it was nearly noon, and we headed for home. On our run, we came across a school of bonito feeding in open water, but didn’t want to try to corral them, so we let them go. We already felt as if we had all that we wanted from the day, and more.

Though it’s not impossible for out-of-town anglers to try it in their own boats, this Gulf trip is really the province of a handful of Lower Keys skippers, most of whom have been fishing there for many years. The trip takes planning, experience and commitment, and a willingness to cancel at the last minute if temperamental spring weather blows up on your chosen day. For both wrecks and towers, an early start, good numbers and charts are essential. You, or your captain, need to plan your route in advance, because once you’re out on those waters, it’s a long way between the wrecks. You don’t want to waste time, or gas, hunting for spots. It’s easy to cover a hundred miles in a day, and often you’ll go a hundred and fifty.

The relative inaccessibility of the Gulf wrecks makes the trip difficult, productive and worth every bit of effort.

FS