This sizable fish fell for a live crab, likely the single most effective permit bait.

A 2/0 hook is the right size for permit large and small. I like to use bronze hooks with standard-length shanks with an offset hook point for a better hookup. Adding a small splitshot just above the hook will assist you in getting more distance in your cast. Hook the crab through its carapace on either of its pointy ends with enough of the hook point exposed for an effective hookup.

Presenting a live crab with a spinning outfit requires some accurate aiming skills. Rowland explains, “Cast the crab close to the fish or purposely cast beyond the fish and reel the crab high in the water and then slowly into the permit’s vision and let it drop. The crab should be a lively one. It should be moving around and kicking. The permit will find it on the bottom and blow it out or tail on it and suck it in. You will often know the fish has eaten when mud streams out of its gills.”

In the event that fish are closing fast, you must put the crab on the permit’s nose. You will spook some fish this way, but many times a permit will strike instinctively. For floaters, it’s best to cast beyond, then reel the crab into position. Once the permit has eaten, reel down on the fish until the line tightens and then strike with the rod. Keep the rodtip high throughout the fight. This will help keep the fish from chafing your line on the bottom or wrapping your line around a sea fan or some other bottom structure.

Fly fishermen use a similar strategy. Rowland suggests using Del Brown’s Merkin Crab in brown-and-tan, all tan or all gray. He also suggests having a variety; heavy flies for deep water and lighter flies for shallow water. His experience with clear lines has been a great success. He likes to use leaders as long as 15 feet on calm days and will shorten them to 9 feet when stiff winds prevail.

Rowland shared his opinion on casting: “Permit are looking for food in a small area in front of them. A fly should land no more than three feet in front of them where they can see it. A fly should fall quickly to the bottom and rest there. A stripped fly doesn’t look like a crab. You can twitch it just a bit or let it rest.

“When the fish tips up on the fly you may detect a tiny quiver in its tail that lets you know the fish ate the fly. Give the fly a long 3-foot strip and when you feel resistance strip-strike the fish.”

A simple stripping basket will prove its worth by keeping fly line from dragging behind you; otherwise, the friction between that line and the water will cut the potential distance of your cast.

Wading booties are always a good idea, though I usually go barefoot. Shorts or long pants that dry quickly will make things a little more comfortable when you get back to the boat. And of course a hat and polarized sunglasses are indispensable for sight-casting situations on the flats, whether afoot or afloat.

One word of warning: I’ve heard enough wading-for-permit-and-bonefish shark stories to tell you sharks are something to consider seriously. Though none of the storytellers I’ve heard from were ever bitten, they did have to push some aggressive sharks away with their rods and certainly felt compelled to quickly get back to the safety of their boat. There is one Key West captain I know who refuses to wade or allow his clients to do so. You can imagine the excitement and confusion a shark would experience with the cloudy water you’ve stirred up by your wading and the vibrations of a struggling fish that you are reeling in.

That day fishing with my friend Tony Wells, and on more than one occasion as I waded toward a tailing fish it seemed that the hunter became the hunted. The sudden eruption of water behind me and the tire-size swirls that marked the departure of a large underwater lifeform more than startled me. It scared me enough to question the wisdom of wading that deep and that late in the day. Though I never actually saw what created these big boils I certainly feared the worst.

Tony and I ended up catching four permit between us that afternoon. I hooked the first fish I waded to. Tony slipped over the side of the boat as soon as I was on and waded to another tailing fish and was hooked up just minutes after my fight started. We landed both fish within a minute of each other.

So the secret’s out of the boat—now it’s time for you to get out, too.

FS