Permit on Fly and Light Tackle

By: Geoff Colmes

A wary tough fighting fish, that is always unpredictable. Permit are considered by many guides and anglers as the definitive saltwater species on fly or spin, rounding out the “Keys grand slam." The Keys slam consists of bonefish, tarpon and permit.

Permit range from 12 to pounds, frequently exceeding that, with large "specimens" in the 40-pound range not uncommon. On lower tide phases, permit are frequently occur on the deeper edges of bay and oceanside 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 (in our region) 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.