When the water cools, Florida Bay fills with Spanish mackerel and the catching gets silly. It is the winter version of a guaranteed good day.
Winter pushes huge schools of Spanish mackerel into Florida Bay, and when the boat gets on them the action is nonstop: drag-screaming runs, cut-offs, doubles, and the kind of pace that keeps kids and competitive adults equally locked in.
They eat almost anything bright moving fast, which makes it a perfect light-tackle day and a great casting classroom. And Brian holds a card most anglers do not know exists: the man in the photo on this page is holding one.
Winter mackerel stack neatly with the backcountry's other cool-season patterns, so a full day can run bay mackerel in the morning and work the creeks in the afternoon.
The cooler months. Once winter sets in, Florida Bay loads up and stays productive until the water warms.
They are rockets. On light spinning gear they punch far above their weight, and the volume of bites keeps everyone in the game.
Fresh Spanish mackerel, eaten the same day, is far better than its reputation: grilled, smoked, or blackened.
Captain Key Largo and The Poppa Wahoo Collective are the same family, an island apart. Brian runs the flats and the backcountry out of Key Largo. The offshore fleet, two Hatteras sportfishers, works out of Islamorada 20 minutes south.