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OUTDOORS COLUMN

Locating Permit Is Simple, But Landing Them Is Not

By FRANK SARGEANT

Published: May 6, 2007

Captain Van Hubbard of Englewood reports that the permit bite is on in his area, with 20- to 30-pound fish stacked over wrecks and artificial reefs within one to eight miles from the beaches. If they're on the cover at Englewood, it's a good bet they are on similar structure in the Bay area; the fish are thought to congregate in these areas to spawn from April to June.

Permit usually are thought of as fish of the flats, and throughout the tropics and in the Florida Keys that's where they're seen most often. But about 25 years ago a few west coast captains discovered the spawning aggregations on the offshore reefs, and the fishery has been highly productive since.

Permit, like the very similar but smaller pompano, are members of the jack family and are powerful fighters. Landing a 20-pounder in deep water, even on 30-pound tackle, can take close to an hour for all but the most skilled anglers.

Finding the fish is usually pretty straightforward. You go to the nearest artificial reef shortly after daylight and keep your eyes open as you approach. If the fish are there, you might see several dozen curved black tails slicing the surface; they sometimes prowl right on top early in the day. It's also possible to actually see the chrome-like flash of the fish as the sun gets higher. The fish look to be a light tan from above, but if you get a side view with sun on them, you won't miss the silver reflection.

They seem to be most common around structure found in 20-foot depths or greater. Though individual fish occasionally are caught on reefs and wrecks inside Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, the big schools are nearly always well off the beach.

Hubbard advises using electric trolling motors to approach the schools, just as in chasing tarpon. Motoring right up on top of them occasionally works at first light, but it's much more effective to take a stealth approach.

Permit rarely eat other fish; their diet is almost entirely crabs and occasionally shrimp. However, you'll usually catch a dozen on crabs before you catch one on shrimp.

Just about any sort of crab can draw a bite. The little brown pass crabs, found in the weedlines coming out of the big bays at this time of year, are favorites for the larger fish. They also readily grab small blue crabs, even little fiddlers, and occasionally take crab imitations such as the soft plastics from DOA or, for fly-rodders, flies such as the McCrab.

Best tactic, Hubbard says, is to cast the crab slightly uptide of visible fish and let it drift past them. For fish at the surface, no weight is needed.

Permit can be very suspicious, particularly after they've been fished for a few weeks. They sometimes turn their noses up at imitations, and often won't eat a dead crab when they'll readily gulp down a live one.

Most anglers use short-shank live bait hooks, with size based on the size of the crab. A fiddler might do best on a 1/0, a blue on a 3/0.

Once the fish is hooked, it's a matter of getting it away from the structure quickly; otherwise, it's likely to dive deep and cut the line. No-stretch microfiber line such as Stren Super Braid or PowerPro in 30-pound test does a good job.

Most anglers release permit because they're relatively rare and are great gamefish. However, they are fairly good eating and it's legal to keep one per day 20 inches to the fork or more. The boat limit is two per day. The artificial reefs off Anna Maria Island are a good spot.

For more on fishing with Hubbard, e-mail info@captvan.com.

COCKROACH BAY NEWS: Chuck Coleman of the Hillsborough County Department of Marine Safety reports that new markers will be placed on the Cockroach Bay channel south of Ruskin this summer. Coleman says the six new markers will extend the visible channel westward another 2,500 feet, taking it well beyond the grass flats and hopefully encouraging boaters to come in via the cut rather than slicing across the shallows to get to the boat ramp. Coleman also told me that my comment on the nasty-looking markers inside Cockroach no longer apply; those markers were removed several months back.

The Agency for Bay Management will hold a public meeting Thursday to review further boating restrictions in Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve. One proposal is a plan to make large portions of the waters inside the barrier islands pole and troll zones where no outboard motor operation would be allowed. Anglers who wish to comment on the proposals can attend the meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 4000 Gateway Centre Blvd., Building 100, Pinellas Park. For information call (727) 570-5151 or visit www.tbrpc.org/abm.