Key West Backcountry Showing Life

Looking in the basins that lie inside the Gulf of Mexico Flats, I've been finding a lot of bait fish.

Mullet and Pilchers being bombed repeatedly by big Grey Pelicans with some Sooty Terns picking up the scraps.

These are some of the Fall signs that will eventually bring in the Sea Trout, Pompano and even a few Bluefish.

But thats getting ahead of things by a month or so.

We will not see any of those guys for another month, we'll expect to see the Bonefish and Permit show up in greater number this month though.

I did a little sniffen around in a few of the eastern Gulf side basins and the inner Mangrove Islands that float inside the flats.

Just looking for the Baby Tarpon that are born up under the Mangroves and live there until they decide its time to move on with the bigger Tarpon.


They will travel in and out of the rivers and basins but spend much of their life a few miles out in the Gulf, coming in close for some munchies once in awhile.

We found a few here and there although we could not coax them out from under the shade of the mangrove roots.

I always wonder how many thousands of years these baby Tarpon have hatched and grown in these same little Mangrove nooks feeding on Finger Mullet, Pin Fish and crabs until graduation.

I wonder how many of the Babies that we jumped on little Mylar Flies in and around the Mangroves, 7-8 years latter fed a orange Tango fly, fought and landed him now weighing 120 lbs.

I like to think we'll see him again at 170 lbs.

Not sure the feeling is mutual!