# keys



## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

Headind down next week any hot spots to check on the way to Key West?


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## John Smith_inFL (Nov 22, 2009)

Sam, You ever been down the Keys before ? Hope you enjoy the very scenic Overseas Highway !!
If I were you, I would stop at EVERY BRIDGE !!! LOL all 42 of them, just to see what is there.
Definitely stop at the beginning of the 7 mile bridge just to look at what we used to put up with
before the new super highway.
If you have time, get off the main stream, visit the "out backs". The Keys are a very slow paced
way of life - why rush. Enjoy the trip !!! 
Take plenty of your favorite mosquito spray !!!! AND SUNBLOCK.








I will be going down in November for a couple of days.

oh, If you are talking about from your house to Miami sights - I have no idea !!
I would skip Disney and the attractions in Orlando and put my focus on the KEYS !!
lol I just love the KEYS !!!!! I lived in Key West for 6 years back in the "sixties".
So anything South of Miami is cool to me.
If you run across Jimmy Buffet, tell him that Barefoot Johnny says hey.


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## repair5343 (Jul 8, 2001)

If you lived in Key West in the 60 s how much do you remember LOL.


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## John Smith_inFL (Nov 22, 2009)

ohhhhhhh it is not how much I remember, LOL, it is how much I want to FORGET !!!
And I was active duty in the U.S. Navy at that time so I did not get caught up in the drugs
and the Hippie Movement of the "60s". (if that is what you are referring to)
4 cruise ships can be in Key West at any given time. Making driving and parking a nightmare.
"some" TOURISTS have very bad manners. Short tempered people should avoid the crowds and bars.
and my personal religious beliefs are against certain "alternative lifestyles" that abound in Key West
worse than Los Angles and New Orleans, to mention a couple.

When I go to the Keys, about once or twice a year sometimes, I stop at Marathon, see some life long friends there,
then go to stay with another life long friend on Grassy Key. I have a few former shipmates that retired and came back
to live in the Lower Keys, . . . . yes, it has changed TREMENDOUSLY with people - - - BUT, the OCEAN is what I am referring
to - - - not the places I used to frequent. Sloppy Joe's Bar is world famous and will never change. Such as other historic
places around the area. The old Navy base is gone. The old submarine piers are gone. The old Coast Guard Station is gone.
The house that I lived in for 6 years is still there and has changed hands a couple of times.
The old Navy Hospital where my daughter was born is gone. But I remember the place where I was 
BLESSED with her birth.
So yes, not too much left to "remember" but I do have very fond memories of living in Key West.
4 years at the old Navy base downtown on a Destroyer Escort and 2.5 years at the Naval Air Station, Boca Chica.
I find that the fishing and boating remain the same once you leave the dock in a small boat.
Nothing like catching a 40 pound dolphin (dorado - mahi mahi) from a 14 foot aluminum boat.

so, with all that being said - when someone asks for information about the Florida Keys, I always
try to focus on the OCEAN and BRIDGES and the beautiful gin clear flats for Bone Fishing !!!
NOT the downtown areas that has been destroyed by the so called "progress".
Make your run down to Key West, make the circle, take some photos and LEAVE - go back to Marathon
or Key Vaca or Key Colony or Bahia Honda for the beach, snorkeling, diving,fishing, enjoy the slow pace of the OutBacks.
maybe rent or buy (or make your own) Hawaiian Sling spear and go try to find some LIONFISH for lunch !!!

Enjoy the Journey.

jus my dos centavos



and yes, I am very passionate about the Florida Keys !!! my home away from.


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## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

surfnsam said:


> Heading down next week any hot spots to check on the way to Key West?


What type of gear are you bringing with you ?


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

My brother was stationed in key west on sub's in the late 60s and visited him there when I was 10 and have been hooked ever since! Been back 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years. Not a big fan of the crowds around Duval st but the rest is great.

Flying into ft Lauderdale and driving down plan to hit a few bridges on the way.
Bringing 2 7' medheavy inshore rods and 2 lighter rods for skipping under the mangroves.


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

2 more days of work! Rods and gear packed can't wait for some fun in the sun :beer:


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## John Smith_inFL (Nov 22, 2009)

Sam, you might want to pack some of those cheap rain ponchos too . . . 
weather is a bit wet off n on due to some Tropical Disturbances in S. FL


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

Yeah got that covered. Checked weather looks like T storms for a few days but high UV index so hopefully just afternoon storms.


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## Sandbar (Oct 16, 2013)

I lived in the Keys from 1993 to 2000 and even went to high school down there too (Coral Shores). My brother and I used to fish 250+ days a year easy and I miss it a lot sometimes! We had an old 16ft aluminum skiff with a home made plywood poling platform and 8hp Evinrude engine, but we had tons of fun in that thing. We'd go in water so skinny the other flats boats only dreamed of! The flats and the backcountry in the Keys are second to none for fun and variety, but since it sounds like you'll be fishing from the bridges, your quarry will mainly be snapper, tarpon, grouper and perhaps the occasional shark. When I lived down there, there used to be a big hammerhead shark (rumored to be 15+ feet) named Big Mo who would hang out around Bahia Honda bridge and attack tarpon that were hooked by anglers, taking 80lb fish in just two passes. I doubt he's still around anymore, but having a shark attack a fish on your line is not uncommon in the Keys. Just don't let anything down there surprise you. 

Fish live bait if you can (pinfish, shrimp, mullet, etc.), but just watch out around the pilings, as they're covered with sharp growths that can cut your line in a heartbeat, especially braid. Pay attention to the current too so your bait or lure doesn't drift into a bad situation. Most snapper you'll be able to just haul up to the railing, but larger fish you'll need to either break off or (safely) get down to the rocks at the bridge heads to land or release the catch. Lots of the thriftier bridge guys would use a simple hand reel with about 150-200yds of heavy line (usually 50lb test and up) so whatever they caught could be overpowered quickly and brought up to be tossed in a cooler. That obviously wouldn't happen with a tarpon or shark, but it works great for putting food on the table!

Have a great time down there!


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

Having a great time! Have to head back tonight. Went out on the Tortuga yesterday and hooked a bunch of yellow tail drifting squid in the slick my wife and niece pulled up some grouper and big grunts. Got a big lane snapper at whites pier and a bonnet head this morning that I snapped my rod on trying to flip it on to the pier:-(


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