Flats action at Marathon in the Florida Keys
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On The Fly Saltwater
February 2026
By Jimmy Jacobs
The quest for a grand slam on the flats of the Florida Keys is one of the Holy Grails of fly fishing in southern U.S. saltwater. Putting a bonefish, tarpon and permit in the boat in a single day is an accomplishment worth bragging about. It also is a challenge that creates once-in-a-lifetime memories for most fly casters. And, there is no more disheartening episode than getting very close to the feat, only to see it “swim away.”
But I’m getting ahead of the story.
The On The Fly South crew was visiting the Hawks Cay Resort & Marina on Duck Key in the Middle Florida Keys. The plan was for Associate Editor Polly Dean and me to join Capt. Jeff Malone at the resort marina for a day of inshore flats action around Vaca Key, on which the city of Marathon is located.
Capt. Malone originally hailed from Clearwater on the Sunshine State’s west coast, where he got his start on the water commercial fishing. Later he started a career of recreational guiding in the Florida Keys that has lasted for three decades. For 13 of those years, it was fly fishing only in his boat. However, since moving to Hawks Cay Marina – though he continues to guide long-rod anglers – he also accommodates families and other groups that favor spinning action. Naturally, we were planning on sticking to fly casting.
Our first option was to check out an inlet running past an island that split the entrance to a cove surrounded by boat docks. This was the smaller of the two openings to the cove and the dimpling on the surface indicated the presence of lots of bait fish.
Polly Dean casting to our tarpon hot spot. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
This was a spot the captain wanted to hit as the tide began to fall. What we expected to find was juvenile tarpon rolling on the surface as they fed on the bait fish. The 9-weight rod set-ups were tipped with an orange 2-inch shrimp pattern fly. That pattern should provide enough of a difference from the minnows to attract the tarpon’s attention.
After a few minutes, it was apparent that the tide was not paying attention to the predicted time table. And, if the tarpon were there, they were not feeding. After a few blind casts, the decision was made to move on. But this spot would later figure in our pursuit again.
For the next hour we prospected on several nearby flats and around other cove mouths with no luck. Finally, it became evident that the tide was beginning to move in earnest. With that occurrence, we headed back to the original cove we had started on.
Immediately upon reaching the site, there was an obvious change. The bait was still dimpling, but now there were sudden splashes on the surface as the dorsal fins and silver sides of bigger fish rolled. This was particularly evident near the riprap shore on our right.
Polly’s “silver prince.” Photos by Jimmy Jacobs.
In short order, both Polly and I each had hooked up to one of these silver kings, though they might better have been described as “silver princes,” since they were in the 10- to 15-pound range. Their size was fine with us. The fish put on exciting aerial displays, with twisting, cartwheeling jumps. And we were not committed to hours of battling giant fish.
Photo by Polly Dean.
As the tide continued to fall, the tarpon moved on, and Capt. Malone had us do the same. We next moved offshore into Florida Bay to target a potpourri of species on a sand bank. That fishing, however, is another story to itself that will appear in the April 2026 edition of On The Fly South.
Marathon’s Seven Mile Bridge. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
Once the tide was at a level the captain liked, we moved back shoreward. In open water only a few hundred yards to the north of Marathon’s famed Seven Mile Bridge, we anchored on a flat in water roughly 3 to 4 feet deep. The water was now running to the north and we watched for the flash of fish swimming toward us up the current.
One of the blue-striped grunts. Photo by Jimmy Jacobs.
The first few fish that flashed and drew casts turned out to be colorful blue-striped grunts. They were not the fish we wanted, but they did provide some entertainment until pods of bonefish began to appear.
Hooked up to a bonefish. Photo by Polly Dean.
Many of the bones, however, seemed to have appointments elsewhere as they zipped past, ignoring the hastily tossed flies dropped in their paths. Eventually, one was overcome with hunger and took the Gotcha pattern I put in front of it to get the second leg of a grand slam.
Second leg of a grand slam. Photo by Polly Dean.
Finally, a veritable mosaic of flashes appeared off the port side of the skiff. As it neared, it became clear that it was school of perhaps 20 permit swimming up the current. For several minutes they milled about tantalizingly close to being in casting range. That is when we experienced the aforementioned disappointment of seeing the grand slam opportunity “swim away.”
Still, it is hard to be too disappointed when you have put a tarpon and a bonefish in the boat on the same angling adventure.
For information on arranging a day of guided fishing with Capt. Jeff Malone out of Hawks Cay Resort & Marina, check out his Tarpon Time Inc. website by clicking here.
