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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 22, 2002
Calm summer mornings are a perfect time to target big permit on local wrecks and artificial reefs. Not all these structures hold permit, but by checking them early in the morning when the sea is smooth, you will increase your chances of finding areas they prefer. When they come to the surface, they can be seen milling around in large schools, sometimes with their tails out of the water and often pushing wakes as they roam around the reef. This presents the best opportunity to catch them. Drift toward the school with the motor off. Outboards can spook the school and make them go deep.
When you get a good shot at the fish, cast a freelined live crab or live shrimp ahead of the school and let it swim up to it. These fish can be very leader-shy. Fluorocarbon leader is a must. Thirty-pound leader sometimes will work, but you may need to scale back to 20 or even 15 to make them bite. Long sections of leader also will help fool the permit, particularly if you are using braided line. Wind-on leaders of 10 to 15 feet are often necessary to keep these big members of the jack family from seeing your line.
Permit are relatively easy to bring aboard. Their large forked tails make great handles. You are allowed to keep one permit over 20 inches per person, and most permit on the Suncoast wrecks are well over this size.
-- Ed Walker charters out of Palm Harbor. Call (727) 944-3474 or e-mail TarponEd@aol.com.