The Dry Tortugas is one of the least known areas of Florida. Accessible
only by boat or seaplane, this small collection of islands located
almost 70 miles west of Key West is composed of coral reefs and sand.
Along with the surrounding shoals and waters, this cluster of seven
islands makes up the Dry Tortugas National Park. The area is known for
its famous bird and marine life, and its legendary tales of pirates and
sunken treasures.
The Dry Tortugas is one of the least known areas of Florida. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, this small collection of islands located almost 70 miles west of Key West is composed of coral reefs and sand. Along with the surrounding shoals and waters, this cluster of seven islands makes up the Dry Tortugas National Park. The area is known for its famous bird and marine life, and its legendary tales of pirates and sunken treasures. Many Floridians as well as out of State visitors, have heard of The Dry Tortugas but few know just where or exactly what they are. For the anglers that have ventured there, it is almost heaven on earth and all would agree it is one of the most productive fishing destinations in the world.
The Tortugas were initially discovered by Ponce de Leon in the year 1513. Huge amounts of sea turtles or tortugas; provided his crews with fresh meat, but there was absolutely no fresh water — the Tortugas were dry — hence the name Dry Tortugas;. Since the days of Spanish exploration, the reefs and shoals of the Dry Tortugas continue to be a serious hazard to navigation and are the site of hundreds of shipwrecks. The entire area is designated as one of our National Parks and is also located inside of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. You can learn all of the history on one of the two largest islands, Garden Key. This is where Fort Jefferson stands and is the headquarters for the park. The fort is about a quarter of a mile across and is 3 stories high. It has a huge open courtyard in the center of it with an assortment of smaller buildings that once housed troops and armament. Now it is home to the park officials. At the time of its construction, Fort Jefferson was state of the art although a serious battle never developed there. Ill leave the rest of the history for when you get there, as Fort Jefferson should definitely be a stop during your journey. It is well worth it — plus it gives you a chance to stand on dry land again.
After a 70 mile crossing and a few days of fishing while staying on a boat, you tend to look forward to dry land! There is nothing in the world like spending an afternoon relaxing in one of the upper floor openings of the Fort while a light sea breeze runs across your face as youre gazing out onto the aquatic splendor of the area. They dont make medications that can relax you that much, at least not legal ones! The main reason of the solitude and relative mystery that surrounds the Dry Tortugas is the islands location and proximity to the rest of the State. As previously mentioned, the only way to get there is either by boat or seaplane. Either way, whatever you need while you are there, you better bring with you. There arent any public trash receptacles, so you have to bring back what you take. There are no convenience stores, electricity, fresh water or other services available. You are truly ‘on your own. You may think that this roughing it just a little too much, but trust me, its not and its well worth it, just plan accordingly. There are two main areas to the Dry Tortugas when headed there by boat; the Naples / Marco Island area or from Key West. If you are going to try what I call a ‘sample trip first, then take a seaplane or one of several large boats and depart from Key West. (Im not sure if the boats out of Naples are still running to the Dry Tortugas.) Youre first stop will be Garden Key, where the Fort is, and you will be given a tour as well as some free time to swim and look around before returning to Key West a few hours later. I call this the ‘teaser trip as it will determine your mind set of returning somehow, someday, and someway very soon! The park is open all year long and the waters remain relatively warm compared to the rest of the state due to the surrounding currents.
This allows for excellent snorkeling and fishing throughout the entire year. Both are just as good, if not better, than you can get anywhere else in Florida. The fishing is like it was in the Keys 50 years ago since the Dry Tortugas have not had the negative impact that more populated areas have experienced. For the angling community, understand that this is a National Park and also falls under the rules and guidelines of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. One of the most important rules you must remember if you are planning on filling up your coolers and taking tons of fish home is this; you are only allowed one days bag limit of fish for your entire stay! Thats it! 10 snapper and 5 grouper per licensed angler for the whole trip, not per day. If you decide to cook some fish while there, you can replace it but dont be under the impression you can filet all of your catch and store it in a refrigerator or cooler. The authorities are permitted to and will look there. If you only keep the larger fish you will have plenty for your efforts. The most popular time for smaller boats to make the crossing is the summer season, from May through October. This is when prevailing winds are usually calm allowing a nice passage. The limitation to what you can do and how long you can stay is simply determined by what you will be riding in or on. If you want to make the crossing in your own boat make sure to plan accordingly and check your essentials to see if the crossing is feasible. Understand that from Key West, it is about 70 nautical miles one way. That translates to 140 miles round trip if you dont travel anywhere when you arrive and you dont come across any inclement weather. Remember to take into account any fuel that might be used by a generator, if you have one. I have learned over the years that an excellent rule of thumb is to take into account all of the fun you want to have over the entire time period you want to stay, add in the round trip journey and allow at least 25% of your fuel in reserve. Be cautious and count on inclement weather!
Next, ensure that your anchoring system is in good working order because this is what you will be doing. Make sure you have enough scope to handle some strong gusts that may accompany a passing storm or better yet, a second anchor to set at night for added security, (you could always borrow your buddies for the trip). There is a dock located at Fort Jefferson but it is not for overnight stays. It is to allow visiting boats to tie up and for ships supplying the staff. At night, all boats are required to anchor within one nautical mile of the Fort so everyone can be accounted for. There are two fine anchorages; one just 100 yards to the east of the Fort and another, larger one, about 250 yards to the south. There is room for over 200 boats in these two areas so dont worry about a reservation, not that you could make one. Seldom will you see more than 40 boats here at any given time. Like I said earlier, there are no gas stations, supermarkets, ATM machines, sources of fresh water or trash receptacles so plan accordingly. You will find that ice is worth its weight in gold so the more the merrier. From my experiences traveling to the Dry Tortugas over the past 25 years, is that unless you are really trying to impress someone, you dont need a very big wardrobe. Swimsuits, old shorts, old shirts, sandals for exploring, a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses are about all you will need. OK, now lets get to the good stuff. You may ask yourself, what is the big deal about the fishing at the Dry Tortugas? The best answer is this. Think about the best five fishing trips you have ever had. Combine them and thats about equivalent to a half days trip here. While most of the fishing inside the park is targeted towards reef and bottom dwellers, there are also awesome trolling opportunities available just a few miles to the south of the Islands. Big dolphin and tuna as well as an occasional big wahoo and billfish abound in these waters.
Plus on your way to and from the Islands, you can troll just off the reef shelf for not only these species but some giant smoker kings as well. Tackle requirements are up to you but I can tell you to bring at least one heavy duty outfit for that really big thing; that always bites and no one can figure out what it was. Spinning outfits from ultra light for fun up to 30 pound test rigs are always good. Some 20-40 pound conventional outfits and a couple of trolling outfits for hitting the patches as well as while trolling to and from are essential. Whatever you do, bring plenty of terminal tackle and extra line as the fish win about 70% of the battles and there are no bait and tackle shops. Bringing along high quality chum in a sturdy cooler or freezer is the key to success for awesome yellowtail fishing at the Dry Tortugas and its not uncommon for boats making the trip to bring 20 or more boxes. Bait is always questionable. Not too much is actually available here. With chum, you can often get some ballyhoo but for the most part, take what you need. Squid is one of the best, so make sure to have lots of it. Silversides are another very good choice as well as frozen shrimp. Any live bait that you can bring will be helpful as long as you dont kill your batteries keeping them juiced. If you run into a bind, small barracuda, ladyfish and even grunts will work. For fish you are planning to keep, go ahead and gut them and slice out the two flanking belly sections. These strips make great grouper baits. There are so many good areas to fish inside the park that I do not have space to list them all.
To the northwest, north and northeast of the Fort, there are numerous coral rises. Some of them are mounds and others are like pinnacles. Understand that most of the surrounding waters are around 50 to 60 feet deep. There is a ring of banks that work from the east of the Fort all the way around to well west of it. Several small islands are located here. This area encompasses numerous square miles and is home to some of the best fishing. Along these banks rise massive coral formations holding thousands of fish. This is also one of the best snorkeling areas. The waters here are usually clear but look for strong currents throughout most of the year. Some of the pinnacles rise from the 60 foot depths to only about 12 feet of the surface. These formations are loaded with huge mutton snapper and grouper that will win most of the battles. These areas are great places to work large 4 to 6 ounce jigs tipped with a strip bait or a whole squid fished just off the bottom. Schools of flag yellowtail will invade these areas as well so be prepared for everything. To the south and southwest of the Fort are some of my favorite spots. Most are shallow shoals which run about 2 miles out with mostly sand bottom and a mix of coral patches. These areas are loaded with hogfish. Not the ones that you may be accustomed to, say 12 to 14 inches but big, big, big hogfish. When I say big ones I really mean big ones! They are like billboards when you see them sideways. I have caught hogs here in excess of 12 pounds! These are by far my favorite fish to eat and when you can catch one that will feed 6 very hungry guys, you know youre on to something. These coral outcrops also have numerous pockets of mangrove and yellowtail snapper. Permit and tarpon are also frequent visitors to these areas in the spring through the fall.
Grouper are found all over this area near the outer edge of the formations in 15 to 30 feet of water. This is where we usually produce our trips limit in one day by simply trolling Rapala CD18 Mag lures in either black and silver or blue and silver. Trolled slowly, these deep diving plugs get down within a foot or two of the bottom and grouper cant resist them. We have had many trips with over 30 keeper size grouper in less than 4 hours of fishing using this very technique. Just southeast of the Fort past the eastern anchorage is a drop off which is home to lots of staghorn coral. This is a rather dramatic edge as you can anchor in 20 feet and your stern will be hovering in over 80 feet of water. Its on these edges where plenty of chum comes into play. Drop a box or two in a bag and go have dinner. When you return you will be greeted by hundreds of ‘flag size yellowtail just waiting for your offering. They will be right on top feeding on the chum. Here you can have a blast on light tackle just by dropping a silverside over the side and picking out the fish you want. Reminds you of the old carnival days. The difference is these fish fight hard and are delicious.
Some of the smaller islands, especially Hospital Key have massive drop offs. On the south side of this particular island, Hospital Key, the cubera snapper can be thick. We have caught cubera here in excess of 80 pounds so beefy tackle is a must. As you can see the Dry Tortugas offer plenty of opportunities for a wide variety of game fish. From dolphin, tuna, kingfish, and wahoo on the troll to the vast array of bottom dwellers just waiting to play tug-ofwar, this small chain of islands offers just about anything a fisherman could want. Couple that with the solitude and tranquility of the unspoiled crystal clear waters surrounding this oasis in the tropics and you have the makings for a fishing destination of a lifetime. The Dry Tortugas is by far my favorite place to play and fish, even more so than all the locations I have been to in the Bahamas and throughout the Caribbean. Once you visit, I know you will agree. If you dont have your own boat or a friend with a boat, try a trip on the Sea- Clusive (see ad below) as they offer custom trips to this island paradise.
DRY TORTUGAS COULD DRY UP A management plan is in the works that would designate 46% of the 100 square mile park area as a research natural area in which recreational anglers would be prohibited from fishing. Commercial fishing pressure is not an issue as commercial fishermen are completely banned from the park. Dry Tortugas National Park sees an average of 70,000 visitors a year and park officials hope to limit the impact of visitors by limiting ferry and seaplane service while private boaters will have to purchase a permit which will be required to enter the Parks waters. The entire management plan has not fully been put into effect as the state of Florida has delayed the implementation with some legal action. To learn more about the management plan visit www.nps.gov/drto/planning.com
Capt Greg of the The Yankee Capts., a group party boat that departs Key West on multiple day fishing safaris to the Dry Tortugas area from Dec-May provided this recent catch data. Not only are there plenty of fish to be caught but big ones! The 2002 Dry Tortugas Big Fish List includes: Mutton snapper, Adolph Rollins 24.75 lbs. Yellowtail snapper, Robert Garcia 6.5 lbs. Yellowfin grouper, Robert Donavan 25.5 lbs. Black grouper, Allan Lukesrtum 64.75 lbs. Red grouper, Allan Tolman 22.5 lbs. Kingfish, Oscar Rienta 68.5 lbs. Goliath grouper, Karen York (est.) 425 lbs. Congratulations to these anglers for their outstanding catches. For information or reservations, the Yankee Capts. Can be reached at 800.942.5464 or by visiting www.YankeeCapts.com
About the Author:
Captain Dave Navarro is a lifelong resident of Marathon, owner of the World Class Angler Bait and Tackle shop in Marathon, and captain of the charter boat, Daves Dream;. Dave is also tournament director of numerous events held in the mid-Keys and has been fishing the Dry Tortugas area for over 25 years. Capt. Dave Navarro can be reached at 305.743.6139 or by visiting www.WorldClassAngler.com
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