Lower Keys Kayak Fishing

My name is Randy Morrow and I hope I get the opportunity to take you kayak fishing here in the Lower Florida Keys and Key West. I first paddled a kayak in August of 2001 and immediately fell in love with it. By March the following year, I had secured a part-time job as a kayak guide for Lazy Dog Outfitters, doing eco-tours there for over 5 years. During this time, I started fishing from my kayak. The sport of kayak fishing was in it’s infancy, and there wasn’t a lot of information available, particularly for saltwater. I started with general “grab-bag” fishing, just seeing what I could catch. Then I honed my skills a bit and started targeting bottom-dwellers, mostly for food. Snapper, porgy, grouper, and wintertime mackerel were the main targets. I did find some rolling tarpon from time to time and landed a few of those. But I kept hearing about these spectacular “flats” fish, including bonefish and the very mysterious permit. Around this time I switched my guiding gig to work with Bill Keogh at Big Pine Kayak Adventures, giving me a chance to learn new water, and work on my personal fishing skills. At first I struggled with sight-fishing the flats, mainly because I was sitting down in the kayak and couldn’t really see far enough to get quality shots. I occasionally caught a bonefish, but didn’t yet have it dialed in. However, when I got a kayak I could stand in, it all started to click. My first really awesome day on the flats was in July of ’08 when I hooked 8 bonefish and landed 5 of them. A few months later I landed my first permit, and I’ve been a flats junkie ever since! (I still enjoy bringing home snapper for dinner, too.) Currently, I’m on the water 4 to 5 days a week either with fishing charters, with a fishing buddy, or by myself, keeping track of what’s biting and where, and continuing to hone my craft. I also started working with a fly rod on the flats and have put the “Big 3” (tarpon, bonefish, permit) on the board, as well as a plethora of other species.

​Throughout my early personal fishing adventures, I would get asked to guide people, but I generally turned them down. I knew I didn’t yet have enough knowledge of this complicated fishery to take anyone’s money doing guide work. But after I caught my 50th permit (my current number is over 130, along with a lot more bonefish, redfish and tarpon), and having safely taken literally thousands of people of every skill level on the water on eco-tours, I felt I was ready to guide kayak anglers. I’ve established relationships with several local skiff guides to compare notes and catches and feel I can show someone a great day on the water pursuing these awesome saltwater fish in a stunningly beautiful environment.

Whether you are a veteran angler who needs help finding the elusive permit, or a novice wanting to catch your first-ever fish from a kayak, I have the patience, skills and experience to help you. I’ve tried to answer most questions here on the site. But if I missed something, shoot me a text, email, or phone call and I’ll do my best to make sure you’re comfortable and ready to go kayak fishing in the Lower Florida Keys and Key West!