Everything You Need To Know About Catching Permit

Local guides refer to permit as unicorns because the fish are difficult to find and hard to catch. Permit are one of the most finicky and fickle fish, challenging die-hard anglers to test their skills and patience.

The fish have large eyes and a pronounced lateral line allowing them to detect small crabs and shrimp. These attributes also allow permit to hear a splash and spot a hook.

How to catch permit

Genus and species

Trachinotus falcatus

Identification

Permit are a silvery fish with dusky fins, though the back is usually bluish or gray. The ventral fins and the anterior margin of the anal fin may be orange. Often there is a triangular yellow patch before the anal fin.The body is laterally compressed and the second and third ribs are prominent in fish weighing over 10 pounds. The second dorsal fin has one spine and 17 to 21 soft rays. —International Game Fish Association

IGFA World Record

60 pounds, Renato Fiedler, December 14, 2002, Ilha do Mel, Paranagua, Brazil

Distribution

Permit inhabit the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Brazil with a few recorded in the eastern Atlantic. The fish are mostly found in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean with the highest concentration in South Florida.

Tactics

Sight fishing is the name of the game. I wait for a glass-calm day and hunt the flats for the permit’s infamous knife-like fin poking out of the water. I use binoculars to search for tell-tale signs of permit swimming on the surface.

Habitat and habits

Permit like to hang in schools. I have encountered schools of over 100 permit floating in a channel or on a flat waiting for the tide to cover the adjacent shallow water. I often see a permit bob its head above the water to get a view of its surroundings. Another classic behavior is mooning; the fish lie horizontal to the water surface and shimmy up and down the water column.

The key to finding permit is understanding tidal currents. Bridges, channels and flats exposed to strong currents attract permit. The fish begin their food run at the beginning of an incoming tide. They hover in three to six feet of water and dive-bomb the flats to grab a crab before escaping back to deeper water. As the tide floods, permit hang high in the water column and surf the current across a flat or down a channel.

Seal the deal

When I spot a permit, I position my kayak 30 feet away before making a cast. I try to hit the fish in the face with the bait or lure. Another technique is to cast 10 feet ahead and past the permit, hold the rod tip high and crank the reel quickly to ski the crab across the water surface.

Enticing a permit to bite is difficult and hooking the fish is almost impossible. When I feel a permit thump my bait, I wait two seconds then reel fast and hard to set the hook. Even with perfect technique, I pull the hook on a lot of permit.

Now comes the fun part of permit fishing. Permit are the creme brûlée of the jack family, so expect a wild battle. The fish use their wide, round body to create maximum water pressure. Then, the large forked tail propels a permit on a long, blistering run. If the fish spots a crab trap 100 yards away, it will do everything in its power to tangle the line.

Permit are notorious for fighting to the end; I use a net with a long handle and 48-inch hoop to scoop the fish into the kayak.

Seasons

The best time of year to target permit runs from late February to early October with the peak from March to July. During the rainy season, late afternoon thunderstorms flush freshwater into the bays sparking a crab hatch.

Permit are one of the hardest fish to catch, but I don’t let the challenge discourage me. The big, round, silver fish are fickle and finicky, making permit one of the most prized trophies on the flats and a species every inshore angler dreams of catching.

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Big eyes and a little mouth make permit one of the toughest fish to fool. | Feature photo: Alex Tejeda