Florida Keys Outfitters Fly Shop & Guide Service

Florida Keys Outfitters has been at 81219 Overseas Highway in Islamorada since Sandy Moret opened it in 1989, and it works as a fly shop, a guide service and a school all at once. The shop carries rods, reels, fly lines, flies, technical clothing and accessories, and they will tie leaders for you at the counter.

The school is what people fly in for. Sandy Moret's Florida Keys Fly Fishing School is in its 37th year and runs as two full nine-to-five days of classroom work threaded with personal casting sessions, covering tackle and line selection, knots, the double haul, presentation, and how to actually fight a fish once it is on. Tuition covers the instruction, lunches, a curriculum guide, evening receptions with the instructors, and use of the shop's own gear and casting aids. Days three and four are optional and put you on the water after bonefish, permit, tarpon and backcountry species.

Who teaches it is the whole point. Chico Fernandez started saltwater fly fishing in Cuba in the mid 1950s and designed the Seaducer, the Bend-Back and the Bonefish Special. Craig Brewer is a second generation native Islamorada guide who put a client on a 15 pound 5 ounce world record bonefish on 12 pound tippet. Rob Fordyce has guided for more than 25 years, co-wrote Tarpon on Fly and stars in Silver Kings. Paul Tejera has won the Golden Fly and the Don Hawley. Call (305) 664-5423.