Fish
Permit
Trachinotus falcatus · also called permits
A permit can be standing right in front of an angler, tail practically breaking the surface in water barely deep enough to cover it, and still refuse to be caught — sharp eyesight and an easily spooked temperament have made this deep-bodied flats fish one of the most notoriously difficult targets in saltwater fly fishing.
Overview
The permit, Trachinotus falcatus, is a deep-bodied, sickle-finned fish of shallow tropical and subtropical flats across the western Atlantic, from Florida to Brazil. It roots crabs and shrimp out of sand and seagrass using a strong, blunt mouth, and shelters around reefs and wrecks outside feeding periods.
Wary on the flats, powerful on the line
Excellent eyesight and selective feeding make permit famously difficult to fool with a cast, but once hooked they fight with real power, using their deep, muscular body for long, forceful runs. A close relative of the smaller pompano, the permit typically grows considerably larger.
Status
Least Concern — common across its range, supported by a largely catch-and-release fishery in popular fly-fishing destinations.
Permit: common questions
Why is the permit considered such a difficult fish to catch?
Permit have excellent eyesight and an extremely wary temperament, often fleeing at the slightest unusual movement, shadow, or disturbance while feeding in shallow, clear flats water, and they can also be highly selective about which food presentations they will actually take, meaning even a well-placed cast with the wrong fly or bait pattern may simply be ignored, a combination of factors that has earned the species its reputation as one of the toughest inshore fly-fishing targets.
How can you tell a permit apart from its relative the pompano?
While both species share a broadly similar deep-bodied shape and belong to the same genus, the permit typically grows considerably larger than the pompano, reaching a greater maximum size and weight, and there are also some more subtle differences in body proportions and fin shape between the two closely related species that experienced anglers and researchers use for more precise identification.
Why do permit sometimes feed with their back out of the water?
Permit often forage over very shallow sandy, muddy, or grassy flats searching for crabs and other invertebrates, and in sufficiently shallow water, part of the fish's tall, deep body or tail can break the surface while it tips down to root out prey, a visible feeding behaviour that experienced flats anglers specifically watch for when trying to spot permit before making a cast.
Is permit fishing mostly catch-and-release?
In many popular recreational fishing destinations, particularly well-known fly-fishing flats, permit fishing operates largely as a catch-and-release fishery, with anglers primarily targeting the species for the challenge and the powerful fight it puts up once hooked rather than for food, which has helped support generally stable permit populations in these well-managed, tourism-focused fisheries.