Fishing the Keys

Question
Hello,
In October I will be going to Florida Keys, either Islamorada, or Marathon. Normally I fish Lake Michigan for Steelhead/Salmon with my Shimano Clarus pole, the stats of the pole are as follow:
model: CSS-86M2A
lenght: 8'6"
action: Medium
line: 8 - 17
lure 1/4 - 1oz
pieces: 2
Its got plenty of power to teach any salmon good maners, but my question is about using it in saltwater. Will it be to light? or will it handle some smaller fish?
I am particularly interested in catching tuna, I know it will be hard to catch anything big, but is it possible that i could get away with this pole with some smaller tuna? I will be using either Penn Sargus 5000, or Slammer 360. What line to use in saltwater? mono, fluorocarbon, or braid?
I have never fished florida keys, but I plan to rent a small boat for a day. I am looking for any usefull advice on what fish to target, where (names, or gps coordinates), and what lures to use.
I appreciate any help, as I am very unexperienced when it comes to saltwater fishing. Thank you!
Erick

Answer
Erick-

First off, go to the Keys. You will not be sorry.

I am not familiar with Shimano products, but I am well briefed on Penn product.

About your Sargus 5000 and your rod set-up, that will be just fine for Black Fin Tuna on the humps and for dolphin as well. The Sargus has been a very good reel for Penn in 2009-2010 and I personally have several of them.

I would line your combos with 50-80 pound Berkley Big Game Braid. Top shot your braid with about 15 ft. of 50 pound flouro with an albright knot for a shock tippet and tie your rig directly to the flouro. You will be able to troll and bottom fish with that set up. I would bring (5) of them rigged as described above. Outriggers are not needed for Tuna fishing a 4-rod spread.

Look up the 409 humps out of Islamorada in the Keys. It is a very public area and is easily found on the web as are the coordinates, but I can boldly tell you from my own personal experience it holds a PILE of BF Tuna nearly all year.

Visit Islamorada Outfitters at Smugglers Cove Marina to get geared up with the best Tuna lures and colors. The staff there are very cordial and know the local scoop and what the fish are biting and at what depth and trolling speed.

Normally, we troll around 5-6 MPH for best results with small green skirts on nearly any kind of lure. Purple and black work well, too.....

I hope this helps and good luck down there. It's hands down my favorite place to go in the world. Period!

Capt. Richie Lott
http://www.charterfish.com