All things considered, September was a great month for fishing in the Lower Keys. We ended the month with a close call from Hurricane Helene, but we got lucky and it just missed us. The weather was still bad enough to keep us off the water for a few days, but we were back out catching fish shortly after it passed. The bonefish and tarpon fishing continue to be great and the permit fishing continues to be slow. Most of the tarpon are smaller, like 10-30lbs, but we still have a few big fish around. The flats fishing should be good for another month or so, until the cold fronts start and then it will get harder and less consistent. It has started to feel like fall the last few weeks, as a lot of different baitfish schools began showing up in the backcountry and the water is also starting to cool off after these last two storms brushed past us. Also, the birds of prey began their migration south and we spotted a few Kestrels, Cooper’s Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks and a few others.
August Fishing Report
August was pretty slow down here in the Lower Keys and some of the restaurants have started to close for a few weeks, during our slow season. We had some tourists around early in the month for the start lobster season and there were some people around last weekend for the holiday, but overall it’s been quiet. Although, it may feel like the fall in some parts of the country, it still feels very much like summer down here and it will for at least another month. The flats fishing last month was consistently good for tarpon and bonefish and it should stay that way well into October. If you can deal with the heat, this is a great time of year to visit the keys for a few different reasons; you can find better deals on flights and hotels, the fishing is still good and there is not a lot pressure on the fish right now.
July Fishing Report
Overall, July was a great month down here in the Lower Keys. Fishing for bonefish has been awesome, there are a lot of them on the flats right now. We’ve been seeing everything from single fish, to schools of 20 or more fish. Even days when we have tough lighting, we can wait for the the lower tides and target them when they’re tailing or pushing a wake. We were able to give 15 bonefish DNA samples to the Bonefish Tarpon Trust for research. Thank you, to all my clients who helped with that. Tarpon fishing has been good too, we have a bunch of smaller fish on the flats right now and few of the big ones are still hanging around. Permit fishing has still been a little slower than it should be, but were getting a few shots at them.
June Fishing Report
Although mother nature hasn’t been kind to us the last few days, overall the weather this past month has been awesome and the fishing has been great. Big tarpon are usually the goal this time of year, so that is what we’ve been focusing on. There have been a lot of tarpon in the Lower Keys right now and the fish have been eating most days. When we do go look for bonefish, that has been great too and you can get a lot of shots when the tide gets right out back. The fishing should remain excellent for the next couple months too. The big tarpon may start moving on soon, but there are always some fish hang around all summer and the bonefish and permit fishing should be just heating up.
Winter Fishing Report
We’ve had a chilly winter by South Florida standards, with day time temperatures consistently in the 60’s. However, spring is right around the corner and we should start to see the first tarpon schools arrive in the Lower Keys this month. As for now, winter fishing remains in full swing and I’ve been staying busy with both inshore and offshore trips. Key West, is open to tourists and there are still mask and occupancy rules in most businesses. In November, Key West citizens voted in favor of 3 charter amendments, placing heavy restrictions on the types of cruise ships allowed to dock in Key West. If these amendments hold up against legislation in Tallahassee, there would be an enormous decrease in cruise ship traffic in Key West harbor; regardless of how Covid disrupts the industry. This should have a positive impact on the fishery around the Lower Keys
Anna with a Blackfin Tuna
Barracuda
The offshore bite has been hit or miss this winter. When the conditions get right, there’s been some of everything around, like blackfin tunas, sailfish, wahoo and mahis. I have been catching most of my fish with live pilchards or ballyhoos. On the good days, all the action has been under the frigate birds. When the offshore fishing slows up, the reef fishing has been producing its usual winter variety, like mutton snappers, cobia, kingfish and plenty of other species. I’ve brought the fly rod on some offshore trips this winter and we’ve caught a few nice fish on fly. We still use live baits to bring the fish to boat and cast the fly at your targeted species, once it’s in range.
Lower Keys Snook
On the really cold days, fishing in the backcountry has been challenging, when our water temperature gets into the low 60’s, we do not see much on flats. On the warmer days, there are still bonefish around and we’ve caught them in 67 degree water. As usual, Barracudas have been our main winter species and there have been some big fish on the flats. They are fun fish on a light spin gear and they eat a lot of different types of artificial lures. On our colder days, we have found a few redfish and snook around the mangroves. We do not have a large population down here, but it is a way to change it up from barracuda fishing on cold days.
Bonefish
Fall Fishing Report
Cobia
So far we have had a fairly mild fall down here in Key West, with the temperature in the mid to upper 70’s most days. We have a few mild cold fronts, but the water temp inshore still hasn’t dipped under 72 degrees. The island itself is slow right now, but we’re getting ready for the holiday rush. The fishing has been solid all around, with plenty of options offshore and around the reef, as well as a lot of variety in the backcountry. Typically, this time of year when I’m on the center console, I like fishing with live baits like pilchards, ballyhoo, herring and other baitfish. Whether I’m offshore looking for sailfish and tunas or inshore fishing for muttons and red groupers, I like using live baits.
Sailfish
Variety
Mahi fishing was spotty in the fall and we had a few sailfish and wahoo around in late October/early November. The offshore fishing dropped off for a couple weeks after that and just started picking up again this past weekend. The tunas started biting around the wrecks and a few sailfish showed up again. Besides the tunas, the offshore wrecks have been holding a variety of fish like cobia, mutton snappers, rainbow runners and other fish. Some of the fish have been caught on the bottom and others chummed in on the surface. On the breezy days we have been fishing on some of the inshore reefs and shallow rock piles. They can be good this time of year with muttons, red groupers, kings and a variety of other fish.
Bonefish
The fishing on the flats has been really good recently, the barracudas have started to show up and they have been aggressive the last couple weeks. The cuda fishing should stay pretty good as we head further into winter. The water temperature has been in the mid 70’s so we’re still seeing plenty of bonefish and permit on the flats. This time of year you can find some heavy bones around. We are even still seeing some schools of juvenile tarpon and they were eating pretty well the other day. Most likely the tarpon will be harder to come by as it gets colder, but you still have plenty of options down here in the winter.
Barracuda
Summer Fishing Report
So far the fishing this summer has been great, for the most part I have been fishing the backcountry and doing a lot of of tarpon fishing. The past few months have been busy and the weather has been good overall. The tarpon fishing has been decent since April and we had a lot more tarpon around this May, then last year. The best time to fish them has been in the morning, but we’ve had some good afternoon and evening sessions too. We actually had 2 palalo worm hatches this year, one on the backside of the full moon in May and one just after the new moon in June. We found plenty of fish eating both times, but the bite was tough.
If the tarpon bite slows up later on in the day, we have been moving in a little shallower and targeting bonefish and permit. There have been a lot of bonefish around and the permit are starting to make their way back into the shallows. The bonefish bite has been the most consistent thing going the past few months. We have seen big schools of fish on the ocean side and gulf side. If you can get your fly or your jig out in front of these guys and move it the right way, they will usually eat it. The permit have been more on the Gulf side, but just this past week I saw a few swimming on the the ocean side with the tarpon strings. Hopefully we will start seeing a few more out front.
The offshore fishing has been slow so far this summer, there have been some dolphin around, but there’s been a lot of chickens and undersize fish. There have been a few skipjack tunas and small blakfins out in the deep too. The sargassum weeds have been super thick this year, and that has made it difficult to keep your lures clean while your trolling. The wrecks have been holding a variety of fish, like amberjacks, mutton snappers, groupers and other things. I like fishing the the bottom and middle of the water column with live baits, bonita strips and an assortment of jigs.
Hurricane Season Fishing Report
Tarpon
The fishing over the past few months has been great here in the Lower Florida Keys. Overall, the weather has been mild and so far this year we have dodged the hurricanes. The offshore fishing has been decent recently, we had a good mahi bite through July, but it died out as the dog days of summer set in. The blackfin tunas started showing up around the last full moon, there were a lot of small fish, but some bigger ones were mixed in. The pilchards have also started to show up along the south side of the Keys. Both the pilchards and the tunas are promising signs for the upcoming fall and winter live bait season.
Red Grouper
During the summer months, the full day trips were the most successful. Having the ability to run way to the west and fish the deeper reefs really paid off. The mutton Snapper bite on the bottom was excellent and there were plenty of nice black groupers, red groupers, big porgies, amberjacks and other fish. Blackfin tunas, kingfish, mahi mahi and bonitas were also caught on the surface or in the middle of the water column. Usually on these trips, we’re using a combinations of live baits, dead baits and different artificial jigs and lures.
Mutton Snapper
Fishing in the backcountry has been awesome the past few months. We have had a lot of small tarpon hanging around the mangroves and in the bait schools. Targeting them with a 9wt fly rod or light spinning gear has been really fun. Those fish should be staying put until the cold fronts start and then they become harder to find. This is also a great time of year to target bonefish and there have been plenty of them around. Not only do we have good numbers of bonefish down here, but late summer and early fall offer great conditions for targeting them with typically sunny skies and light winds. It’s awesome to see big schools of bonefish waking across the flats during the low tides.
Bonefish
Spring Fishing Report
Mutton Snapper
Sailfish
Tarpon
Bonefish
Well we have had a super wet spring here in the Lower Keys and we just encountered our first named storm of the Hurricane Season. Weather aside, the offshore fishing has been excellent, with some of the best Sailfishing the Keys have ever seen. We had a good push of sailfish in March and now again in May. May is usually late in the sailfish season, but this year all the conditions were right and it turned on. We have been looking for them around the color change and throwing live baits at them. There have been plenty of big blackfin tunas around as well. The dolphin fishing has been decent, we’ve found fish every time we went out, but we haven’t been able to put a big catch together this year. The mahi fishing should just be getting better over the next couple months.
Reef and wreck fishing has been consistent. The mutton snapper bite has been excellent this winter and spring. We have caught them on the shallow reefs when the weather has been snotty and there have also been some big ones on the wrecks offshore. There have been blackfin tunas, amberjacks and some rainbow runners on the offshore wrecks as well. The yellowtail snapper fishing on the reef has been decent, usually you can find good action and nice size fish out there.
The tarpon fishing in the backcountry has been inconsistent. When we have the right weather the fishing has been good, but when the weather doesn’t cooperate, it makes it harder finding fish. As it is, we have still had plenty of good days, especially with the fly rod. We have hooked a few tarpon on fly this year that have been well over 100lbs. The bite has been the best early and later in the day. The bonefishing around Key West has been excellent, the days when the tarpon are not eating well, we’ve been going bonefishing.
October Fishing Report
Bonefish
Sorry for the lack of reports recently, were just starting to get back to normal since Hurricane Irma. Thank you to all my clients who made it down to fish in October, I know some people had to change hotels and some restaurants were not fully operational, but your business means everything to this little island. If anyone is hesitant to visit Key West after the storm, don't be. We are ready for the holiday season and the fishing has been excellent. The wind has started blowing from the north now and the tunas have been biting offshore. We were able to get out one evening earlier this week and we caught a few blackfin tunas, plus a couple dolphin. The sailfish started showing up too and hopefully we get a consistent bite throughout the winter. Also the wahoo fishing should be getting good around the December and January full moons, if anyone has interest in live bait fishing for wahoo, that would be a great time.
Tarpon
We did a lot of backcountry fishing October, once the water started clearing up after the storm, the fishing turned on in the shallows. There were plenty of schools of small tarpon around. They were chasing bait around the mangroves. We did a lot fishing for them with live pilchards, but you can cast artificial lures and flies at them as well. The bonefishing was also great after the storm, we saw a lot of big schools of bonefish pushing around the flats. Now that the weather is starting to cool down, we have seen less bonefish and we are starting to do more barracuda fishing on the flats. Winter is a great time target barracudas in the backcountry; they like the cooler water temperature. The barracudas have a super aggressive bite, the fight well and they will jump too. They are an awesome predator to target in shallow water with either light spinning gear or with a fly rod.
Snook
June Fishing Report
mahi mahi
June was a super busy month here in the Florida Keys, but the weather was not cooperative. For the most part in June I was either fishing for mahi mahi offshore or fishing for tarpon inshore. The offshore bite has been fantastic when we were able to make it out there. The water quality out deep has been much better than last year and the fishing is much better too. There have been a lot of small mahi around with some big ones mixed in. As usual we've found a lot of mahi under weeds and other floating debris, but some of the bigger fish we found were under frigate birds. There have also been some billfish offshore and some scattered tunas mixed in.
In the backcountry, the tarpon bite has been the most consistent it has been all year, despite the weather. There have been a lot of fish on the oceanside and the bite has been good, but again the weather has often prevented us from fishing there. We have also had some great early morning and evening bites. The worm hatch was awesome this year, we fished further east from Key West, but there were a lot worms out and the the tarpon were taking flies. The permit fishing picked up in June, a lot of the fish seemed to be done spawning and heading back into the shallows. We saw a lot of permit causing the oceanside flats, mixed in with the tarpon, but there are a bunch of permit in the backcountry as well.
tarpon