Florida Keys Fishing Reports

Lower Keys Tarpon Fishing Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest I had been smacking the tarpon pretty good before this wind started today. Keys Backcountry Fishing Florida Sportsman member: piner_wahoo Senior forum member piner_wahoo and some friends have had two consecutive successful days out in the Florida Keys backcountry. It was a good day to be on the water! August in Islamorada Florida Sportsman member: syxx Though my best days this week we landed 9 out of 12 tarpon in two trips, most in the 30 to 60 pound range. Lower Keys Cobia Florida Sportsman member: swordslayer71 Today I had some time off and decided to go into the backcountry and hide from the wind. […] Key West Flats Fishing Florida Sportsman member: Capt. The snook bite has tapered down some but we had some days catching 50 plus fish to 20 pounds. This made the top water bite too difficult and made running out there tricky with the engine weeding up on both boats […] Click here to see the full forum report. I’m sure that this fish would have been bigger than her’s […] Islamorada Backcountry Report Florida Sportsman member: action88 Well guys, spring is officially here, the weather has calmed down some and the fishing is EXCELLENT, most of my trips have been in the Triton Bay boat (new 24′ coming soon), with everyone from beginners to experienced anglers, the redfishing has been HOT, we are catching 40-100 per trip in the 22-33″ range all on pinfish, the snook have bit good when the tide and the water color have been matched perfectly, with most fish being slot sized and some little guys mixed in […] Flamingo Snook and Redfish…and Permit! This has got to stop […] Back-country Fishing in Islamorada Florida Sportsman member: syxx Fishing this month in Islamorada, Florida Keys has been fantastic.

Recent inshore fishing reports from the Florida Keys.

Fishing Trip in Marathon

Florida Sportsman member: Soda Popinski

The water was still dead calm, so rather than waste a moment, we grabbed a box of chum and headed back out around 8:30 for a night raid on the reef. We started drifting in 60′ with the chum bag out and cut pinfish as bait hoping for yellowtails and maybe mangos. We were using 1 1/2oz knocker rigs with 10’of 12 pound flouro. I’m reeling in grunts and my son is missing the bite for whatever reason, so I sabiki up some live bait in the chum slick and throw it out on a freeline with a circle hook and a wire leader. About 20 minutes in, sure enough the reel starts screaming and he’s on. We get the gaff, get him in and get our first king on ice.

Big Pine Key Variety

Florida Sportsman member: Viking

Big Pine Key

On a recent trip to Bahia Honda State Park, I was able to find plenty of areas to catch tarpon, bonefish and plenty of other varieties of fish. This video covers how to identify productive areas and the baits used to catch fish.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Lower Keys Tarpon Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Tarpon Fishing

I had been smacking the tarpon pretty good before this wind started today. Hopefully this last week will be a great start to the tarpon season.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Key West Backcountry Meat Hunt

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Key West Backcountry

Had a couple of buddies who needed some eater fish for the weekend. We went out on Friday with Jose to the Gulf side backcountry for some cero’s and snapper.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Big Pine Key Mackerel

Florida Sportsman member: piner_wahoo

Big Pine Key Mackerel

There are some cero mackerel pushing ten+ pounds right now. Unfortunately, there’s also lots of sharks out as well.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Keys Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss

Keys Tarpon

In three nights of fishing we jumped 37 tarpon, 14 were landed. Out of the 37, all but two were over 50 pounds. I would estimate that at least 25 of them were over 80 pounds.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Big Pine Key Mackerel

Florida Sportsman member: latitudeajustment

Big Pine Key Spanish Mackerel

Mrs. LA and I made a crack of noon start today and headed out back to see what we could find. Thankfully, the macks came to play.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Lobster in the Keys

Florida Sportsman member: latitudeajustment

Lobster

I made a late run yesterday and thankfully scored two for my wife’s birthday. We got out today and found a few more. Great times and great eats!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Keys Backcountry Mackerel and Snapper

Florida Sportsman member: piner_wahoo

Keys Backcountry Mackerel

Get some macks, lite off the smoker, it’s fish dip season! And tax time, too, but the tax man came to the boat this time. It was a 10′ bull who was very bitey. Snapping and biting at boat, fingers, etc.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Keys Backcountry Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: piner_wahoo

Senior forum member piner_wahoo and some friends have had two consecutive successful days out in the Florida Keys backcountry. They left with some nice lobster, trout, snapper and grouper- but not without a lot of work.

Cudjoe Key Permit

Florida Sportsman member: Bonecracker

After three solid days of poling her around all over the Keys from Marathon to Cudjoe all we had to show for our efforts but a sunburn and some empty beer bottles. Well all the stars lined up on Wednesday and we finally had a permit actually eat a live crab! The fish fought hard for 15 to 20 minutes and finally it turned over on its side near the boat and finally gave up!

Lower Keys Bonefish

Florida Sportsman member: torchkey

The flats were active with sharks, barracuda, and bonefish. Had some good shots at bones and ended up with a couple of nice fish. Ended the day catching some trout for the dinner table. It was a good day to be on the water!

August in Islamorada

Florida Sportsman member: syxx

Though my best days this week we landed 9 out of 12 tarpon in two trips, most in the 30 to 60 pound range. I’ve been fishing mostly fresh mullet that we catching first thing in the morning still in the backcountry. In the bays the trout and snapper fishing has been best out closer to the gulf. Here the water is cooler and also alive with various baitfish such as ballyhoo, pilchards, pinfish, mullet, and more.

Tarpon Time in the Keys

Florida Sportsman member: syxx

I’ve been fishing tarpon since the first week of February and we’ve had pretty good early season fishing but now the real big schools are showing up. Just a few days ago we had a 5 fish day with most fish in the 60-100 pound range.

Upper Keys Bonefish

Florida Sportsman member: Tailinreds05

We caught the last two hours of the falling tide and that’s when I picked up this chubby tailer with a well placed live shrimp. Had two other shots on the falling tide but couldn’t get them to eat. After the mid morning slack wore off and the tide started pushing in, the fish started showing themselves again.

Fall Fishing in Islamorada

Florida Sportsman member: syxx

If you put your time in you can usually produce a bite or two, though not a guaranteed thing. Mullet is still the go-to bait, you just have to find them usually early in the morning. We’ve also been having some luck with big goliath groupers in the gulf plus plenty of big sharks such as bulls and lemons […]

Bahia Honda Slam

Florida Sportsman member: DogDoc

After a late night trip yesterday, we thought the best way to catch the midday outgoing tide while the winds allowed was to run up to Bahia Honda again. David and I bucked the east wind to reach the protection of the bridge, but found little relief from the wind and waves when we got there. The wind direction quartered the current, augmenting the waves and making it hard to keep baits where they needed to be. Weeds were also a bigger problem than last week.

We had several hits and drag pulls before the first hookup, but that ended up being a nice 75-pound tarpon. A few minutes later another hit but no hookup, then a bait down deep was taken. The fish ran long but stayed deep, and when we caught up with it we were pleasantly surprised that it was a 40-pound permit.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Biscayne Bonefish

Florida Sportsman member: Tailinreds05

Decided to take a break from the back country out of islamorada and fish Biscayne with a buddy of mine. We left islamorada at 6 and drove up to card sound to get the skiff wet. We cruised the 25 miles or so out to the flats of Biscayne and I finally connected to the infamous grey ghosts. All it took was a trip out of Florida bay and the flats that I have come to love since moving to the keys over a year ago. We were throwing fly most of the day but this guy took a live shrimp. The fight was awesome 150 yards of line taken in 10 seconds.

Lower Keys Permit

Florida Sportsman member: swordslayer71

Had a very short window of opportunity today due to time constraints, but definitely not due to weather. It was absolutely gorgeous. Flat calm and clear water, which is perfect for sight fishing Permit on the reef line. We took 3 crabs with us for 3 people. It took us about 5 minutes to start seeing a few small wads here and there and then we started seeing bigger packs. Once we found the larger groups it was game on and we traded in those crabs for 3 Permit.

Lower Keys Cobia

Florida Sportsman member: swordslayer71

Today I had some time off and decided to go into the backcountry and hide from the…

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