Florida Keys Fishing

Show me fishing in: Key Largo | Islamorada | Marathon | Lower Keys | Key West
Florida Keys Fishing Tournaments Calendar

Flats and Backcountry:
The Keys are surrounded by miles of shallow sand and grass flats. Here, species like the bonefish root out crabs, shrimp and small fish in water as shallow as six inches. Beautiful flats are found on the Atlantic side of the Keys and in the fabled backcountry, a region of uninhabited mangrove islands on the Gulf Side of the island chain.

Species caught: tarpon, permit, bonefish, redfish, snook, sea trout, barracuda, jacks, sharks, and cobia.

Tackle: fly, spin, plug.

Deep sea, Offshore:
The Keys are bordered by the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Straits of Florida on the other. Outside our reef, the water plunges to depths of 1,500 feet or more. Here, colorful dolphin fish teem just below the surface along mats of floating Sargassum grass or pieces of driftwood. Billfish, the biggest prize of them all, cruise out here too.

Species caught: blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, spearfish, kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, tuna, barracuda, cobia, grouper, snapper, jacks and sharks.

Tackle: spin, conventional trolling gear, fly.

Wreck Fishing:
The Keys were famous through history for swallowing up ships. Today, ship wrecks are thankfully rare but the old wrecks nevertheless make great fishing spots. Schools of permit and amberjacks swirl around the coral-covered structures. Snapper and grouper inhabit the crevices.

Species caught: permit, amberjacks, jacks, grouper, snapper, cobia, sharks, and barracuda.

Tackle: spin, plug, fly.

Reef Fishing:
Vast coral formations protect the Keys from storms and provide homes for bottom fish such as grouper and snapper. On the Gulf side, smaller patch reefs dot the seascape. Schooling fish such as the yellowtail snapper and mackerel are never far away from these structures.

Species caught: yellowtail, kingfish, cero mackerel, cobia, sharks, and barracuda.

Tackle: spin, plug, fly.

Harbor Fishing:
Most of the waterways in the Keys are natural, but a few have been dredged over the decades by the U.S. Navy and the shipping industry. They are great places to anchor up and prospect for a host of fish species.

Species caught: tarpon, permit, cobia and sharks.

Tackle: spin, plug, fly.