The Keys are running the textbook late-May playbook this week. Tarpon continue to stack from Islamorada through the Lower Keys, permit are working the oceanside flats on the lower tides, and offshore the dolphin bite has settled into a reliable mid-water pattern. Light easterly winds most of the week have kept the flats clean and the bay-side fishable.
Tarpon — Mid-Migration Hold
The tarpon migration is in mid-window. The Channel 2 and Channel 5 bridges through Long Key are holding fish on the outgoing tide. Bahia Honda is fishing well on the early morning slack. The Bahia Honda Channel and the channels through Big Pine continue to produce shots on rolling fish to anglers running the channels at first light.
The bite has favored live crabs and palolo worm imitations — the worm hatch is winding down but residual fish are still keyed in. Live mullet free-lined to bridge structure on the falling tide is the high-percentage approach for the bigger fish. The Buchanan Bank area in Florida Bay is also worth running to with live shrimp on light tackle for the resident fish that aren’t migrating.
Permit — Oceanside Flats Bite
Permit fishing has come on strong this week. Tailing fish on the oceanside flats from Marathon down through the Lower Keys are giving up shots on live crabs and merkin-pattern flies. The lower tides at dawn through about 10 AM are the productive window. Look for tails breaking the surface in 18-30 inches of water over hard bottom.
The wrecks 5-15 miles offshore are also producing permit at depth on jigs and live crabs dropped to the structure. Less photogenic than flats fishing but more reliable for putting a fish in the boat.
Offshore — Mahi Mid-Window
The dolphin bite has been steady, not stellar. The Gulf Stream eddy is positioned reasonably close to the reef edge, putting productive water inside 12 miles for most of the week. Trolled ballyhoo and naked rigs over weed lines are producing schoolies in the 3-10 lb range with the occasional 20+ lb gaffer in the mix.
Sailfish numbers are well past the spring peak but a handful continue to be caught daily on the reef edge. Wahoo have shown up in scattered numbers along the deep humps — anglers running high-speed lures over the 600-800 foot bottom are getting bites.
Yellowtail snapper continue to dominate the reef bottom-fishing scene. Chumming with chicken-feed and shrimp on light fluoro leader is producing limits at most patch reefs.
Bonefish and Backcountry
The bonefish bite has been improving with the warming flats. Schools are moving through the oceanside in 12-18 inches of water on the lower tides. Live shrimp and tan/pink crab patterns are the standard. Best windows are first light through about 10 AM.
The backcountry through Florida Bay continues to fish well for the species mix — snook on the mangrove shorelines, redfish on the lower tides on the Twin Keys area, sharks and barracuda when nothing else is committing.
What’s Ahead
The new moon is June 5. This should energize the late-window tarpon push and trigger a productive permit tide cycle. Water temperatures are settling into the upper 80s. The summer pattern is setting in: dawn fishing, mid-day breaks, afternoon storms beginning to build.
For this weekend: tarpon on the bridges at first light, permit on the oceanside flats from sunrise through 10 AM, offshore from sunrise to noon before the breeze.
Tight lines.