June is prime time across the Keys, and this week delivered on multiple fronts. The tarpon bite under the bridges and channels remains the marquee event — Bahia Honda, the Seven Mile Bridge, and the channels between the islands are all holding fish on the strong tides. Live crabs and mullet drifted in the current have been the go-to, with the best action coming on the falling tide after dark.
On the flats, permit are tailing on the oceanside flats and around the wrecks, and bonefish are active in the morning before the heat pushes them deep. Crabs and shrimp on light spinning or fly gear are the play for sight-casters working the skinny water.
Offshore, the mahi-mahi bite has been the bright spot. Boats running the weed lines and color changes in 200 to 800 feet are finding schoolies and the occasional gaffer, with frigate birds marking the better concentrations. A few blackfin tuna and sailfish are mixed in along the same edges.
On the reef, yellowtail snapper are chumming up willingly and mangrove snapper are stacking on the deeper patches. Mutton snapper and scattered grouper round out the bottom bite. The yellowtail action has been good enough to fill a cooler on a half-day trip.
Conditions have been classic early-summer Keys — light morning winds building to an afternoon sea breeze, so early starts pay off both inshore and offshore. The tarpon migration should remain strong through June, making this one of the best windows of the year for a shot at a fish of a lifetime.