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.
Spots & Access This Week
Public access through the Keys is spread along the highway, which makes trip planning easy. Founders Park in Islamorada, the Marathon city ramp at 33rd Street, the Sunshine Key and Big Pine ramps and the Murray E. Nelson Government Center ramp in Key Largo cover the chain end to end.
Shore anglers should look at Bahia Honda State Park, where the old bridge and the channel give access to moving water, and the bridge catwalks where they remain open to foot traffic.
Fish have been concentrating on the bridge channels and the oceanside patch reefs, with the wrecks in 60 to 120 feet holding permit and cobia. Much of this water sits inside the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which layers its own zone rules and no-take areas on top of state regulations, and tarpon, permit, snapper and grouper all carry species-specific seasons and handling requirements. Check current FWC and sanctuary regulations before keeping fish or anchoring on coral.
Tactics That Are Working
Bridge tarpon in June come down to bait presentation and boat position. A live mullet, crab or palolo worm imitation drifted naturally down the shadow line on an 80-pound fluorocarbon leader and a 6/0 to 7/0 circle hook is the whole program. Set up well up-current and let the tide do the work rather than motoring into the fish.
Offshore, the mahi have been on the weedlines and the color changes — carry a livewell of pilchards and a bare 4/0 circle on a 20-pound spinner, and keep one hooked fish in the water to hold the school at the boat. On the patch reefs, yellowtail want a light leader and an unweighted bait drifted back in a well-tended chum slick.
This Week’s Tip
Never run your boat through a bridge shadow line to get into position. Idle in from up-current, shut down well above the structure, and let the tide carry your baits into the seam. Tarpon in a Keys bridge channel hear a hull long before they see a bait, and one careless pass will shut down a spot that would otherwise have fished for another two hours.
More Florida Keys Resources
Florida Keys Fishing Guide · Florida Keys Seasonal Calendar · All Florida Keys reports →
Also read: Florida Keys Fishing Report — Week of July 30, 2026: Permit on the Wrecks, Mutton Snapper
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