Updated: Thursday, May 14, 2026 · Next update: Thursday, May 21, 2026
This Florida Keys fishing report covers mid-May, the heart of the season in the Keys. Tarpon reach their absolute peak, with thousands of fish staged in the channels, around the bridges and on the oceanside flats, and mahi hit full peak offshore. Plan around the Saturday new moon and its sunrise and sunset tides. The two weeks from mid-May are the prime window.
What’s Hitting
Tarpon are the story. Bahia Honda Channel, Channel 5 and the Seven Mile Bridge are stacked, and Channel 2 and the Long Key Bridge hold fish well at night on the outgoing tide. Backcountry guides find laid-up fish, the kind fly anglers dream about, around Buchanan Bank and the oceanside flats off Islamorada.
Permit feed aggressively on the oceanside flats from Marathon down through the Lower Keys. Bonefish numbers run smaller this season, but feeding fish still work the flats from Islamorada south. Offshore, mahi-mahi peak, with boats filling the box on schoolies and finding the occasional 30-pounder. Mutton snapper fishing on the patches is solid, and sailfish quiet down, with a few still showing on the reef.
Where to Find Them
Work Bahia Honda Bridge on the outgoing tide and the Channel 5 bridges through the dark of the moon. Permit shots are best on the oceanside flats off Marathon and Bahia Honda Key when the wind lays down; look for tailing fish in 18–36 inches of water. Backcountry tarpon move through Buchanan Bank and the Snake Creek area at first light. The Marquesas hold concentrations of both permit and bonefish, a long run but worth it on calm days.
Offshore, run 15–25 miles east to the color change and weedlines; the color change runs east of Alligator Reef in 600–900 feet. Mutton snapper anglers do best on the patches northwest of Islamorada.
Tides & Conditions
Expect water temperatures of 80–82°F and light southeast winds all week. With the Saturday new moon, fish moving water around sunrise and sunset, especially for tarpon. Mutton snapper respond to moving water too, best on the days bookending the new moon. The reef and offshore grounds look calm and fishable through the weekend.
Tackle & Tactics
- Bridge tarpon: drop live crabs at the first slack and dead-stick them in the cuts.
- Fly tarpon: a black-purple Toad fly in the cuts at dawn is the go-to pattern.
- Permit: live crabs in 2–4 feet of water on a moving tide is the proven setup.
- Mahi: troll ballyhoo on light skirts, or run and gun, pitching baits to floaters; work weedlines for schoolies and the occasional bull.
- Mutton snapper: fish the patches on moving water.
Local Intel This Week
The Marquesas Keys offer some of the best permit fishing of the year, but it is a calm-weather-only, two-tank trip from Key West. For tarpon, the Channel 5 oceanside on the outgoing tide is the most consistent producer for Islamorada guides, and Buchanan Bank at first light is the place to try laid-up fish if you have never sight-cast a tarpon. Launch at Founders Park or Harry Harris Park, both public, for the Islamorada backcountry and Buchanan Bank. The Seven Mile Bridge anchors the middle Keys tarpon water. Check current FWC and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Time the bridges to the tide. At Bahia Honda and Channel 5, tarpon stack up around the slack and the first push of outgoing water. Anchor before the slack, drop live crabs at the first slack and dead-stick them in the cuts so the bait drifts naturally into the fish.
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