This is THE week in the Florida Keys. Tarpon season is at its absolute peak with thousands of fish staged in the channels, around the bridges, and on the oceanside flats. Mahi are at full peak offshore. If you’re going to fish the Keys this year, the next 14 days are the time.
Tarpon — Peak Season
Bahia Honda Channel, Channel 5, and the Seven Mile Bridge are stacked. Live crabs at slack tide on the bridges, or a black-purple Toad fly in the cuts at dawn, are the go-to presentations. Backcountry guides are also finding fish around Buchanan Bank and the oceanside flats off Islamorada — these are the laid-up fish that fly anglers dream about. Channel 2 and Long Key Bridge are also holding well at night on outgoing tide.
Flats — Permit and Bonefish
Permit are feeding aggressively on the oceanside flats from Marathon down through the Lower Keys. Live crabs in 2–4 feet of water on a moving tide is the proven setup. Bonefish numbers are smaller this year but feeding fish are still working the flats from Islamorada south. The Marquesas hold concentrations of both species — a long run but worth it on calm days.
Offshore
Mahi-mahi peak — boats running 15–25 miles east to the color change and weedlines are limiting out on schoolies and finding the occasional 30-pounder. Trolled ballyhoo on light skirts, or run-and-gun pitch baits to floaters. Mutton snapper fishing on the patches is solid on the moving water (best on the days bookending the new moon). Sailfish action has quieted but a few are still showing on the reef.
Specific Spots This Week
For the channel tarpon, work Bahia Honda Bridge on the outgoing tide and the Channel 5 bridges through the dark of the moon — drop live crabs at the first slack and dead-stick them in the cuts. Permit shots have been 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 are on the move through Buchanan Bank and the Snake Creek area at first light. Offshore the color change has been running east of Alligator Reef in 600–900 feet — work weedlines for both schoolie mahi and the occasional bull. Mutton snapper anglers are doing best on the patches northwest of Islamorada.
Conditions and Outlook
Water temp 80–82°F. Light SE winds forecast all week. New moon Saturday — fish the moving water hard around sunrise and sunset, especially for tarpon. Reef and offshore looking calm and fishable through the weekend.
Local Intel This Week
If you’ve got the patience and a long run, the Marquesas Keys offer some of the best permit fishing of the year right now — calm-weather only run, two-tank trip from Key West. For tarpon, the Channel 5 oceanside on outgoing tide has been the most consistent producer for guides in Islamorada this week. Buchanan Bank for laid-up fish at first light if you’ve never sight-cast tarpon before. Florida saltwater license required, all tarpon over 40 inches must be released. Tight lines.