Florida Keys fishing report for the week of October 1, 2026. October is a quiet month in the Keys for crowds and a very good month for fishing. The summer heat is breaking, the lobster boats have thinned out, and the flats and the reef are both producing. If you can pick your days around the wind, there is a lot to like right now.
What’s Hitting
What’s hot this week: permit are schooling on the wrecks in 60 to 120 feet and are starting to push onto the oceanside flats on calm, sunny mornings. Mutton snapper and yellowtail are steady on the reef edge, and kingfish are mixed in on the deeper patches. On the flats, bonefish are more active as the water cools a few degrees, and tarpon are still rolling in the backcountry channels and around the bridges at night.
Offshore, mahi are thinning out, but blackfin tuna are showing on the humps and the first sailfish of the fall will start to appear on the reef edge with the first strong cold front.
Where to Find Them
For permit, the wrecks off Marathon and Key West are the most reliable bet, with the oceanside flats near Sugarloaf and Big Pine worth a look on calm days. Yellowtail and muttons are on the reef from Alligator Reef down through Looe Key, and they come up into the chum line on a moving tide. Bonefish are on the Islamorada and Marathon oceanside flats, especially on the rising tide in the morning. Tarpon are around Channel Five, Long Key, and the Seven Mile Bridge after dark.
Tides & Conditions
Tides are moderate this week with the last quarter moon, which makes the bridges and channels easier to fish. Water is still in the mid-80s on the flats but cooling slowly. The wind is the variable: easterly trades in the 10 to 15 knot range are typical, and the first fall fronts can bring a few days of north wind. Keep an eye on the tropics, which can still send a system through in early October.
Tackle & Tactics
For wreck permit, a live blue crab or pass crab on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook with 30-pound fluorocarbon is the standard. On the reef, drift a small piece of ballyhoo or a silverside in the chum slick on a light jig head and 12- to 15-pound fluorocarbon for yellowtail. Bonefish want a small shrimp or a tan bonefish fly fished slowly in front of a tailing fish. For bridge tarpon, a live mullet or pinfish on 60-pound leader.
Local Intel This Week
Good public launches include the Founders Park ramp in Islamorada, the Marathon Boat Ramp at 33rd Street, and the Spanish Harbor ramp at Big Pine. Shore anglers can work the Old Seven Mile Bridge and Long Key Bridge fishing piers. Fish are concentrating on the wrecks, the reef edge, and the oceanside flats on rising tides. Much of the area is within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, so check sanctuary zones and current FWC and federal regulations and seasons before keeping fish.
This Week’s Tip
Permit on the wrecks spook easily when a boat parks right on top of them. Set up up-current, chum lightly with crabs, and let the school rise to you. When they come up, a crab drifted back on a free spool line is almost impossible for them to refuse.
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