Bonefish fishing in The Florida Keys

In The Florida Keys, bonefish peak March–June and August–November and are around year-round, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. March: The flats come alive — tailing fish on the oceanside past 74°F.

1. JanuaryAroundSpawning season (October–April): fish gather in pre-spawn schools of thousands on full and new moons, then run offshore at night and dive past 300 ft. On the flats, only the warm afternoons over 70°F.
2. FebruaryAroundSailfish weather outside; bones and permit between fronts. Between fronts the flats fish well on the afternoon tide; after one, the patches and the bridge channels. The reef edge is the winter fishery.
3. MarchPeakThe flats come alive — tailing fish on the oceanside past 74°F.
4. AprilPeakSpring peak on the oceanside flats on the incoming.
5. MayPeakPeak tarpon; the permit spawn on the wrecks. The whole Keys tarpon migration is on. Permit stack on the nearshore wrecks to spawn — live crabs. Yellowtail steady on the reef.
6. JunePeakEarly tides on the oceanside before the heat.
7. JulyAroundSnapper on the reef, bonefish at dawn, the calmest water of the year. Flat-calm mornings: snapper on the patches and the reef, bonefish on the oceanside at first light, permit on the deeper flats.
8. AugustPeakLate-summer bonefish at their best — first light on the oceanside.
9. SeptemberPeakBig fish on the higher fall tides.
10. OctoberPeakThe best tides of the year; the spawning season begins offshore around the moons. Catch-and-release only — check MyFWC.
11. NovemberPeakFall bonefish on the oceanside flats until the first hard front.
12. DecemberAroundOver 70°F the flats fish; under it, look elsewhere.

Oceanside flats and patch reefs inside the reef line, the reef itself, then the Gulf-side banks and basins of Florida Bay and the backcountry. Bridges and channels connect the two. The clearest, warmest water in the state.

Fish Scouter charts 5,035 grass flat spots in the The Florida Keys map area — the kinds bonefish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.

• Leader10–15 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#4–#1
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 68–90°F water, best at 74–84°F.

All about bonefish · The Florida Keys, the whole year