UTERJanuary
Bonefish on the warm afternoons; the bridges and patches are the sure thing
Big bonefish on the oceanside flats when the water is over 70; otherwise patch-reef snapper and the bridge channels. Kings and cobia on the wrecks.
Key Largo to Key West
The Florida Keys fishing
What's biting in The Florida Keys in October: permit, snook and bonefish at their peak, with sailfish, tarpon and cobia around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 30 fish here month by month, from Key Largo to Key West.
Snook opens in the backcountry; bones, permit and the return of the kings
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.
Key LargoIslamoradaMarathonBig PineKey West
Updated
Now · October
Snook opens in the backcountry; bones, permit and the return of the kings
Snook on the backcountry bridges and creeks; bonefish on the higher fall tides; kings and Spanish return to the reef edge and the wrecks.
BonefishPermitSnookYellowtail snapperMangrove snapperKing mackerelTarpon
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Permit
Still good on the higher fall tides until the first real front.
Snook
Bonefish
The best tides of the year; the spawning season begins offshore around the moons. Catch-and-release only — check MyFWC.
Yellowtail snapper
Great barracuda
Black grouper
Wahoo
Blackfin tuna
Fall blackfin back on the humps.
Bull shark
Lemon shark
Sailfish
Tarpon
Cobia
Spanish mackerel
Redfish
Mangrove snapper
Goliath grouper
Tripletail
Jack crevalle
Cero mackerel
Mutton snapper
Cubera snapper
Greater amberjack
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
Blue marlin
Swordfish
Little tunny (bonito)
Great hammerhead
The water
The tide here
Mixed, 1–2.5 ft
Small ranges but real current through the channels between the keys, and the oceanside and bayside tides are out of step — one side is moving when the other is slack.
Snook
Slot 28–33" · open Mar 1 – Apr 30 and Oct 1 – Nov 30
One per person with a snook permit. Southwest region rules apply to Monroe County; snook are a backcountry and bridge fish here. Check MyFWC for the rule of the day.
Structure that matters
Grass flatArtificial reefLedge / hard bottomBridgeChannel edgeWreckMarker / buoyPass / inlet
After a cold front
Fronts empty the flats — bonefish and permit slide to the deeper channels and the oceanside edges; the bridges and patch reefs keep fishing. Two warm days later the flats refill from the ocean side.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Sailfish 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.
March
The flats come alive: bonefish, permit and the first tarpon
Tarpon show in the channels and at the bridges; permit and bonefish tail on the oceanside flats as the water warms past 74.
April
Tarpon month begins — bridges, channels and the oceanside
Tarpon at Bahia Honda, Seven Mile and every channel bridge on the tide change; permit on the flats and the wrecks. Yellowtail on the reef at night.
May
Peak 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.
June
Tarpon linger; snapper spawn on the reef; bones on the oceanside
Late tarpon at the bridges; the mangrove and yellowtail snapper spawn on the reef and patches; bonefish early on the oceanside flats.
July
Snapper 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.
August
Bonefish and permit peak on the flats; snapper on the reef
Late summer is the best bonefish and permit fishing of the year — early tides on the oceanside, then the reef for snapper.
September
Peak permit and bonefish continue; the first fall bait
Permit on the flats and wrecks, bonefish on the oceanside, baby tarpon in the backcountry basins. Snook opens the 1st in the backcountry? — no: October 1 here.
October · now
Snook opens in the backcountry; bones, permit and the return of the kings
Snook on the backcountry bridges and creeks; bonefish on the higher fall tides; kings and Spanish return to the reef edge and the wrecks.
November
Fall bonefish; sailfish season begins; kings on the wrecks
The best bonefish tides of the year on the oceanside; kings and cobia on the wrecks and the reef edge as the water cools.
December
Winter pattern: bones on warm days, patches and bridges otherwise
Watch the water temperature: over 70 the flats fish, under it the patch reefs, the bridge channels and the wrecks.
Fish guides for The Florida Keys
When, where and what to use, fish by fishBlack grouperBlackfin tunaBonefishBull sharkCero mackerelCobiaCubera snapperGoliath grouperGreat barracudaGreat hammerheadGreater amberjackKing mackerelLemon sharkMahi-mahi (dolphin)Mangrove snapperMutton snapperPermitRedfishSailfishSheepsheadSnookSpanish mackerelSwordfishTarponTripletailWahooYellowtail snapper
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