Yellowtail snapper fishing in The Florida Keys

In The Florida Keys, yellowtail snapper are on year-round, spawning in May–July, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. January: Winter reef-edge fishing in a chum slick.

1. JanuaryPeakWinter reef-edge fishing in a chum slick.
2. FebruaryPeakSailfish 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: 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.
4. AprilPeakTarpon 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.
5. MaySpawningSummer spawning on the reef edge — night chum slicks on the reef.
6. JuneSpawningTarpon 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.
7. JulySpawningSnapper 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. AugustPeakBonefish 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.
9. SeptemberPeakPeak 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.
10. OctoberPeakSnook 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.
11. NovemberPeakFall 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.
12. DecemberPeakWinter 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.

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 1,715 ledge / hard bottom, 695 artificial reef, 340 wreck spots in the The Florida Keys map area — the kinds yellowtail snapper hold on.

• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• 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.
• SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.
• Glass minnows (bay anchovies)Thrown by the handful as chum for Spanish, trout and ladyfish, or several on a tiny hook.

• Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#4–#1
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 70–88°F water, best at 74–84°F.

All about yellowtail snapper · The Florida Keys, the whole year