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Keys Winter Bite: Islamorada Fishing Rundown
Published 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Description
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from Islamorada.
We woke up to a classic winter Keys morning: light chop and an east breeze. PredictWind shows an east wind running about 13 to 16 knots this afternoon, temps in the mid‑70s, and just a light two‑foot swell in Hawk Channel. Islamorada Florida Bay weather from US Harbors is calling water temps around 74 degrees, perfect for both reef and backcountry action. Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m., sunset near 5:40 p.m., so you’ve got a tight, fishy winter light window.
Tides are modest but fishable. NOAA’s station for Islamorada in Florida Bay and the Islamorada tide tables show a typical winter Keys pattern: a pre‑dawn high, a mid‑morning fall, then another push mid‑afternoon. Plan to be set up on your spot an hour before that incoming starts; that’s when everything here really wakes up.
Offshore, the fleet running out of Whale Harbor and Bud N’ Mary’s has been into a mixed bag the last few days. Local reports and trip logs from charter sites like Captain Experiences and the Florida Keys Fishing Report Today podcast have boats boxing schoolie mahi, blackfin tuna on the humps, and a few sailfish pushing through in 120 to 200 feet. Slow‑trolled ballyhoo and live pilchards are the ticket on the edge; small naked ballyhoo and sea witches in blue‑and‑white or pink are money right now. For blackfin, think live chummies and small flutter jigs or Williamson‑style speed jigs dropped around the 409 and Islamorada Hump.
On the reefs, the bite’s been steady. Guides checking in to local magazines and booking sites are reporting good numbers of yellowtail snapper, a few muttons, and keeper mangroves on the patch reefs in 25 to 40 feet. Best bet: 1/16 to 1/8‑ounce jigheads tipped with shrimp or cut ballyhoo, long fluorocarbon leaders, and plenty of chum. Add a pilchard or silverside into the slick and those flags slide right up behind the boat.
Backcountry and Florida Bay are where it’s really feeling “Keys winter.” With 70‑mid water temps reported around Whale Harbor and Flamingo, snook and redfish are chewing along the edges of the mainland banks and the deeper channels. Live shrimp under a popping cork, or a simple jig‑and‑shrimp combo, is hard to beat. For artificials, go with 3‑ to 4‑inch paddle tails in pearl, new penny, or gold on 1/8‑ to 1/4‑ounce heads. A gold spoon slow‑rolled along the mangroves will still get mugged by reds, trout, and the odd snook.
Recent catches out of Islamorada marinas have also included good seatrout and Spanish mackerel in the Bay. Chumming with glass minnows and tossing small spoons or Got‑Cha style plugs into the slick is putting up double‑digit mack days. Wire leader is your friend.
Couple of local hot spots for today:
• **Alligator Reef Light** – Work the up‑current side with live ballyhoo, pilchards, or bucktails for yellowtail, muttons, and the occasional mackerel and sail on the outside edge.
• **Channel Two and Channel Five bridges** – Fish the shadow lines on the moving tide with shrimp, pinfish, or small crabs for muttons, mangroves, jacks, and the odd tarpon rolling through on these mild winter temps.
Artificial‑wise, pack Yo‑Zuri and Rapala diving plugs in natural pilchard or ballyhoo colors for trolling the edge, 1/4‑ounce bucktails tipped with shrimp on the reef, and soft plastics plus gold spoons for the Bay. Natural bait: live shrimp, pilchards, ballyhoo, and pinfish are your top producers almost everywhere around here right now.
That’s your Islamorada fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite report.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and
We woke up to a classic winter Keys morning: light chop and an east breeze. PredictWind shows an east wind running about 13 to 16 knots this afternoon, temps in the mid‑70s, and just a light two‑foot swell in Hawk Channel. Islamorada Florida Bay weather from US Harbors is calling water temps around 74 degrees, perfect for both reef and backcountry action. Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m., sunset near 5:40 p.m., so you’ve got a tight, fishy winter light window.
Tides are modest but fishable. NOAA’s station for Islamorada in Florida Bay and the Islamorada tide tables show a typical winter Keys pattern: a pre‑dawn high, a mid‑morning fall, then another push mid‑afternoon. Plan to be set up on your spot an hour before that incoming starts; that’s when everything here really wakes up.
Offshore, the fleet running out of Whale Harbor and Bud N’ Mary’s has been into a mixed bag the last few days. Local reports and trip logs from charter sites like Captain Experiences and the Florida Keys Fishing Report Today podcast have boats boxing schoolie mahi, blackfin tuna on the humps, and a few sailfish pushing through in 120 to 200 feet. Slow‑trolled ballyhoo and live pilchards are the ticket on the edge; small naked ballyhoo and sea witches in blue‑and‑white or pink are money right now. For blackfin, think live chummies and small flutter jigs or Williamson‑style speed jigs dropped around the 409 and Islamorada Hump.
On the reefs, the bite’s been steady. Guides checking in to local magazines and booking sites are reporting good numbers of yellowtail snapper, a few muttons, and keeper mangroves on the patch reefs in 25 to 40 feet. Best bet: 1/16 to 1/8‑ounce jigheads tipped with shrimp or cut ballyhoo, long fluorocarbon leaders, and plenty of chum. Add a pilchard or silverside into the slick and those flags slide right up behind the boat.
Backcountry and Florida Bay are where it’s really feeling “Keys winter.” With 70‑mid water temps reported around Whale Harbor and Flamingo, snook and redfish are chewing along the edges of the mainland banks and the deeper channels. Live shrimp under a popping cork, or a simple jig‑and‑shrimp combo, is hard to beat. For artificials, go with 3‑ to 4‑inch paddle tails in pearl, new penny, or gold on 1/8‑ to 1/4‑ounce heads. A gold spoon slow‑rolled along the mangroves will still get mugged by reds, trout, and the odd snook.
Recent catches out of Islamorada marinas have also included good seatrout and Spanish mackerel in the Bay. Chumming with glass minnows and tossing small spoons or Got‑Cha style plugs into the slick is putting up double‑digit mack days. Wire leader is your friend.
Couple of local hot spots for today:
• **Alligator Reef Light** – Work the up‑current side with live ballyhoo, pilchards, or bucktails for yellowtail, muttons, and the occasional mackerel and sail on the outside edge.
• **Channel Two and Channel Five bridges** – Fish the shadow lines on the moving tide with shrimp, pinfish, or small crabs for muttons, mangroves, jacks, and the odd tarpon rolling through on these mild winter temps.
Artificial‑wise, pack Yo‑Zuri and Rapala diving plugs in natural pilchard or ballyhoo colors for trolling the edge, 1/4‑ounce bucktails tipped with shrimp on the reef, and soft plastics plus gold spoons for the Bay. Natural bait: live shrimp, pilchards, ballyhoo, and pinfish are your top producers almost everywhere around here right now.
That’s your Islamorada fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite report.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
This content was created in partnership and