June 20, 2026
Florida Keys Summer Bite: Tarpon at Sunrise, Mahi Offshore, Flats Bones Hot
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Florida Keys fishing report.
We’ve got classic summer conditions across the island chain. Light to moderate southeast breeze, generally 8–15 knots, sticky humidity, and passing clouds but plenty of sun. Air temps are hovering in the upper 80s, feeling hotter once that sun’s high. Most of the day is fishable inshore; offshore chop is moderate but manageable in a decent-sized boat.
Tides today run a typical Keys pattern: an early morning incoming on the oceanside flats, then a late-morning high and a falling tide into the afternoon. That morning push has been the money window for bonefish and tarpon on the edges of the oceanside flats and channels. On the gulf side and backcountry, that falling afternoon water is flushing bait off the banks and into the troughs, getting the snook, reds, and trout chewing.
Sunrise hit early, just after six, with first light about a half hour before — that gray light has been prime for laid‑up tarpon in the basins and channel edges. Sunset comes around eight‑ish, giving you a long evening window for bridge tarpon and mangrove snapper. The hour on either side of sunrise and sunset has been the best bite for anything with silver scales and attitude.
Fish activity’s been strong. Guides out of Key Largo and Islamorada have been putting anglers on consistent schoolie mahi offshore, plus a few better gaffers mixed in, along with blackfin tuna and the odd sailfish working the edge of the reef. On the reef itself, yellowtail snapper and muttons are cooperating when the current’s right, with a few grouper still coming off live bottom and patch reefs.
Inshore, the flats from Key Largo to Big Pine are holding solid numbers of bonefish and a fair number of permit on the oceanside. Plenty of shots but you’ve gotta be sneaky — clear water, light breeze, and smart fish. Backcountry around Florida Bay and the Content Keys is giving up snook, redfish, sea trout, and a mix of jacks and ladyfish to keep rods bent. Bridges and channels at night are still producing tarpon, with a mix of rollers and laid‑up fish under the lights.
Recent catches around the Keys: boats running 10–20 mahi a trip on good days offshore, a half‑dozen or more keeper yellowtails per angler on the reef, plus a couple of muttons or a grouper for the box. Flats skiffs are seeing double‑digit bonefish shots with a handful brought to hand, and most serious tarpon crews are jumping multiple fish in a tide when conditions line up.
Best lures and baits right now:
- For mahi and tuna: small skirted trolling lures in pink/blue or green/yellow, feathers, and rigged ballyhoo. Tuna are liking small black or purple jet heads and tiny chrome jigs dropped back.
- On the reef: chum is king for yellowtail — use small pieces of cut ballyhoo or squid on light leaders. Live pinfish or ballyhoo on the bottom for muttons and grouper.
- Flats bonefish and permit: small tan or olive shrimp patterns on fly, or skimmer-style bonefish jigs and small bucktails tipped with shrimp. Permit are still suckers for a well-presented crab.
- Tarpon: live mullet, pinfish, or crabs around bridges and channels; artificial-wise, 5–6 inch soft plastics in pearl or silver, and mid‑size suspending plugs in natural colors.
- Backcountry snook and reds: white or root beer paddle tails, gold spoons, and small diving plugs, plus live shrimp or pilchards when you can get them.
Couple of hotspots if you’re heading out:
- Around Islamorada, the oceanside flats off Lower Matecumbe and the channels near Channel Two and Channel Five bridges have been holding tarpon and good numbers of bonefish on that early incoming tide, with solid mangrove snapper and the occasional grouper tight to the pilings.
- Down the road, the Bahia Honda area has been a tarpon magnet on the right tide, and the nearby flats and edges are seeing permit and bones cruising when the sun’s up and the water’s moving.
That’s the word from the water. This is Artificial Lure reminding you to fish smart, respect the resource, and keep an eye on that weather and tide clock.
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a 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