Fishing in the Florida Keys

The Florida Keys, that magical part of the USA that’s nearer to Cuba than the US mainland has water all around them and fish galore. Several of the Keys have a huge reputation for top class sport but Key West wins the prize as the top spot because of the vast selection of species that inhabit the oceans around the island. Florida Keys fishing attracts anglers from around the world and for very good reasons.

With inshore fishing for tarpon and sharks, reef fishing for snapper and grouper plus offshore fishing for sailfish, dolphin, kingfish, wahoo and countless other species, it’s a fisherman’s paradise. With such a variety of species and with water on all sides you'll be hard pressed to find an excuse for a bad day's fishing whatever the weather gods can throw at you.

You'll find a number of offshore boats working out of Key West, our first love is light tackle fishing. If you’re not a keen angler you’ll be wondering what I’m talking about, so let’s start with a quick explanation. The offshore boats tend to be bigger with a greater degree of luxury such as a large air conditioned lounge and full bathrooms. They motor around the ocean towing a number of baits behind the boat and once a fish hooks itself the lucky angler sits in the fighting chair to play the hooked fish to the boat. A light tackle boat is somewhat smaller, being somewhere around 26 – 30 ft long, with no accomodation and an open deck. Typically powered by twin outboards, they reach great speeds and are able to fish spots many miles from Key West. Each angler on board has a rod and reel, and when a fish bites it is up to the angler to strike and reel in the fish unaided. The offshore captains tend to fish in water at least 200 feet deep whereas the light tackle boats are much more versatile operating in water anything between 20 feet deep for tarpon in the harbour to 200 ft deep offshore whilst fishing for dolphin, wahoo or sailfish.

You don't have to be an expert fisher to fish from a light tackle boat, the skippers like nothing better than seeing somebody catch their very first fish. All of the skippers are very helpful and they’ll all do their best to ensure that you have a great fishing experience, and maybe a fish or two to take home with you or have prepared at one of the local seafood restaurants. All of the boats have a large selection of fishing tackle for you to use if you don’t have your own gear. All that's required from you for a great day's fishing is sunscreen, sunglasses a hat and your food and drink for the day.

Planned future articles include a more detailed description of a day fishing for sailfish, tuna, grouper or tarpon, but in the meantime we’d urge you to book a trip and catch some of our wonderful fish.