Beginner's guide
Learn to fish Islamorada
The Keys reward local knowledge, and this site is built to lend you some. Six steps from “I would like to catch a fish” to a plan for tomorrow morning, then the words you will hear on the dock.
You have picked charter: the captain handles steps 4 to 6. Read steps 1 to 3 so you know what to ask for, then book.
Step 1
Decide how you will fish
Charter, your own boat, or shore, bridge, kayak and wade. Set it in the header and every page narrows to what you can reach: a charter guest needs nothing but sunscreen; a shore angler works the fishing bridges, the Fills and the kayak launches.
Step 2
Read today's conditions
The conditions page shows tides, tidal currents, wind, seas, water temperature and the sun, moon and solunar times for the day you pick, ten days back and ahead. The bite score rolls that into a 0–100 number per species with the reasons spelled out.
Step 3
Pick a target
Top targets today lists the five species worth chasing for your mode. The season calendar shows what peaks each month; the species pages say where, when and how.
Step 4
Get bait and tackle
One light spinning outfit and a dozen live shrimp cover most inshore fishing. The bait and tackle pages list what to buy, where to buy it from 5:30 am, and how to rig it.
Step 5
Check the rules
Every species page has a rule card with the size, bag and season from FWC, the source link and the date we last checked. Buy a licence (or the free shoreline licence for Florida residents), add a snook permit or the reef-fish designation if you need them, and stay out of the yellow-buoyed no-take zones.
Step 6
Make the go / no-go call
Small-craft advisories, seas over three feet or wind over fifteen knots push the bite score to "not today" for small boats and offshore trips, and the site points you to the bayside, the bridges and the shore instead. File a float plan, carry VHF channel 16 and a charged phone, and come back early rather than late.
Plan a tripToday's conditionsFish species
Before you keep a fish
- A Florida saltwater fishing license is required unless you're exempt, plus a snook permit to keep snook. Customers on a licensed charter boat are covered for both.
- Reef fish (snapper, grouper, hogfish, amberjack) from a private boat require the free State Reef Fish Survey designation. On board you also need non-stainless-steel hooks with natural bait, a dehooking tool, and a descending device or venting tool rigged and ready.
- The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has no-take zones on many popular reefs. Check the zone map before you fish or spearfish.
- Spearfishing is banned in state waters from Long Key north to the Miami-Dade County line, which takes in Islamorada out to 3 nautical miles. Snook, tarpon, bonefish and permit may not be speared.
- Total length (TL) is measured to the tip of the tail; fork length (FL) to the fork; billfish are measured lower jaw to fork.
Regulations change.Always verify at MyFWC.com / NOAA Fisheries before you fish.
Safety and the reef
- Not for navigation. Use official charts, know your draft and idle over the seagrass: prop scars take decades to heal.
- Check the NWS marine forecast and the small-craft advisories on the conditions page, and turn back before the weather does.
- File a float plan with someone ashore; carry a VHF radio (channel 16), a charged phone, life jackets, water and shade.
- Tie to the mooring buoys on the reef instead of anchoring; never anchor on coral.
- Respect the yellow-buoyed Sanctuary Preservation Areas: no fishing of any kind inside them.
- Release what you will not eat, keep big tarpon in the water, and handle fish with wet hands.
- In the Everglades backcountry, shut the engine off in water under two feet and carry the park boater certificate.
Glossary
- Backcountry
- The shallow, mangrove-lined water of Florida Bay and the Everglades on the Gulf side of the Keys. Calm, protected, and home to redfish, snook, seatrout and tarpon.
- Bayside (Gulf side)
- The north-west side of the islands, facing Florida Bay. Usually calmer than the ocean side when the wind is from the east or south-east.
- Oceanside (Atlantic side)
- The south-east side of the islands, facing the Atlantic and the reef.
- Hawk Channel
- The stretch of water between the islands and the outer reef, 10 to 30 feet deep, dotted with patch reefs.
- Patch reef
- A small, isolated coral head or reef inside Hawk Channel. Easy to reach, sheltered, and full of snapper, grunts and hogfish.
- Reef line (the reef, outer reef)
- The main barrier reef about four miles offshore, in 20 to 100 feet of water. Yellowtail, mutton snapper and grouper live along its edge.
- Drop-off (the edge)
- Where the bottom falls from about 100 feet to several hundred just outside the reef. Sailfish, kingfish and blackfin tuna patrol it.
- Hump
- An underwater seamount offshore where current pushes bait to the surface. The Islamorada Hump is famous for blackfin tuna and amberjack.
- Flats
- Shallow, clear water a foot or three deep over sand or seagrass, where bonefish, permit and tarpon feed. Fished by poling a skiff quietly or wading.
- Flood tide (incoming, rising tide)
- The tide coming in. At the Islamorada bridges the flood runs north into Florida Bay.
- Ebb tide (outgoing, falling tide)
- The tide going out. At the bridges the ebb runs south toward the ocean; tarpon and snook feed hard on it.
- Slack tide (slack water)
- The short pause when the tide turns and the current stops. Bridge fishing usually slows until the water moves again.
- Spring tide
- The bigger tides around the new and full moon. More water moves, so currents run harder and the bite is often better.
- Neap tide
- The smaller tides around the quarter moons. Less current, so fish the tide changes and the bridges.
- Solunar period (major, minor)
- Times when the moon is overhead or underfoot (major, about 2 hours) or rising or setting (minor, about 1 hour). Many anglers find fish feed harder then.
- Small Craft Advisory (SCA)
- A National Weather Service warning that wind or seas are hazardous for small boats, usually sustained winds over 20 knots or seas over 7 feet. Stay inshore.
- Knot
- A speed of one nautical mile per hour, about 1.15 mph. Wind and currents are given in knots.
- Chum
- Ground fish, usually frozen in a block and hung in a mesh bag, that drifts back in the current and draws fish to the boat.
- Live well
- A tank on the boat with circulating seawater that keeps bait alive.
- Pilchard (whitebait, scaled sardine)
- A small silver baitfish netted in the Keys and used live for almost everything from snapper to sailfish.
- Ballyhoo
- A slender baitfish with a long lower jaw. Rigged whole for trolling, or chunked for snapper.
- Pinfish
- A tough little baitfish with spines, easy to catch on the grass flats and loved by tarpon, grouper and snook.
- Circle hook
- A hook with the point curved back toward the shank. It sets itself in the corner of the mouth as the fish swims away; do not jerk, just reel. Required with natural bait for reef fish.
- Non-stainless hook
- A hook that will rust away if a fish breaks off. Required for reef fish in Florida.
- Leader (bite leader)
- A length of heavier line (usually fluorocarbon or wire) between the main line and the hook, so teeth, gill plates and rocks do not cut you off.
- Fluorocarbon
- Leader material that is nearly invisible underwater and resists abrasion. Used for most Keys fishing.
- Braid (braided line)
- Thin, strong, no-stretch main line. Lets you feel bites and fish deeper with less weight; always add a leader.
- Knocker rig
- A sliding egg sinker that rests right on the hook. Simple and snag-resistant for bottom fishing on the reef.
- Popping cork
- A float with a concave top that chugs when you twitch it, drawing seatrout and redfish to the shrimp dangling below.
- Jig (bucktail, jig head)
- A weighted hook, often dressed with hair or a soft plastic, bounced along the bottom or worked through the water column.
- Kite fishing
- Flying live baits from a kite so they splash on the surface away from the boat. The Keys way to catch sailfish.
- Slow trolling
- Pulling live baits behind the boat at barely a walking pace along the reef edge for kingfish and sailfish.
- Deep dropping
- Fishing baits on the bottom in 600 to 1,800 feet with electric reels, for swordfish and deep-water snapper.
- Fork length (FL)
- The measurement from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail. Many Florida size limits use it.
- Total length (TL)
- The measurement from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail with the tail squeezed together. Snapper, grouper and snook limits use it.
- Slot limit
- A size range you may keep, for example 28 to 33 inches for snook. Fish shorter or longer go back.
- Bag limit
- How many of a species one person may keep in a day. Some species also have a per-boat limit.
- Catch and release (C&R)
- Letting a fish go. Required for tarpon and bonefish in Florida, and the right call for big breeders of any species.
- Descending device
- A weighted clip or cage that returns a reef fish with barotrauma (bloated from being pulled up fast) back to depth so it survives. Required on board when reef fishing.
- Dehooking tool
- A tool that removes the hook without touching the fish. Required on board when reef fishing.
- No-take zone (SPA, Sanctuary Preservation Area)
- A marked area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary where fishing and collecting are prohibited. Several sit right off Islamorada; the map shows them.
- Mooring buoy
- A buoy anchored to the bottom that boats tie to instead of dropping an anchor on the coral. Free to use at the reefs.
- Pole and troll zone
- An area of Everglades National Park where you may only move with a push pole, paddle or trolling motor, to protect seagrass.
- Prop scar
- A trench cut into seagrass by a propeller in water that was too shallow. It takes years to heal and it is illegal. Know your draft.
- Float plan
- A note left with someone ashore saying where you are going and when you will be back, so they can raise the alarm if you are overdue.
- VHF channel 16
- The marine radio distress and hailing channel the Coast Guard monitors. Every boat should carry a VHF.
Questions first-timers ask
- Do I need a fishing licence in Islamorada?
- Yes, unless you are exempt (under 16, a Florida resident 65 or over, or a customer on a licensed charter or pier). Florida residents fishing from shore can use the free shoreline licence. Snook need a permit; reef fish from a private boat need the free State Reef Fish Angler designation.
- What is the easiest fish to catch in Islamorada?
- Mangrove snapper from the fishing bridges on a live shrimp after dark, or seatrout and redfish in the backcountry under a popping cork. On a charter, yellowtail snapper on the reef and mahi in summer are fast, forgiving fishing.
- Where can I fish from shore in Islamorada?
- The old Channel Two, Channel Five and Long Key bridge spans are designated fishing bridges with parking. Founders Park, Library Beach and Anne's Beach do not allow fishing but have kayak launches; Indian Key Fill is the public kayak put-in for the flats.
- Is the bite score a guarantee?
- No. It is guidance built from season, water temperature, tide, light, solunar periods, moon, wind, seas and pressure, with the reasons shown so you can judge for yourself. Fish do what they want.
- Can I use the map for navigation?
- No. Spot positions are approximate and the map is not a chart. Use official NOAA charts, watch your depth and know the no-take zones.
The fastest way to learn is a day with a captain
There’s a fish with your name on it in Islamorada. We’ll help you catch it. Tell us your dates and what you would like to catch.