Fishing Hot Spots

Lake guides for this map

Month-by-month patterns, fish, ramps and rules for each water:

All fishing guides →

Fishing Hot Spots by island

Reefs, shoals, banks and channels named on the NOAA charts. Tap one to fly to it on the map.

The reef line, the bridges and the Gulf Stream

A line of coral reefs runs along the Atlantic side of the Keys a few miles offshore, from Carysfort and Molasses in the Upper Keys to Sombrero, Looe Key and Sand Key off Key West. Along the reef you find snappers, groupers, grunts, barracuda and jacks, and just outside it the Gulf Stream brings sailfish, mahi-mahi, wahoo, tuna and kingfish close to shore. The bridges and channels between the Keys, like Channel Five, Long Key, the Seven Mile Bridge and Bahia Honda, are famous for tarpon in spring, plus snook and mangrove snapper. On the Gulf side the shallow flats hold bonefish, permit and tarpon, and the Dry Tortugas and the Marquesas are a run worth making for big snappers and groupers. Dozens of charted wrecks and artificial reefs from Miami to Key West hold fish all year.

The core of many reefs, like Molasses, French, Carysfort, Alligator, Sombrero and Looe Key, are Sanctuary Preservation Areas where fishing is not allowed, and the Tortugas Ecological Reserve and Western Sambo are no-take too. They show in red on the map, and fishing spots are kept out of them.