Islamorada, this is Artificial Lure with your Keys fishing report.

We’ve got classic winter Keys conditions this morning: cool, dry air, a light northeast breeze turning more northerly as that front edges down the peninsula, and seas running a gentle 1 to 3 feet on the reef, a bit lumpier further offshore according to the National Weather Service marine forecast out of Key West. Skies are mostly clear with passing clouds, and water clarity on the oceanside reef is good enough to sight bait showers.

Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m. with sunset near 5:40 p.m. per the Keys tide and solunar tables. That gives us a nice, tight winter window where the best bite has been early and late, especially around the tide changes.

Tides through the Middle Keys, from Long Key Bight to Channel Two and down toward Key West, are running a typical winter pattern: a predawn or early-morning high, dropping mid-morning to late-morning low, then a modest afternoon rise, based on NOAA and tide-forecast stations for Long Key and Key West. Nothing extreme today, but enough movement that those edges of the highs and lows are worth planning around.

Offshore, winter sailfish season is wide open. Keys Weekly’s recent tournament recap out of Islamorada reported boats putting up nine-release days, and there are still packs of sails sliding down the reef line in 80 to 150 feet. Expect scattered dolphin and a few blackfin tuna around the humps, but the star of the show is sailfish riding that north breeze and showering ballyhoo on the edge.

Best offshore spread right now:
- **Live ballyhoo** or pilchards on 40–50 lb fluoro leaders, slow-trolled or drifted.
- For artificials, small skirted ballyhoo, sea witches in blue-and-white or pink-and-white, and naked swimming ballyhoo behind a light chugger.
- Keep a pitch rod ready with a frisky **goggle-eye or cigar minnow** for the sail that pops up in the prop wash.

On the reef and patch reefs in 20 to 50 feet, the snapper bite has been steady. Expect mixed bags of **yellowtail, mangrove, and mutton snapper**, plus the usual lane and vermilion when you slide a little deeper. Guys anchored on the edge with chum are bringing back 10–20 keeper tails a trip when the current lines up.

Best reef setups:
- Light chum slick, 12–20 lb fluoro leaders, small J hooks.
- Baits: **cut ballyhoo, squid strips, and live pilchards**. A small jighead tipped with shrimp has been hot on the patches.
- For grouper on the rock piles: big live pinfish or grunt on 60–80 lb leader right on the bottom.

In the backcountry, out toward Flamingo and the Cape, the winter mix is on: **snook, redfish, seatrout, and black drum** around creek mouths and mangrove shorelines. The cooler water has pushed them tight to structure on the falling tide, with trout and ladyfish stacked on the edges of potholes during the incoming.

Top backcountry offerings:
- Live shrimp under a popping cork, or free-lined on light leader.
- Artificials: 3-inch paddle tails in pearl or new penny, small gold spoons, and white bucktail jigs. Work them slow; the fish are feeding but not chasing like summer.

Couple of local hot spots to circle on the chart:
- **Alligator Reef Light**: sailfish on the color change, plus yellowtail on the up-current side with a good chum slick.
- **Channel Two and Channel Five bridges**: mutton snapper, mangroves, jacks, and a few tarpon on the swings of the tide with live shrimp and pinfish.

If you’re staying close to home near Islamorada, the oceanside patches off **Cheeca Rocks** have been giving up solid mixed bags of snapper and porgies on shrimp-tipped jigs, especially on the last of the falling tide into the first push of incoming.

That’s your Florida Keys fishing report from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite.

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