New Moon in May Fishing the Florida Keys

I have been pretty busy fishing. If the winds stay down it looks like the rest of May will be a great month. With the new moon tides having the wind lay down made fishing more productive and comfortable.

Flats/back country fishing is pretty good. With the big tides and light winds the water is clear and fish easy to spot. Last trip we had shots at six tarpon. Didn't see any permit, but there were some jacks following rays that got our heart going and one Bonefish that spotted us before we spotted him. There was also a gazillion Barracudas and sharks.

Bridge fishing is starting to get hot. Tarpon are everywhere and some of the big Mangrove snapper have start returning from the reef. Permit, pompano and hogfish are being caught near the slack tide. There are plenty of weeds though making the moving tides a challenge to fish.

The reef is hot as fire if you catch the right tide. The last of the outgoing is the tide to catch right now as the incoming is gin clear. The same for the patches and rock pile in Hawk Channel. There are plenty of grouper though most are short. The keepers I have been getting are on isolated heads. Muttons are on any isolated head or bump in the 100 to 130 range waiting for the next full moon to spawn.

Offshore the tuna are still biting and dolphin are out there. There are big slammer dolphin, but they are tricky to find and moving fast. Bill fish, mainly sails are still around which is nice. The bill fish are mainly hitting rigged fresh Balleyhoo, but we had a big sail nail a bullet head fast trolling back from the hump.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas