The Florida Keys is a fisherman’s paradise with many types of fishing available. Apparently more saltwater world records have been established in the Florida Keys than any other angling destination in the world
If you are staying in Orlando and want to visit the Keys it might be wise to have an overnight stopover on the way somewhere on the Atlantic Coast. We often stay around Miami.
The Keys are surrounded by miles of shallow sand and grass flats. In water as shallow as six inches you can find small fish, crabs and shrimp. There are beautiful flats on the Atlantic side of the Keys whilst on the Gulf side there are uninhabited mangrove islands.
Amongst the fish to be found on the Keys are bonefish and tarpon which are usually inshore but jacks, spanish mackerel and barracuda are also plentiful particularly in the winter months. Grouper and snapper can be found in the reef areas while dolphin fish (mahi-mahi), billfish, tuna and wahoo are off shore.
Whether you want a family trip for some fish for dinner or fly rod fishing Light tackle boats are probably the most flexible charters in the Keys. With light tackle you can catch most species from tarpon to deep water sailfish and many others such as tuna, cobia, dorado, snapper, ceros and wahoo.
If any members of your party fancy deep sea off shore fishing the waters off shore are very deep. Species you can catch include blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish, spearfish, kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, tuna, barracuda, cobia, grouper, snapper, jacks and sharks, hopefully the latter will not be too big!
Probably the most economical way to fish off shore is Party Boat Fishing. This type of fishing is usually multi day or full-day trips to areas throughout the Keys and reservations are not usually required.
Although the Keys were famous for ship wrecking thankfully these days wrecks are rare. However the old wrecks provide great fishing as while schools of permit and amberjacks swirl around the coral-covered structures snapper and grouper live in the crevices.
You can anchor up and harbour fish for many species of fish including tarpon, permit, cobia and sharks.
Bridge Fishing is popular in the Keys as it is in many parts of Florida and for me not having very good “sea-legs” this seems the most suitable kind! The historic bridges that border the Florida Keys Overseas Highway are fishing platforms but you will still need a saltwater license. The bridges are a combination of fishing pier and artificial reef and great fishing can found at Long Key Bridge, both the bridges at Toms Harbour, and the west end of the Old Seven Mile Bridge.
If you do go fishing on the Keys I hope you have a good catch.