Early Summer Bite: Tarpon at Dawn, Dolphin on the Edge - Florida Keys and Miami Report

What this episode covers

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Florida Keys and Miami fishing report. We’ve got a classic early‑summer pattern setting up. Down through the Upper Keys and off Miami, the morning started warm and sticky with light southeast breeze, building to a steady 10–15 knots by mid‑day. Skies are partly cloudy with the usual chance of a passing shower offshore. Air temps are running mid‑70s at first light, pushing upper‑80s by afternoon. Seas outside the reef are a light chop, 1–3 feet, a little tighter where the Gulf Stream pushes in close off Miami. Tides around the Upper Keys and Biscayne Bay are on the smaller side, but the key windows are still that pre‑sunrise incoming and the afternoon outgoing around the channels and bridges. Sunrise came early with a soft glow over the Atlantic, and sunset will give you one more prime change of light; plan to be set up and fishing at least 30 minutes on either side of those. Offshore, the bluewater bite has been respectable. Boats running out of Key Largo and Islamorada are finding schoolie and the occasional gaffer dolphin along weedlines and bird activity in 400–800 feet. A mix of small ballyhoo, squid strips, and bright trolling feathers in chartreuse and pink has been doing the work. Keep a spinning rod rigged with a chunk or live pilchard ready for fish that slide in behind the boat. On the edge of the reef in 60–120 feet, yellowtail snapper and muttons are chewing when the current cooperates. A steady chum slick, 12–20‑pound fluorocarbon, and small hooks with cut ballyhoo, squid, or silversides are the ticket. Muttons and groupers are responding to live pinfish and big pilchards fished on the bottom around ledges and patch reefs. Inshore around the Keys bridges and flats, the tarpon bite is still alive at dawn and dusk, especially on the shadow lines of the big spans. Live mullet, crabs, and big shrimp get the nod, but for the lure crowd, work heavy swimbaits and soft plastics in natural baitfish colors. Snook and mangrove snapper are holding tight to pilings and rocky edges; free‑lined pilchards, shrimp, and small bucktail jigs will bend rods. On the flats, early‑morning bonefish are cruising the edges on that incoming tide; think small shrimp patterns, light jig heads, and very quiet presentations. Up off Miami, reef and wreck fishing has been solid with mixed muttons, vermilion snapper, and a few amberjack on deeper structure. Vertical jigs in blue and silver and live baits dropped to the marks are producing. Closer to shore, inlets and rock piles are giving up jacks, snook, and a few tarpon on live bait and topwater plugs at first light. Best lures right now: - For offshore dolphin: small skirted trolling lures in chartreuse, pink, and blue/white, plus shiny spoons. - On the reef and wrecks: 2–4 oz vertical jigs and bucktails tipped with cut bait. - Inshore: walk‑the‑dog topwaters at dawn, paddle‑tail swimbaits on 1/4–3/8 oz jig heads, and shrimp‑imitating soft plastics. Best natural baits: live pilchards, mullet, pinfish, crabs, and shrimp, plus fresh cut ballyhoo and squid. A couple of hot spots to circle on your chart: - Around Islamorada, the reefs and wrecks off Alligator Reef and the nearby ledges are giving up good snapper and grouper when the current and chum line set up. - Off Miami, the wrecks and reef line east of Government Cut and Haulover, especially along the 90–200‑foot contour, have been holding snapper, kingfish, and the occasional sail early and late. That’s your on‑the‑water rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn

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