Early Summer Keys & Miami: Mahi, Tarpon & Topwater Action Heating Up

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your South Florida fishing report for the Keys and Miami. We’ve got classic early‑summer conditions setting up: warm, muggy, and fishy. Offshore and inshore temps are running in the low to mid‑80s, light southeast breeze early, building to a moderate onshore wind by midday. Typical scattered thunderstorms building after lunch, so the morning bite is still your prime window. Local tide tables from NOAA for the Upper Keys and Government Cut are showing a pre‑dawn **incoming tide** topping out mid‑morning, then falling through early afternoon. That clean incoming has been the key turn‑on for both reef and inshore action. Sunrise is right around 6:30 a.m., sunset just after 8, giving you a long crepuscular window to play with. Around the **Florida Keys**, the offshore bite has been strong. Charter docks in Islamorada and Key Largo are reporting steady **schoolie mahi** with a few gaffers mixed in, plus scattered **blackfin tuna** on the humps and **sailfish** still popping up in 200–400 feet. Most boats running weedlines and bird packs are putting 10–20 mahi in the box when conditions line up. Best offerings have been small skirted ballyhoo, naked ballyhoo behind sea witches, and 4–6 inch bright plastics in dolphin, pink, and blue‑white. Tuna guys are doing well with live pilchards and small jigs on fluorocarbon. On the **patch reefs and edge**, there’s been a solid **yellowtail and mangrove snapper** bite on the evening falling tide, with plenty of **muttons** in 60–120 feet. Chum heavy, fish light leaders, and send back small chunks of ballyhoo or sardine. A knocker rig with a 1–2 oz egg sinker and circle hook has been money. In the **backcountry and bridges**, tarpon are still very much in play. Local guides out of Islamorada and Marathon are reporting multiple shots at 60–120 lb fish around sunset and into the night. Best baits have been live crabs, mullet, or big shrimp on the shadow lines. If you’re throwing artificials, go with soft‑plastic paddletails in pearl or root beer, or a suspending plug in bone or silver/black. Sliding up toward **Miami**, the offshore scene out of Government Cut and Haulover has been a mixed bag but productive. Expect scattered **mahi**, **kingfish**, and **bonito**, with the odd **sailfish** and **blackfin** early and late. Slow‑trolled live gogs and pilchards are still king, especially along the color change and reef edge in 100–200 feet. If you’re pulling hardware, planers with spoons or sea‑witch/ballyhoo combos are putting steady kings and bonies in the box. Inshore around Biscayne Bay, the early‑morning topwater game has been strong on the higher water. Snook and **sea trout** are chewing along the mangrove edges and flats at first light. Walk‑the‑dog plugs in bone, chrome, or mullet pattern, plus 3–4 inch paddletails on light jigheads, have been the ticket. Shrimp under a popping cork or live pilchards free‑lined on the edges will keep the rods bent for less experienced anglers. Nighttime snook around bridges and dock lights is very good on the outgoing tide using live shrimp, small pilchards, or compact swimbaits. **Best lures right now:** small dolphin‑color trolling skirts, white and chartreuse bucktails, bone topwaters, pearl paddletails, and silver/black twitch baits. **Best natural baits:** live pilchards, goggle‑eyes, mullet, crabs for tarpon, and ballyhoo strips or chunks for snapper and mahi. Couple of **hot spots** to circle: – The Islamorada and Key Largo reef line in 70–130 feet for yellowtail, muttons, and an easy shot offshore to chase mahi along weedlines. – The edge off Government Cut in 90–200 feet for sails, kings, and blackfin, then Biscayne Bay’s eastern flats at sunrise for snook and trout. That’s the word from the water. 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