Early Summer Upper Keys: Incoming Tides, Reef Snapper, and Offshore Mahi

This is Artificial Lure with your South Florida fishing report for the Upper Keys and Miami waters. We’ve got a classic early‑summer pattern setting up. Down in the Upper Keys, around Key Largo and Islamorada, tides today run an early **morning incoming** on the ocean side, switching to an **afternoon falling tide** that lines up nicely with the reef and edge‑of‑the‑gulfstream bite. Inshore around Biscayne Bay and Government Cut, expect that same incoming to push cleaner water up on the flats right after first light, then drain hard mid‑day through the cuts and channels. Weather is warm and sticky: light to moderate southeast breeze, 5–12 knots most of the day, a typical mix of sun and scattered clouds, with the usual chance of a brief sea‑breeze thunderstorm mid to late afternoon. Sunrise comes just after 6:30 a.m., sunset just before 8:20 p.m., leaving a sweet low‑light window at dawn and again the last hour of the day when the fish chew best. Offshore of the Keys, boats working the 300–800 foot range have been picking at **schoolie mahi with a few gaffers**, plus scattered blackfin tuna on the deeper edges and humps. Most crews are reporting steady numbers of schoolies with enough keepers to make a box, especially when they keep moving and look for birds and weedlines. Best offerings: small ballyhoo strips, squid, and bright‑colored trolling lures, plus vertical jigs and live pilchards or cigar minnows for the tunas. On the reef from about 60–120 feet, the **snapper bite** has been solid, especially yellowtail at dusk and into the evening, with some mangroves and a few muttons mixed in. Light chum, 12–20‑pound fluorocarbon, and small hooks are key. Bait of choice: cut ballyhoo, squid, and small chunks of silversides. A simple yellow jighead tipped with shrimp or cut bait will also put meat in the box when the current cooperates. Inshore around Islamorada bridges, Channel 2 and Channel 5, nights and early mornings have produced **mangrove snapper, jacks, and the occasional snook or tarpon**. Free‑lined pilchards, pinfish, and shrimp are the go‑to baits. For artificials, throw 3–5 inch paddle‑tail swimbaits in natural greenback colors or a suspending twitchbait worked in the shadow lines. Sliding up toward Miami and Biscayne Bay, the **bonefish and permit** scene on the flats has been decent on the higher stages of the tide with good light. Calm mornings with that incoming tide are your best shot. Live shrimp, small crabs, and skimmer jigs or shrimp‑pattern soft plastics will get you eats if you’re quiet and accurate with the cast. Around the urban side, **snook, small tarpon, and jacks** are roaming the bridges and dock lines in the river and near Government Cut. Low light is prime. Soft‑plastic jerkbaits, hair jigs, and small topwaters early have all produced. For bait, mullet, pilchards, and shrimp drifted along the structure are putting fish in the net. Two hot spots to circle on your chart: - **Long Key to Channel 5 bridges** for early‑morning and evening snapper, with a shot at snook and tarpon in the shadow lines. - **Biscayne Bay oceanside flats from Elliott Key north** for bones and permit on the late‑morning incoming, especially along the ocean‑side edges and potholes. Best all‑around artificials today: white or pearl **paddle‑tails on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads**, gold spoons on the flats, and small feathered bucktail jigs at the bridges. Best natural baits: **live shrimp, pilchards, pinfish, and small crabs**. 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