# Florida Keys Late Spring Bite: Snapper, Jacks, and Tarpon on the Move

Morning, folks, this is Artificial Lure with your Florida Keys fishing report. Around the Keys today, conditions are looking like classic late-spring saltwater fishing: warming water, good tide movement, and plenty of life in the shallows and along the edges. The National Weather Service in Key West is calling for a warm, breezy day with passing clouds and a decent chance of afternoon showers or a squall or two offshore. That means early bite windows are the best bet before the wind and boat traffic build up. According to the NOAA tide tables for the Florida Keys, the tide cycle is offering solid moving water today, and that’s what you want. Fish stack up best on a pushing tide over flats, along mangrove shorelines, bridge shadow lines, and current edges around cuts and channels. If you can time your first light trip with the last of the incoming or the start of the outgoing, you’re in business. Sunrise is just after 6:35 a.m., and sunset will be around 8:00 p.m., give or take a minute depending on your exact spot. That gives you a long day, but the magic hours are still dawn and the last two hours before dark. Reports coming in from local anglers around Islamorada, Marathon, Key West, and backcountry pockets of the Upper Keys have been steady. The bite has been strongest on mangrove snapper, jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel, and shark, with good shots at sea trout, small tarpon, and a few solid barracuda mixed in. Nearshore reef and patch reports have also mentioned keeper-size yellowtail snapper, and the occasional grouper bite when the current lays right. A few backcountry crews have been landing 5 to 15 snapper per stop when they find clean water and bait, with some trips producing a handful of jacks and trout on top of that. Tarpon action has been hit-or-miss, but when the mullet and pilchards show, they’re rolling. Best bait right now? Live pilchards are king in the Keys, followed closely by shrimp, pinfish, and small ballyhoo if you’re offshore or working deeper edges. For the backcountry, a live shrimp under a cork or freelined on light tackle is hard to beat. Around bridges and channels, a pilchard or finger mullet tossed into the current can get crushed. If you’re targeting mackerel, a strip bait or live pilchard on a small wire leader works nicely. Best lures: a 3 to 5 inch soft plastic jerk shad, a gold spoon, small chrome topwater plug at daybreak, and a jighead with a paddle tail. For tarpon, a well-presented swimbait or live bait is still the ticket. For snapper and trout, small scented plastics bounced near structure can save the day when the bait is scarce. A couple hot spots to keep on your list: the bridges around Seven Mile and Channel 5 for moving-water action, and the edges of Florida Bay mangrove points and cut mouths in the Upper Keys for snapper, trout, and juvenile tarpon. If you’re running nearshore, the reef line and patch reefs off Islamorada and Marathon have been holding the best mixed bag. Keep it simple: fish the tide, stay on moving water, and match the bait that’s already there. Thanks for tuning in, subscribe for more, and tight lines. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn