Islamorada Fishing Report: Weak Moon Phase, Strong Low-Light Bite on Soft Plastics

This is Artificial Lure with your Islamorada fishing report. Overnight we’ve had light southeast breeze around 8–12 knots, warm and muggy, with a mix of clouds and passing showers sliding up from the Straits. Air temps are sitting in the upper 70s at first light, pushing into the high 80s to near 90 by mid‑afternoon, with that classic Keys humidity and a chance of a brief squall rolling through. Sunrise is right about 6:35 a.m. with sunset near 8:10 p.m., giving you a nice long window to work the tides. We’re on a weaker moon phase, so tides aren’t ripping, but there’s still enough water moving to spark a bite around the morning and late‑day changes. Think slower current on the flats and channels, a little more push along the bridges and oceanside edges. Inshore, the backcountry has been steady. Anglers poling the bayside flats and creek mouths have been picking off schoolie snook, slot reds, and some healthy sea trout. A few tarpon have been rolling early in the channels, but they’re a bit picky with the lighter tide. Low light has been key: that first couple hours after sunrise and the last hour before dark. For lures, this is a **soft‑plastic and topwater** morning. Walk‑the‑dog plugs in bone or mullet pattern are pulling explosive strikes from snook and small tarpon around the mangrove edges. Once the sun gets up, switch to 3–4 inch paddle tails in new penny or natural baitfish colors on an 1/8–1/4 ounce jig head, bounced along channel edges and potholes. Live bait is still king. Live shrimp under a popping cork is putting trout and mangrove snapper in the box on the bayside. Pilchards and small pinfish freelined around structure are turning snook and the occasional juvenile tarpon. Cut mullet or ladyfish laid on the bottom in the channels will get you shark action and the odd big red. Offshore, the Islamorada humps and nearby bluewater have been giving up scattered mahi‑mahi, more schoolies than slammers, with a few gaffers mixed in when lines of weed and birds show. Trolling small skirted ballyhoo, naked ballyhoo, or pilchards on light leaders has been productive. A couple boats reported blackfin tuna around the humps early, especially for those jigging vertical metals and drifting live baits down deep. On the reefs, yellowtail snapper fishing has been solid. Chum slicks set up in 60–90 feet are drawing good flags, plus mutton snapper and the occasional grouper tight to the bottom. Smaller hooks, light fluorocarbon, and chunks of ballyhoo, squid, or cut threadfin are the ticket. Keep your drifts natural; the water’s been clear and the fish line‑shy. A few hotspots to circle on your chart: – **Channel Two and Channel Five bridges** for snapper, tarpon shots at dawn, and snook around the pilings with live mullet or big shrimp. – **Florida Bay banks northwest of Islamorada**, where the deeper potholes along the flats are holding reds, trout, and snook on soft plastics and shrimp under corks when the tide starts moving. Overall fish activity is best at dawn, dusk, and right on the tide changes. Midday can still produce if you slide deeper or fish shade and structure, but scale down your leaders and slow your presentations. That’s your Islamorada report from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a tide change. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn