Keys Fall Fishing Report: Snapper, Reds, Bones Biting Strong on the Tides

Artificial Lure here with your morning fishing report for the Florida Keys on Wednesday, October 29th, 2025. We’re waking up to some classic fall Keys weather—partly cloudy skies, gentle northeast breeze around 10 knots, and air temps starting near 75 before warming up to the mid-80s by afternoon. Humidity’s holding steady, and the water clarity remains excellent in most backcountry and reef areas, especially as winds have settled since last week’s front. According to Tide-Forecast, sunrise hits at 7:31 AM and sunset will be at 6:47 PM, so anglers have a solid window of daylight to get in on the bite. Tide action is steady today, and that means movement all day long. Content Keys and Key West tide charts show a strong high tide at 5:54 AM (4.28 ft), falling out to low at 2:25 PM (1.19 ft), before another solid high at 8:17 PM (2.94 ft). These swings favor both reef and inshore fishing, with the falling tide being a prime time for flats and channel edges where snook, redfish, and trout are pushing bait into nearby potholes. Florida Insider Fishing Report and the Gulf of Mexico Florida Fishing Report say the action’s been hot for a late October. Anglers are catching good numbers of mangrove snapper around the bridges and channel humps, and upper keys patch reefs are still cranking out keeper yellowtail and mutton snapper—pilchards and fresh shrimp are working best here. Offshore, the mahi-mahi bite is late but alive, mostly in the 4–10 lb class out past the 600-foot line, with trolled skirted ballyhoo or pilchard-imitating artificials getting most hits. Inshore, the bay-side flats are loaded with redfish and a late surge of sea trout. Reports confirm snook are moving onto current-swept points and deeper mangrove shorelines—topwater plugs at first light, then switch to paddle tail soft baits or live white bait as the sun climbs. Don’t sleep on bonefish this week, either: they’re tailing active in shallow sand as the morning tide creeps in, with small pink jigs and live shrimp rigged light working best. Hot Spots to hit today: - **Channel Five Bridge:** Reliable for snapper, grouper, hogfish; moving water always best. - **Long Key Flats:** Early incoming tide is producing trout, redfish, bonefish and occasional tarpon. - **Western Sambo Reef:** Find solid yellowtail snapper action plus roaming muttons—drift with chum and free-line pilchards. Best lures and bait: - **Topwater plugs** like Heddon Skitter Walks for snook and reds at dawn. - **Soft plastics:** paddletails (pearl, glow, electric chicken) rigged weedless for reds and trout. - **Live shrimp** and pilchards are king for snapper, mutton, and pretty much everything on the reef. - Offshore, trolled **ballyhoo** with pink or blue skirts stay strong for mahi and blackfin tuna, especially on temperature breaks. - For bonefish, go with small 1/8-oz pink bucktail jigs or a live shrimp on a light fluorocarbon leader. Angler reports from local bait shops over the last 48 hours say limits of sna This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.