Keys Fishing Report: High Tides, Chasing Blackfin, Snapper, and Redfish

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, October 11th, 2025, fishing report for the Florida Keys—straight from the heart of the islands and ready before first light. **Tides are running high this morning**: In Key West, high tide hit at 12:44 a.m., then a **low at 7:37 a.m.**, peaking again with a smaller high around 2:33 p.m., and low again at 6:38 p.m. Sunrise at 7:23 a.m., sunset at 7:03 p.m. If you’re planning to fish the flats or the bridges, those shifting waters will be moving the bait and turning the fish on through most of the day according to Tide-Forecast. **Today’s weather feels like classic October Keys:** muggy with a light southeasterly breeze, scattered clouds, **chance of sudden showers** especially early and late, and temps hovering mid to upper 80s. There is a Coastal Flood Advisory in place, so be alert: a potent king tide and overnight rain was set to bring some water onto low roads and ramps around the islands, especially closer to evening and tonight, per the briefing at KeyColonyBeach.net. **No bad red tide action for us in Monroe County right now**, says the FWC update. A few reports of fish kills up the Gulf coast, but local water quality stays favorable here for now. **Fish have been moving in strong**: - Patch reefs around Islamorada and Marathon are loaded with **mangrove snapper, yellowtail, and solid grouper bites**—most boats getting their limits in just a few hours. Ballyhoo or fresh pilchards for bait, with the best action during a falling tide late morning into afternoon. - **Blackfin tuna are thick offshore** on the humps—load up on pilchards, chum heavy, and you’ll get the bite going fast. The deep ledges are holding **queen snapper** and some banded rudderfish if you’ve got the electric reels ready (report from Keys Weekly). - On the flats, early risers are finding **snook and redfish moving on the high tides**, especially around Flamingo, Channel 2, and the backcountry ponds. Topwater walking baits at first light, then big paddle-tail soft plastics or shrimp-tipped jigs as the sun climbs. **Recent catches** have been especially good thanks to the stable weather: Several reports of boats catching their limit of blackfin tuna (in the 15-25 lb range), hefty yellowtails, and some monster muttons along the deep edge near Alligator Reef. Inshore, a few big tarpon are still around the bridges—nighttime chunk bait or live crabs doing best. **Bait & Lures:** - Offshore: Livies (pilchards and minnows) work great for tuna and snapper; fresh ballyhoo is king for mahi and sails. - Reef: Silversides, pilchards, or cut squid over chum lines. - Inshore: Topwater plugs or walk-the-dog stickbaits, gold spoons, and shrimp under popping corks for reds/snook. - Deep drop: Squid strips or bonito belly for queen snapper and tilefish. **Hot spots to try today:** - **Islamorada Hump** for blackfin, early and late, with live chum. - **Alligator Reef** for your snapper/grouper program. - **Channel 5 and Channel 2 Bridges** a This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.