Summer Slick: Early and Late Bites Dominate South Florida Keys and Miami

This is Artificial Lure with your South Florida fishing report for the upper and middle Keys and the Miami area. We’ve got classic summer conditions this morning. Light southeast breeze, generally 5 to 10 knots, building to 10 to 15 in the afternoon with a light chop outside the reef and slicked-out water in the backcountry. Air temps are running upper 70s at first light, climbing to near 90 by midafternoon, with high humidity and a decent chance of a passing shower or thunderstorm late day. Sunrise was right around a quarter after 6, with sunset just after 8. The bite has been best at that early low-light window and again the last hour of daylight. Tides around the Keys and Miami are on a typical summer cycle: a morning incoming pushing toward midday, then an afternoon fall. That incoming has been key on the flats and bridges, while the first push of outgoing is firing up the inlets and channels. Inshore and backcountry, anglers poling the flats from Biscayne Bay down through Islamorada have been seeing good numbers of bonefish and permit on the higher stages of the tide. Live shrimp or small blue crabs on light fluorocarbon leaders have been the ticket, while artificial guys are doing well with 1/8‑oz skimmer jigs and small shrimp imitations in natural hues. Snook and redfish have been chewing around mangrove edges and creek mouths on the falling water; paddle-tail swimbaits in new penny and gold, plus live pilchards and pinfish, are producing solid numbers. Around the bridges and channels, night and early-morning have been strong. Plenty of schoolie mangrove snapper with some keepers mixed in on cut ballyhoo, squid, and shrimp, plus 1/4‑oz yellow jigheads. Tarpon are still around Seven Mile, Channel 2 and 5, and the Miami inlets, especially on that outgoing tide after dark. Live mullet, crabs, and big swimbaits or soft-plastic eels have been getting eats; most fish are in the 60–100‑pound class with a few bigger silver kings still cruising. Offshore, boats running out from Key Largo, Islamorada, and Miami are finding decent mahi action in 400–800 feet, with scattered weedlines and debris holding schoolies and some gaffers. Trolling small skirted ballyhoo, chuggers, and dolphin-colored feathers has been productive, and once you find a school, switching to chunked ballyhoo or live pilchards keeps them behind the boat. A few blackfin tuna are hanging around the outer edge of the reef and humps; vertical jigs and live baits fished deep are working. On the reef line itself, yellowtail snapper fishing has been steady in 60–90 feet with chum, cut baits, and small jigs. For hot spots, check out: • The Channels around Islamorada – Channel 2 and 5 bridges for tarpon, snapper, and the occasional grouper on the tide changes. • Biscayne Bay flats from Stiltsville down toward Elliott Key – solid shots at bonefish, permit, and cruising sharks on the higher water. Best overall bets today: fish early and late, key on moving water, and match small, natural baits. Keep an eye on the sky this afternoon for building storms and be ready to run in if it pops. 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