May fishing has been, in a word, “Fantastic”! The past few years the Florida Keys fishing in May has been pretty good but this year I will go up a notch to fantastic. The winds finally laid down early in the month with a few exceptions all in all May fishing in Key West has been very “fish-able”. And I don’t see an end in sight. Tourism in Key West is slower than normal and that can be good or bad depends on who you talk to.
This year has been unusual for the Florida Keys fishing charters. Slower than usual for most. Also the room rates are down due to less Key West visitor volume. A great time to visit during a typically busier more expensive time to be in Key West. Personally I like it – I am sure many other businesses do not. Myself and the guides at my company Dream Catcher Charters have been staying at a steady pace. I think this makes for more quality fishing charters and better service for our clients.
This month I bounce around between all the arenas of Key West fishing. So I get a first hand look at all the fishing we have to offer. Deep sea, flats and reef fishing are all part of my schedule this month.
Fishing Report
Inshore we have been waiting for the slower cycle of tarpon fishing to be over these last few years and here we are. The tarpon have poured back into Key West with great numbers and our clients here that fish with us at Dream Catcher Charters have been doing well jumping and catching them having lots of fun.
The only unfortunate part is the new crowd of 15 minute tarpon fishing guides and DIYers has come with lacking ethics and what I call the Florida West Coast mentality of fishing. Their knowledge comes from YouTube or the poor fishing guide they stole all their spots from to bring down their boats next year. It is very noticeable this year and many of these folks have no shame or pride for that matter.
The flats fishing has been amazing as well. Key West bonefishing has really improved over the years and is getting better. Since our big cold snap of 2010 where many bonefish died and others were just run off we are now seeing bonefish in places not seen before. Honestly I have to say our bonefishing is the best it’s been off Key West in my 30 year career. This has been great for our fly fishing and spin fishing clients to scratch that fish off the bucket list. Here in Key West we can pick or chose any tide we wish to hunt the flats. If we have light, we can find some fish and rip some lips.
Pro Tips
My crew and I practice a few ways to ensure we keep the numbers of bonefish on the rise. Certainly we catch and release but also go a few steps further.
Let tired bonefish revive in the bait well. Somtimes this is their only chance in a release to NOT get eaten by the lemon shark who was honed in on a struggling fish. Note: By the letter of the law this is not legal as it is considered a harvested fish. YDY
Limit your catch to two bonefish per spot. Sitting there hammering these very hungry fish not only increases possible mortality of the fish by a predator who has figured out your game but also kills the spot.
Slower on the flats fishing so far is our permit fishing. We have not seen a good number of permit come back to the flats just yet as I write this. The permit are spawning. We expect that to change real soon.
Many will cry the sky is falling and we have no permit anymore for one reason or another.. I fish both the flats and the wrecks for them. There are plenty of permit and will be back on the flats very soon. No need to start a crusade.
On the reef things are pretty productive. I like to fish off to the West of Key West out toward the Dry Tortugas and Marquesas Keys and out there things have been pretty steady. The bite of yellowtail snappers on top of the reef has been very good with larger fish being caught sight fishing using artificial lures.
Certain areas over wrecks and some reef spots are still holding some great numbers of permit usually much larger and they can be fun on light tackle.
Pro Tips
I use the Z-Man soft plastic baits for my sight fishing yellowtail snapper. The muttons love it as well.. The Deizel Minnow in electric chicken is my favorite.
Mutton snappers were spawning this month and many of the reef fishing charters that target them on the spawn did very well, even though there was a closure of the most productive fishing grounds here near Key West. I think the new limits put in to place a couple years ago are starting to help.
Pro Tips
Keep in mind that Muttons and Yellowtail or all snapper are an aggregate harvest where each species is part of the 10 per person bag limit of any and all snappers.
Grouper season opened up on May 1 and they certainly took a pounding by all the folks coming here from out of county to catch them. Mostly red groupers were harvested on the Atlantic side. There are plenty of grouper out there in number but many have been undersized. My trips to the Dry Tortugas however have produced some good fish.
Deep sea fishing this month has drifted off the rails! We have had an outstanding beginning to May fishing out in the blue water. The first year in several where big mahi dolphin are a regular thing not just an anomaly. On my Key West deep sea fishing boat the INXS my mate Garrett and I have been making great boxes of fish for our clients and some nice trophies along the way as well. Teen agers (dolphin weighing in the teens) have been common. We have even landed several fish in the 20s as well as 30+ pound range.
We had a few days early in the month where we got blue water grand slams. That’s three different species of fish on the same trip. Dolphin, tuna, sailfish.. Wahoo, dolphin sailfish. A few different combinations.
Check Out My Deep Sea Fishing Site
Long Range Forecast
Looks like these amazing weather conditions will prevail through to June. No storms on the horizon, although we could use the rain. Winds variable and no one knows what the Gulf Stream will do but its hope it stays close and keeps putting fish on our reef. It’s a new moon today so I think things will pick up on the flats for permit soon. The reefs will stay lit and the mahi will flow through..
-Tight Lines everyone, enjoy your week..
Fishing Charters
Booking a fishing charter with me or anyone is easy.. CALL DIRECT and save.. Call Island Genn and she will hook you up on any type of fishing and even Key West sandbar trips. Calling here is the ONLY way to get a reservation on my boats or Dream Catcher Charters.
Call Direct 305-292-7212
Email steven@fishingkeywest.com
Text 786-847-3808
