Big Pine Key Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Big Pine Key Weather Forecast

Fishing reports straight from our guides in Big Pine Key

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West
Key West, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West Key West, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

We had a little wind and rain but nothing too crazy. Missed 4 days of being on the water. Here is a little report and some recent pics from our 35' offshore..... This month was a real mixed bag on our 24’ trolling, bottom fishing, reefs, backcountry, and lobster territory. Bottom fishing in the shallow/ calm backcountry has produced some high quality mangrove, lane, and mutton snappers in large numbers. Some trips catching their allowed limits. No shortage of big 100lb + lemon sharks that you’ll need to race for your dinner. Nicer weather days we have fished on the patch reefs just south of Key West. Red grouper, yellowtail snapper, and a verity of types of mackerel. Even did a catch n cook woth spadefish (a first for me). If you have lobster on your mind, well so do we! Many of our shallow water honey holes have been picked clean this late in the season. 6hr + lobster trips gave us enough time to run 20+ miles to areas with less pressure and they are still housing some quality bugs.

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Wayne Gatling
Rock Hall, Maryland
Reported: 1 year ago

Fishing has been very good.With limits pretty much every trip.

Wayne Gatling Rock Hall, Maryland Reported: 1 year ago

Fishing has been very good.With limits pretty much every trip.

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Ryan Carter
Key West, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Yellow jack and barracuda

Ryan Carter Key West, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Yellow jack and barracuda

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Hunter Ledbetter
Key West, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Hunter Ledbetter Key West, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

1. the last month has seen the lobstering remain very strong, we are regularly getting our limit on the half day lobster diving trips; 2. The water is still very warm and comfortable for diving and folks are having a great time on our half day Lionfish hunting trips. Nothing better than cleaning the reef of these invasive fish and they're delicious!! 3. The bottom fishing is remaining very strong as we start our transition to fall and winter fishing. Nice catches of muttons, yellowtail and big numbers of Lane snappers are showing up; 4. Most exciting on this last full moon we got Wahoo and expect this fishing to just improve as the water cools!! Sunset tuna fishing is picking up, if you guys want to post these 'Half day sunset fishing for tuna and snapper, we leave the dock around 3 and catch snapper until around 5:30, when we set up for tuna trolling from 6 to 7 pm, these tuna tend to turn on as the sunsets and the bite can be amazing!' Bo and Brittany had a great lobster trip

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Bill Giliberti
Marathon, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Tuna bite is hot. Some quality yellow tail snappers too!

Bill Giliberti Marathon, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Tuna bite is hot. Some quality yellow tail snappers too!

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Johnny Maddox
Marathon, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

The last few weeks has been a whole mess of good fishing and catching

Johnny Maddox Marathon, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

The last few weeks has been a whole mess of good fishing and catching

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Mike Weinhofer
Key West, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Wahoo tuna dolphin fish has been picking up

Mike Weinhofer Key West, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Wahoo tuna dolphin fish has been picking up

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Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West
Key West, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Mangrove snapper and sharks I. The backcountry. Reef bite has been good with yellowtail snapper, king and Spanish mackerel. Offshore has been hit or miss. But we have found a few nice fish include this wahoo, a few mahi a a couple skipjack and blackfin tunas. Plenty of Bonita and...

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West Key West, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

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★★★★★
Wonderful trip, they made it so easy to enjoy ourselves, crew was inviting and welcoming. will definitely be booking again
Heather W. | November 27, 2025

Trip: Key West Nearshore/Offshore Trip
★★★★★
Capt Justin knows what he's doing. If you're in the Keys and looking to catch fish and have a great experience, call him!
Dale S. | November 27, 2025

Trip: Key West Fishing Adventure
★★★★★
Anthony was fantastic with our 13 year old son! We will definitely book with him again. We caught fish for two dinners:)
William O. | November 25, 2025

Trip: Beautiful Backcountry Fishing
★★★★★
We went into this excursion with a "whatever" mentality, believing that even a bad day fishing is better than doing anything else. This crew worked hard! Put us on the fish and made it all so easy. Great communication before and during the trip too. Fun day with Grandpa, two dads and three little girls learning the joy of fishing. Crew very attuned that we had kids and really worked hard to pay them special attention and make sure they enjoyed the day. We would charter these guys again.
Dave D. | November 24, 2025

Trip: Marathon Premier Bottom Fishing
★★★★★
Hunter and Valerie were awesome! Even in unideal conditions at the end of the season, we were still able to bring in a bunch of lobster. They made things quick and easy, and Hunter was communicating with me all throughout the planning process. Would absolutely book again.
Dalton R. | November 18, 2025

Trip: Lionfish Spearfishing Fury
★★★★★
Amazing trip! Captain was awesome! Put us right on the spot to catch lobster! Definitely a must do!
Noel S. | November 16, 2025

Trip: Catch Your Own Tasty Lobster!
★★★★★
Captain Jamie took us out in the early afternoon, and even though we knew the bite was a little slow at this time, we just wanted to get out and enjoy the water around beautiful Key West. He made the most of our four hours; we hit around four spots and even cruised over to the ocean side to try and find the bite that way. In this 4-hour trip, I got a crash course in fly fishing from one of the best. Jamie’s super laid-back, easy to talk to, and knows the area like the back of his hand. We wrapped up the trip with a gorgeous sunset; it was a 10/10 day all around. Even with the slow bite, it was one of the most scenic, educational, and unforgettable trips I’ve ever been on!
Jonathan N. | November 6, 2025

Trip: Key West On Light Tackle & Flies
★★★★★
We took our team out with Hunter for a combo lobstering and deep sea trip and he didn't let us down! First and foremost, Hunter is an ex-marine who is incredibly on top of his equipment, his boat, and his safety and was very clear about expectations for the day and what we should be doing at any point in time. After a quick scuba diving refresher & safety brief we put on our gear for a dive and were rewarded with a number of keeper lobsters, a bigger number of lobsters that were too small to keep, a lionfish which we speared, and too many great wildlife sightings to count including a big loggerhead turtle, a black grouper, and a nurse shark hoping for a handout. After the dive we put our gear away we drove a few miles further out to catch some yellowtail snapper. We started slow, but pretty soon were reeling in a yellowtail almost every cast. We probably caught 20-25 within a few hours, as well as a small yellow jack, a parrotfish, and an undersized red grouper. Lastly, we decided to use the last hour of our trip to try to hook into a big black grouper using some of our yellowtail as bait. This was a bit of a "go big or go home" bet and unfortunately didn't pay off for us this time - I wish we'd had a bit more time to drift and I'm sure we would have hooked one. Overall can't speak highly enough of Hunter and the experience diving and fishing in the Keys. There is such a variety of things to do that even on a full day trip you will never feel bored and can always pivot to something else. We even chased a frigate bird and threw some bucktails in the middle of the day at some bait that was busting. You won't go wrong booking a trip with Hunter.
Attison B. | November 5, 2025

Trip: Full Day Offshore - 30' Seahunter
★★★★★
Awesome trip Captain Brad put us on the fish all day
Sam R. | November 2, 2025

Trip: Key West Mixed Bag Trip
★★★★★
Great crew and cap weather wasn’t the best but still had a good time
Stephen | October 31, 2025

Trip: Key West Lobstering - 30’ Seahunter

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