Everglades National Park Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Everglades National Park Weather Forecast

Fishing reports straight from our guides in Everglades National Park

Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company
Key Largo, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Fishing/diving has been good! Snapper were spawning on the reef this past week! Great yellowtail bite.

Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company Key Largo, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Fishing/diving has been good! Snapper were spawning on the reef this past week! Great yellowtail bite.

Rainbow Runner, Yellowtail Amberjack Fishing in Islamorada, Florida

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Chris Parthemore
Tavernier, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Patch reefs have been providing some sizable mutton snapper , big mangroves , yellow tail and mackerel . African please pompano bite is back on with a few good size fish, and inshore snook have been stewing along with some nice mangroves and tarpon.

Chris Parthemore Tavernier, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Mangrove Snapper Fishing in Tavernier, Florida

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Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company
Key Largo, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Mutton fishing has been good off the upper keys with the cooler water temps, sailfish season is in full swing as well.

Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company Key Largo, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Mutton fishing has been good off the upper keys with the cooler water temps, sailfish season is in full swing as well.

Mutton Snapper Fishing in Islamorada, Florida

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Maurice Young
Lauderhill, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Maurice Young Lauderhill, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Key Largo to Marathon Mid January 2023
Happy New Years to all from our wonderful Hawks Cay Resort location. Fishing over the holidays up till now has been spectacular in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. Just about everything is biting now on the reef / wrecks & offshore. The predominant bite offshore has been sailfish, wahoo, king mackerel & mahi-mahi or dolphin fish as we like to call them. Uncharacteristically for this time of year, we’ve been slamming the dolphins offshore between 120 feet - 300 feet while trolling wrecks looking for wahoo. For whatever reason they are showing up, I’m totally happy about it.
The sailfish are here! They are around in good numbers between 100 - 180 feet & we’ve been getting multiple releases a day. Most of them have been caught either kite fishing, slow trolling live bait or pitching live ballyhoo at bait showers. The king mackerel have been caught in the same manner as the sailfish.
Like I said on my last report, it’s wahoo fishing time & onboard the Ace of Spades we’ve been catching them. Then bite has been up / down the outer edge of the reef & around the deep water wrecks between 115 feet - 250 feet of water. Trolling Normad plugs around 9 knots, high speed trolling lures with various size trolling weights & live bait fishing has been working for us.
On the reefs & wrecks, the Yellowtail snapper / mutton bite has still been consistent on the reefs between 45- 90 feet of water. This is also the best time of year for patch reef fishing.

King Mackerel / Kingfish Fishing in Key Largo, Florida

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Don Reichert
Islamorada, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Big Mahi today and lots of snappers

Don Reichert Islamorada, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Big Mahi today and lots of snappers

Mahi Mahi Fishing in Islamorada, Florida

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Armando Alejo
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

recently aboard, Ms Jeniffer picked up this bruiser of a #redfish at 8.5 lbs it’s a great catch for us in the #flamingoeverglades It was released to fight again

Armando Alejo Lehigh Acres, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

recently aboard, Ms Jeniffer picked up this bruiser of a #redfish at 8.5 lbs it’s a great catch for us in the #flamingoeverglades It was released to fight again

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Maurice Young
Lauderhill, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

Maurice Young Lauderhill, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

Fishing in the last couple of weeks has been outstanding in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. The water is cooling down & the bite is in full swing on the reef / wrecks & offshore. The predominant bite offshore has been sailfish & blackfin tunas. The sailfish have finally been showing up in good numbers between 100 - 180 feet & it’s only going to continue to get better as we get deeper into the season. We’ve been catching most of them slow trolling live bait & pitching live ballyhoo at bait showers. The blackfins are still super thick on the humps & it’s been nothing but pure fun! We are catching them in just about every way possible from trolling feathers, to live bait pilchards, to slow pitch jigging the Mobster! ( Captain Maurice’s secret weapon- try them) It’s also wahoo fishing time & I’ve been hearing of a few being caught. We onboard the Ace of Spades will actively start fishing for those hard fighting, tasty torpedoes throughout the holidays, so hopefully I’ll have something good to report on the next fishing report.
On the reefs & wrecks, the Yellowtail snapper / mutton bite has still been consistent on the reefs between 45- 90 feet of water and on the deeper water wrecks in 100 plus feet. Also the Spanish, cero, & king mackerel bite has been insane on the patch reefs out to the deeper reefs.

Spanish Mackerel Fishing in Key Largo, Florida

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Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company
Key Largo, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Hey David! We had some wind come in yesterday afternoon/today which clouded up the shallow patch reefs and made for some good fishing today. Water temp has dropped off to 78 degrees and we are starting to see a lot of our winter migratory fish!

Tony Young with Forever Young Charter Company Key Largo, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Cero Mackerel, Yellowtail Snapper Fishing in Islamorada, Florida

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★★★★★
Had a wonderful time! Captain Ron is very friendly, knowledgeable and professional! Hope to go out with him again soon
Christopher C. | December 13, 2025

Trip: Epic Islamorada Inshore
★★★★★
Andy was great! Got us on the fish and had a ton of laughs. Strongly recommended
Kevin C. | November 15, 2025

Trip: Islamorada Inshore And Flats Fshing
★★★★★
Chris was outstanding as a captain. Aside from is plentiful fishing knowledge and keeping us on bites all day long he was good to talk to and kept us on the fish the entire time we were out there. Even with a shorter half day trip Chris made sure to get us as much fish as possible in the shortened amount of time. The boat was very well kept and gave us many pointers as to how to prepare and cook the fish we caught. Would definitely recommend and hope to be back very soon!
Adam T. | October 13, 2025

Trip: Reef, Wreck, And Patch Reef Trip
★★★★★
My wife and I had the pleasure of taking a trip with Captain George. He and his mate Kyle picked us up on time and took us out for a great day of fishing. Weather was definitely sporty but his boat handled it comfortably. They were very well prepared to for everything. Having a boat myself I asked a lot of questions on techniques and such. Captain George was very help and wasn't hesitant to share his knowledge. We had a great time. They were upbeat and personable. We ended up will a cooler full of yellow tail snapper, a nice mutton snapper, a nice fight on a good-sized bonito. They recommended a good place to cook it up for us. I would highly recommend taking a trip with Captain George.
Andy T. | August 15, 2025

Trip: Layton Fishing Adventure
★★★★★
Eric was awesome!! I caught my first tarpon on a fly today!!! We also got in to some sea trout. It was a great day!
Cindy R. | June 28, 2025

Trip: Back Country Bonanza
★★★★★
Great trip really enjoyed talking with Capt Gw great trip very knowledgeable. What a great experience!
George R. | June 18, 2025

Trip: Tarpon On Natural Bait
★★★★★
Our trip was great. He moved us to many different spots to catch fish. He also gave my son a lot of pointers and was patient with him.
Melissa W. | June 17, 2025

Trip: Bank And Bight Backcountry
★★★★★
Dude was an absolutely fantastic guide. He was super easy to talk to and put us on some amazing fishing. I hundred percent would recommend.
Teagan M. | June 6, 2025

Trip: Back Country Bonanza
★★★★★
We had an amazing day catching fish with Captain Jon-Paul! My wife and I poured over reviews in search of the best fit for us during our long planned vacation to the Keys, and we are so happy we found Jon-Paul. He was extremely knowledgeable about this fishery and overly willing to make sure we had a great time. We caught over 10 different species with the highlights being two Permit, Mangrove Snapper, and Speckled Trout.
Jason B. | May 31, 2025

Trip: Bank And Bight Backcountry
★★★★★
Had one of the best fishing days ever with Chris . Recommend him strongly to anyone who wants to fish ! Great man and great fishing captain ! Really knows his trade
Rocco C. | April 22, 2025

Trip: Reef, Wreck, And Patch Reef Trip

Top Fishing Trips in Everglades National Park

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Inshore, Nearshore, Flats in Islamorada

Back Country Bonanza

100% (24) Guided by Eric

17 ft 1 - 2 People From $600

Inshore, Nearshore Fishing in Islamorada

Reef, Wreck, And Patch Reef Trip

100% (32) Guided by Chris

26 ft 1 - 6 People From $875

Inshore, Nearshore, Flats in Islamorada

Bank And Bight Backcountry

100% (7) Guided by Jon-Paul

18 ft 1 - 2 People From $650

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.

Inshore, Nearshore, Flats in Islamorada

Epic Islamorada Inshore

100% (42) Guided by Ron

25 ft 1 - 4 People From $650

Damn Good

Certified Damn Good Guides offer 10/10 trips. Guides earn this badge through quality reviews, quick and responsive communication, and low cancellation rates.