Keewaydin Island Fishing Reports (May 2026)

Tim Daugherty
Naples, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

Winter is in full swing here in Southwest Florida, and last week we saw some of the coldest mornings of the season with temperatures dropping into the low 40s. When these strong cold fronts move through, our gulf water temperatures drop quickly, and that triggers a noticeable shift in fish...

Tim Daugherty Naples, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

Winter is in full swing here in Southwest Florida, and last week we saw some of the coldest mornings of the season with temperatures dropping into the low 40s. When these strong cold fronts move through, our gulf water temperatures drop quickly, and that triggers a noticeable shift in fish behavior. As conditions cool, many inshore species begin sliding out of the shallows and heading for deeper, more stable water where temperatures fluctuate less. This is a very predictable winter pattern and one we rely on heavily while running Naples fishing charters and Marco Island fishing charters.

Anytime a cold front pushes through, my game plan is simple: head deeper and deeper into the backcountry, especially during low water. These fish stack up in deeper holes, troughs, and along protected shorelines where they can conserve energy and stay comfortable. Right now, we’re finding solid numbers of snook, sea trout, pompano, jack crevalle, mangrove snapper, and redfish tucked in tight to the deeper shorelines throughout the backcountry. This style of Naples inshore fishing is extremely productive during winter and a staple of our Naples & Marco island fishing charters.

The timing couldn’t be better with a full moon approaching. Full moon phases bring extreme tidal swings, giving us very low lows and very high highs. These big tides help position fish even tighter to structure and depth changes, making them easier to target if you’re in the right areas. Early morning fishing around these tides has been especially productive, and it’s a great time

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Tim Rushing
Naples, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

Recent pics from this week

Tim Rushing Naples, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

Recent pics from this week

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Tim Daugherty
Naples, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

The fishing this week around Naples and Marco Island has been nothing short of fantastic, with action firing on all cylinders. Anglers booking Naples fishing charters or Marco Island fishing charters are finding steady opportunities throughout the middle islands and deep in the backcountry. As water temperatures cool, the conditions...

Tim Daugherty Naples, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

The fishing this week around Naples and Marco Island has been nothing short of fantastic, with action firing on all cylinders. Anglers booking Naples fishing charters or Marco Island fishing charters are finding steady opportunities throughout the middle islands and deep in the backcountry. As water temperatures cool, the conditions have been ideal for a classic winter pattern, and the fish are responding in a big way.

We’re still catching plenty of snook along the middle islands, and the snook fishing Naples and snook fishing Marco Island anglers are experiencing consistent hookups. Every year when the water temps begin to fall, those snook push farther into the backcountry, and this week is no exception. On the low incoming tides, the fish have been staging along shorelines with deep undercuts, which are producing excellent numbers. For those seeking snook fishing on artificials, fly, or live bait, expect the action to remain strong as long as the warmer weather holds.

A decent redfish bite is also underway, with reds mixed in alongside the snook. The bait fishing has been outstanding as well—live pilchards are thick on the nearshore wrecks just a mile or so off the beaches, and I am loading up with only a few throws of the cast net. With live wells full, we’re set up perfectly for action-packed days on the water. Combined with aggressive schools of jacks and plentiful mangrove snapper, anglers on Naples fishing guides trips and guided fishing trips out of Marco Island are staying busy from start to finish.

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Tim Rushing
Naples, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

The Naples Fishing Report for December is full of fish, fun, and mild weather! We’ve been bouncing around from Naples to Marco Island and the 10,000 Islands the past several weeks, and the fishing has been outstanding. December fishing down here in Southwest Florida is always one of those special...

Tim Rushing Naples, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

The Naples Fishing Report for December is full of fish, fun, and mild weather! We’ve been bouncing around from Naples to Marco Island and the 10,000 Islands the past several weeks, and the fishing has been outstanding. December fishing down here in Southwest Florida is always one of those special windows of time, where the skies are easter egg blue, the waters calm, and the temperatures balmy! If you want a tripletail, they are showing up all over the trap buoys. The back country is loaded with all kinds of fun things to catch, from trophies, to dinner, or loads of fish plain ol family and kid catching fun! The water has cooled down into the low 70’s and that always seems to jumpstart the fish into a frisky mood as they try to eat the waves of bait that are still present. They also start to pick up an interest in eating shrimp. The fish that seem to really start biting during this time of year are the seatrout. They love shrimp, jigs tipped with shrimp, and will eat pilchards. The weeks before the cold snap last week seemed to produce at least one nice redfish, every trip along with countless smaller snook, fun-sized tarpon, snapper and jack crevalle. That trend of nice redfish has continued. Since those couple of cold days behind the front, the fishing in Naples started producing a load of black drum, trout, nice redfish, jewfish, snapper, sheepshead and jack crevalle. We started mixing in shrimp, and jigs for bait, along with pilchards. If you want to catch something to eat, watch the kids or family have fun, or hunt a trophy it's a great time to make it happen

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 5 months ago

November wrapped up on a high note, capped off by a busy holiday week and some incredible catches for our clients. As we transition toward winter and the water continues to cool, our offshore fishery shifts into an entirely different gear. This time of year, you truly never know what...

Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 5 months ago

November wrapped up on a high note, capped off by a busy holiday week and some incredible catches for our clients. As we transition toward winter and the water continues to cool, our offshore fishery shifts into an entirely different gear. This time of year, you truly never know what you might run into offshore—and that unpredictability is part of the fun. Just this week, we ran across a school of massive Blackfin Tuna surprisingly close to land. Encounters like these are exactly the kind of bonus opportunities winter can bring. Along with the occasional surprises, all of our reliable staples have been showing nicely too. Cobia schools have been consistent from the nearshore wrecks out to the offshore structures, and they’ll remain one of our primary targets throughout the winter season. With the cooler temperatures, big Amberjacks are also pushing in closer. These fish provide an absolute blast on rod and reel—we'll chum them up and throw artificials or flies right at them on the surface. Winter also brings some of the best bottom fishing of the entire year, and it’s prime time for serious meat runs. Grouper and Snapper will continue to be major players offshore through the coming months. On the inshore side, we’re right on the edge of switching fully into our winter pattern, transitioning from live pilchards to shrimp and jigs once the backcountry water temps reach that key threshold. Live bait is still producing well with Snook, Redfish, and plenty of Jack Crevalles. As things cool a bit more, shrimp fishing will light up with Trout, Sheepshead, Pompano, Redfish,

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 10 months ago

Summer time protocol is underway in Naples, FL. Hot temps, scattered thunderstorms and hungry fish will be the trend for the coming months. June fishing has been phenomenal so far and is one of our favorite months of the year for a reason. Permit fishing has been epic with large...

Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 10 months ago

Summer time protocol is underway in Naples, FL. Hot temps, scattered thunderstorms and hungry fish will be the trend for the coming months. June fishing has been phenomenal so far and is one of our favorite months of the year for a reason. Permit fishing has been epic with large aggressive schools of fish being a common occurrence. They tend to move around more this time of the year but once you get on them it's go time. There have been a few Cobia around offshore as well and are always a welcome guest while we are out Permit fishing. In terms of inshore fishing Snook has been the star of the show. The Snook bite has been incredible with activity out of them wherever we choose to fish them. Whether it be in the backcountry, the pass, the beach or even nearshore wrecks. The Tarpon migration is still underway as well with good numbers of fish swimming the beach. This is bucket list trophy fish time of the year and the On a Mission team is out there grinding in the heat making it happen on a daily basis.

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Kicking off the month of May exactly how it should start with sight fishing big Permit and Tarpon. This is the best time of the year to target these bucket list game fish and this is primetime to catch both of them in the same day. We have strong numbers...

Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Kicking off the month of May exactly how it should start with sight fishing big Permit and Tarpon. This is the best time of the year to target these bucket list game fish and this is primetime to catch both of them in the same day. We have strong numbers of Tarpon migrating our beaches and there are massive schools of Permit offshore. These two fish will be our main emphasis over the next couple of months but that doesn't mean there aren't other options as well. There have still been some straggler Cobia hanging out offshore which has been nice while we look for Permit. Most of the wrecks offshore are also littered with Amberjacks which are fun to tease and throw artificial baits at. These are also great fly targets for any avid fly fishermen. Closeby there are great numbers of Snook inshore and nearshore. They're gearing up for their annual spawn and will be very hungry as we progress into summer. Our water clarity has been about as good as it gets which makes for some awesome sight fishing on all of the previous listed species. This is the peak time of the year for sport fishing in our area! We are looking forward to many great trips with all of our clients. Reach out to any of us with any questions you may have. Happy fishing!

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Hot, sunny and south wind. The days we wait all year for are here. Inshore or Offshore this is the best time of the year for sport fishing. The bait bite in the backcountry has been stellar with all the species cooperating nicely. Snook, Redfish and juvenile Tarpon have been...

Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Hot, sunny and south wind. The days we wait all year for are here. Inshore or Offshore this is the best time of the year for sport fishing. The bait bite in the backcountry has been stellar with all the species cooperating nicely. Snook, Redfish and juvenile Tarpon have been steady. Just awaiting the big strings of migrating Tarpon to show up out front. Will be any day now. Things have been epic offshore with massive schools of Permit, swarms of Amberjacks and plenty of barracudas to pull on. Were sight fishing all of these species and catching a lot of Amberjacks on the fly which has been a lot of fun. There’s also some enormous Mangroves chewing for anyone who wants some fish to eat in between the sport fishing craziness. We will be serving up bucket list Permit and Tarpon trips all Spring and Summer. We’re filling numerous trips daily for April and May. Please reach out to any of our Captains with any questions you may have. Looking forward to an epic Spring with you all!