Key West Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Key West Weather Forecast

Fishing reports straight from our guides in Key West

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West
Key West, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West Key West, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Even with the high winds we have managed to gind decently calm water holding lots of fish. Inshore and patch reefs are full of big lane snappers, yellowtails, mangroves, and of course the out of season groupers. Offshore is a little funny this year. The tuna have showed up, and the mahi seem like they are going to stick around this winter. Some days have been a bit slow in the deep blue water, so trolling the reef has provided us with plenty of mackerel action.

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Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West
Key West, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Justin Ferrell with Good Times Key West Key West, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Even with the high winds, we have managed to find decently calm water holding lots of fish. Inshore and patch reefs are full of big lane snappers, yellowtails, mangroves, and, of course, the out-of-season groupers. Offshore is a little funny this year. The tuna have shown up, and the mahi seem like they are going to stick around this winter. Some days have been a bit slow in the deep blue water, so trolling the reef has provided us with plenty of mackerel action.

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Hunter Ledbetter
Key West, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

We've had some warm weather, so some good lobster catches on trips. The patch reef fishing is still very strong, with nice catches of yellowtail snapper and cero mackerel

Hunter Ledbetter Key West, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

We've had some warm weather, so some good lobster catches on trips. The patch reef fishing is still very strong, with nice catches of yellowtail snapper and cero mackerel

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Frank Betz
Summerland Key, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Cobia bite in the back country has been steady along with the magrove bite.

Frank Betz Summerland Key, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Cobia bite in the back country has been steady along with the magrove bite.

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Alex Harmon
Summerland Key, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

A lot of cobia and tarpon around!

Alex Harmon Summerland Key, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

A lot of cobia and tarpon around!

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Hunter Ledbetter
Key West, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Hunter Ledbetter Key West, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Here are a couple of updates Solid Cero and Yellowtail snapper bites on the reef this morning in key west. Those should hold around for another month. We've had a good run of some nice warm weather in Key West temperatures getting into the high 70s low 80s. Still a lot of good lobster going on lobster season for two more months. we have been having some exceptionally good weather in Key West, highs have been in the low 80's the offshore fishing has been a little slow. A few wahoo, tuna and scattered mahi being caught. I've been diving some and get lots of lobsters and Lionfish

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Chris Gowens
Key West, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Mahi tuna wahoo and sailfish offshore and still decent action on the reef.

Chris Gowens Key West, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Mahi tuna wahoo and sailfish offshore and still decent action on the reef.

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Phil Pegley
Ruskin, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

Phil Pegley Ruskin, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

Warming water has heated up pre-spring fishing With the approach of springtime coming, the fish have been on the move on this warming trend just two weeks ago we were still fixed and a solid winter pattern with excellent catches on hogfish grouper and snapper at winter depth of 45 to 55 feet. There's literally low tides and high skies made for some nice sight fishing opportunities in shore. For some bruiser size cobia When the water rises after these low morning tides The snook and redfish have been to target in the afternoon Using live greenbacks Speckled chop fishing has kept everything going all winter long with greenbacks and shrimp plenty of keeper trout may December and January a big hit with clients that wanted to keep fish. Well, it seems like spring is right around the corner and we should get into some of our best fishing of the year. Let's get you booked in for another great Captains experience

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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
★★★★★
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 had an amazing time! Captain was friendly and very helpful. The captain recommended that we take our catch to Mac’s Place bar just steps from the marina and have it prepared. The staff and preparation were both amazing!! We will return to do it all again! Thanks Antonio!!
Todd R. | November 5, 2025

Trip: Key West Inshore, Nearshore, Jetty
★★★★★
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
★★★★★
Captain Brad did a great job! Very good boat.
Jeff M. | October 13, 2025

Trip: Key West Mixed Bag Trip

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