Pickles Reef Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Maurice Young
Lauderhill, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

The last couple of weeks have been very good in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. The predominant bite offshore has been swordfish & blackfin tunas. The swordfish have been holding well off the ledges & the blackfins are super thick on the humps. We are catching our...

Maurice Young Lauderhill, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

The last couple of weeks have been very good in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. The predominant bite offshore has been swordfish & blackfin tunas. The swordfish have been holding well off the ledges & the blackfins are super thick on the humps. We are catching our limits on blackfin tuna just about every trip & a few mahi-mahi in the mix as an extra treat.

Blackfin Tuna Fishing in Key Largo, Florida

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Maurice Young
Lauderhill, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

The last couple of weeks have been very good in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. The predominant bite offshore has been swordfish & blackfin tunas. The swordfish have been holding well off the ledges & the blackfins are super thick on the humps. We are catching our...

Maurice Young Lauderhill, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

The last couple of weeks have been very good in the Florida Keys, between Key Largo & Marathon. The predominant bite offshore has been swordfish & blackfin tunas. The swordfish have been holding well off the ledges & the blackfins are super thick on the humps. We are catching our limits on blackfin tuna just about every trip & a few mahi-mahi in the mix as an extra treat.
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. Captain’s tip for deep water snapper fishing: Fishing the deeper water you gotta lock down your drag, wind hard & fast as possible, admire your fish when he’s on the boat, lol. This technique is to outrun the tax man aka Mr. Shark, who is surely lurking & seems to want your prized flag yellowtails or muttons a little bit more than we do.
The wahoo & first of the fall sailfish should start showing up in the next few weeks as more cold fronts approach our area. We are looking forward to live bait fishing and flying the kites for the spectacular top water aerial attack on the baits.

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Andrew Atwill
Key Largo, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

The reef bite has been insane with snappers of all different species in the 25 to 75 foot range still catching mahi in about 750 feet in the back country has been on fire with snook trout occasional redfish in Tarpon

Andrew Atwill Key Largo, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

The reef bite has been insane with snappers of all different species in the 25 to 75 foot range still catching mahi in about 750 feet in the back country has been on fire with snook trout occasional redfish in Tarpon

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Armando Alejo
Lehigh Acres, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Hello fans, thanks for stopping by! This summer season we were blessed to have fished (again) out of New Orleans in June and July. Tt was truly epic- our best season yet. Please stay tuned as we plan to do it again next summer! Also below, please see some of...

Armando Alejo Lehigh Acres, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Hello fans, thanks for stopping by!

This summer season we were blessed to have fished (again) out of New Orleans in June and July. Tt was truly epic- our best season yet. Please stay tuned as we plan to do it again next summer! Also below, please see some of the highlight photos.

As for local conditions. Friends it is HOT.. For that reason I've recently added a shade area to the boat, all guests can use it when the heat gets to you. Also, we are choosing to start just a bit earlier so that we can take advantage of the coolest part of the day 6:30- 12 noon. I also strongly recommend bringing more hydrating drinks like Gatorade or other, as always water is provided.

As for the bite, it is good! It turns on when it wants to...sometimes early other times late in day, it mainly depends on tides and water movement! When you book, we will speak on the phone just a few days prior to our trip, on that call I will advise when it will be best! Currently, we are finding a good Snapper (Mangrove/ Gray) bite along with plentiful small Snook. Trout have gone missing, Tripletail are spotty and our favorite- Redfish are hitting our decks on a somewhat regular basis.

Flounder, Redfish, Sheepshead fishing in Key Largo, Florida

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Maurice Young
Lauderhill, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

With the weather cooperating, calm seas have afforded most of us to run offshore to target swordfish, blackfin tunas, and Mahi-mahi. We are still getting many Mahi Mahi biting in between 600-1,000 feet of water. It used to be that Mahi Mahi season peaked in Spring / Summer months but...

Maurice Young Lauderhill, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

With the weather cooperating, calm seas have afforded most of us to run offshore to target swordfish, blackfin tunas, and Mahi-mahi. We are still getting many Mahi Mahi biting in between 600-1,000 feet of water. It used to be that Mahi Mahi season peaked in Spring / Summer months but as of recently, the larger Mahi have been biting great into September. Now that the full moon is waning there have been an ideal scene for inshore fishing, reef, wreck, and Cubera Snapper fishing at night. The Yellowtail / Mangrove snapper bite has been consistent on the reefs between 45- 90 feet of water as long as the current is flowing. The smaller football Blackfin tuna are also showing up in 150 - 300' of water following the early fall bait run that has appeared with ballyhoo, finger mullets, and pilchards, thick on the outer reefs with plenty of hungry pelagics on the prowl! They all can be caught drift fishing live bait or trolling small feathers rigs. If you’re looking to get out on the water for a great time fishing or just need information / tips, please feel free to book or contact me or any of our great charter captains located here in the Florida Keys. We are all willing to help & truly love to share our knowledge of this amazing Keys fishery. Until the next fishing report, tight lines & bent rods!

Mahi Mahi / Dorado fishing in Key Largo, Florida

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Eric Reynolds
Homestead, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Summertime dolphin (mahi mahi) has been hit or miss this year, but we just had one of the best days of dolphin fishing in 5 years. There are some nice fish still out there and we are coming home with plenty of meat for the freezers. In late September and...

Eric Reynolds Homestead, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Summertime dolphin (mahi mahi) has been hit or miss this year, but we just had one of the best days of dolphin fishing in 5 years. There are some nice fish still out there and we are coming home with plenty of meat for the freezers. In late September and early October we have another good run of nice dolphin coming back through.
Swordfishing in September and October is usually amazing! Usually bigger better fish with multiple shots.