Reef fishing in Islamorada is a great way to spend a day on the water. We fish the reef year round in the Florida Keys, but the offshore charter boats primarily focus on it from October – April. The reef line runs parallel with the Keys and is an average distance of 4 miles off shore. The reef drops from an average depth of 60’ on top to 90’ on the bottom. We use all sorts of fishing techniques while on the reef, so don’t think it’s strictly bottom fishing! Charter boats use all sorts of fishing methods including bottom fishing, trolling, kite fishing, drift fishing, and sight fishing. Common reef fish are sailfish, snapper, grouper, barracuda, cobia, mackerel, shark, African pompano, wahoo, etc. We also catch the occasional mahi and tuna while fishing with live baits, so you have to be ready for everything! Usually they are further offshore but they can be a nice surprise. Many of the fish we catch while reef fishing make good table fare too! So whether you bring some home or just take a bag of fresh fish to a local restaurant, you’ll enjoy your catch! There’s also quite a few “wrecks” just out side the reef which we fish around too. They’re anywhere from 100′ – 200′ of water and our captains know some well known ones as well as some secret ones! Wreck fishing is grouped under our “reef fishing” category and many days fishing the wrecks are the way to go!
Most days we start out by catching live bait and then go from there. A full day is always recommended for the best fishing experience, but if a ½ day charter is all you think you can handle or have time for, give the reef a shot! The average travel time in and out is only 20 minutes each way, so you’ll have plenty of fishing time! Florida Keys Reef Fishing is a great option for the whole family! If a private charter is not in the budget our Miss Islamorada Party boat (head boat) fishes the reef too and is an affordable way to get out and catch a few fish for dinner.
Okay let's start with parking, get there super early to get a good parking spot. Cute little cafe you can grab (good) coffee and breakfast before you head out. Also can grab some last minute food or beverages for the boat from the little store. Fair prices for oh crap I forgot. For starters I've gone on many deep sea fishing charters and the mates we had were the best yet. Dawson and Ray. They were helpful, funny and all around went the extra mile. Even got to watch bull shark and nursery shark feed at the end. They were both amazing. The captain was also super stellar. He unlike other captains I've experience was very involved. Any time he wasn't steering he was helping including filleting at the end. Very nice guy and made sure, without being pushy, that his crew was taken care of. I won't say I caught the most fish ever on this trip but I did catch the biggest variety I've ever caught. Very much enjoyed this trip. Would do it again. And caught plenty for dinner and a few days worth of leftovers!
We came for breakfast. Had a breakfast burrito and a breakfast croissant. Very tasty. With our coffee. They brought warm milk! And then we got to watch them feed the pelicans and the other birds. Chaos. Delightful chaos. This is worth a stop at Bud and Mary's fishing. Marina to catch this site in the morning and have a great breakfast
Great “days” fishing Great days fishing, helpful crew. Caught our quota of yellow tailed snapper so finished about an hour and half early. It was a really hot day, so we had had enough by then.
