? Key West Fishing Charter Report – Sand Key Lighthouse Reef Yesterday was an excellent day reef fishing in Key West, Florida, with steady action and ideal winter conditions just offshore near Sand Key Lighthouse. We ran double half-day fishing charters, and the reef definitely delivered. ? Key West Reef Fishing Action Fishing the reef, we landed: 2 cero mackerel A big mutton snapper A solid red grouper, caught just in time before the season closes We started the trip catching live ballyhoo, then slow-trolled the reef, which is one of the most effective techniques for Key West reef fishing charters this time of year. The live bait made all the difference, and once the bite started, it stayed consistent throughout both half-day trips. ? Weather, Wind & Current Conditions Conditions were nearly perfect for a Key West fishing charter: Winds from the ENE to NE at about 6–10 mph Light to moderate seas with a comfortable reef chop Clean water and a steady southwest-moving current along the reef line near Sand Key That moving current helped stack fish on the structure and kept them actively feeding, which is exactly what you want when targeting mutton snapper, grouper, and cero mackerel in Key West. ? Why This Time of Year Is Great for Fishing in Key West Winter is one of the best seasons for reef fishing charters in Key West, especially around Sand Key and the outer reef. Cooler water temps, live bait availability, and consistent currents create prime conditions for quality reef species — and yesterday was a perfect example. If you’re looking to book a Key West fishing charter, now is a great time to get on the reef and take advantage of these conditions. ?

5 hour trip live baiting the Reef. There was beautiful weather today. Had a lot of snapper biting ended up with three legal ones to take home . The yellow tail we’re doing good too This picture doesn’t do them justice. Also took home 2 cero makera. This group was a group of four people who came off of the cruise ship. They were able to come bored and get back just in time to get back on the cruise ship.

Had a last minute 6 hour pm trip 2pm-8pm we caught live bait and slow trolled the reef. We ended up with some mutton snapper , cero mackerel, and yellow tails.

This day was a little windy so we decied to do some bottom fishing closer to shore. We killed it catching our limit on lane snappers withba fee grunts as well. This was a perfect trip to get some dinner but also some fish to taie back home.

What an epic trip! We set out to do some shark fishing and after a few black tips and nurse sharks, we got this beast to the boat! It was a true adrenaline rush to see this huge tiger shark up close.

This was the definition of a perfect fishing day. Our guest didn’t have a preference on what they caught. They just wanted to get something for dinner. My favorite fish to catch is mutton snapper not just because they are a fun fight but because they are delicious. we had more bites than I could count and we caught at least 20 mutton snapper. We threw back a lot of undersized mutton, snapper, but still came back with a great catch of legal size. and in between the my snapper bite, we were also able to land some legal yellowtail, which is another delicious fish. Overall had a great time caught lots of fish threw back lots of fish. Everyone was happy.