Florida fishing reports
562 reports for Florida — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Treasure Coast snook bite surges as summer inlet action heats up
Live bait is doing the work on Florida's Treasure Coast this month. Snook Nook reports the St. Lucie Inlet snook bite has rebounded now that a dredging project has paused, reopening the detached jetty and Hole in the Wall to good numbers of fish keyed on croakers and pilchards — catch-and-release only, since Atlantic-coast snook season typically stays closed to harvest June through August. The same Stuart-based crew banked a small-boat division win in the One More Bite Sailfish Challenge, going 7-for-9 on bites over the weekend, a good sign for offshore trolling this summer. Down in Biscayne Bay, Sport Fishing Mag notes mutton snapper turning up in the finger channels for anglers live-chumming pilchards on the right current. Farther north near St. Augustine, an angler working the Vilano Intracoastal logged a personal-best 21-inch flounder on candy mullet, per Coastal Angler Magazine. Meanwhile CCA Florida flags a federal court injunction disrupting this year's South Atlantic red snapper season right before it opened, so check current regs before targeting that species.
Mutton and Yellowtail Snappers Keep the Keys Bite Red Hot
"The fishing have been as good as I've seen in my 16 years here in Key West," reports ALL IN Key West, describing non-stop action on huge yellowtail and mutton snapper through the reef and backcountry. Bud n' Mary's confirms the timing, calling June and early July "one of the most productive periods" in the Keys fishery, with tarpon stacked on the bridges, mahi working the Gulf Stream edges, and yellowtail thick on the reef. Sport Fishing Mag adds detail on the snapper bite, noting quality mutton snapper respond well to live chumming with pilchards and block chum in a mesh bag. ALL IN Key West also flagged a strong Gulf side day mixing grouper, cobia, and kingfish, plus solid live-bait results on king mackerel and sailfish. With no fresh buoy or gauge readings in hand today, plan around the reef and Gulf Stream edges where bait has been thick and current has been moving fish.
Okeechobee and St. Johns bass settle into a dawn-and-dark summer pattern
No fresh buoy or gauge readings came through for the Lake Okeechobee/St. Johns corridor this cycle, and this week's angler-intel feeds carried no direct bite reports for either fishery specifically — so this update leans on typical mid-July Florida patterns rather than fresh readings. With a new moon overhead and water firmly in summer-heat mode, largemouth bass on both fisheries are typically pushing tight to matted vegetation and deeper grass edges during the heat of the day, with the best windows at first light and after dark. Bluegill and shellcracker activity tends to build around moon phases this time of year, making the coming days a reasonable bet for bedding fish in the shallows. Black crappie generally go quiet and deep-structure oriented once summer heat sets in. Treat all of the above as seasonal expectation, not confirmed intel, until region-specific reports come through.
Seatrout bite stays hot in Sarasota Bay as summer tarpon run continues
Spotted seatrout are biting aggressively on Sarasota Bay's grass flats and mangrove shorelines right now, per Capt. Brandon Naeve of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, who called it the peak of the summer trout bite this week. Gulf buoy readings back up the warm-water picture: 86°F offshore of Tampa (buoy 42036) and 88°F off the central Gulf (buoy 42013), with light wind under 10 knots keeping seas calm. Tarpon remain a strong target too — Capt. Rick Grassett's July forecast has spin anglers drifting live bait under floats in travel lanes and fly anglers working bar edges, noting July fish tend to hit more aggressively than earlier in the season. Capt. Chuck Cress also put a client on a red working an upper-bay oyster bar thick with mullet and bait. Shark activity (Bull, Blacktip, Lemon) typically holds through Sarasota Bay and nearshore Gulf water into fall. New moon tides should sharpen the bite on passes and flats this week.
Panhandle summer snapper season holds as new moon swings the tides
Florida's ongoing push for state-level red snapper management, covered this month by Field & Stream, keeps a spotlight on one of the Panhandle's signature summer fisheries, though that particular reporting centers on Atlantic-coast season dates rather than Gulf-side rules affecting Destin and Pensacola directly. No buoy or gauge readings came back for this stretch of the Panhandle today, so we're leaning on typical mid-July patterns: red snapper stay the top offshore target over nearshore and reef structure during open season windows, spotted seatrout and redfish hold on grass flats and around passes on moving tide, and king mackerel show up trolling live bait or spoons along nearshore reefs. Check current state and federal regs before harvesting snapper, since season dates shift year to year. No captain or shop reports came through specifically for Destin or Pensacola today, so treat the species status below as seasonal-typical rather than confirmed local bite reports.
Tarpon-Permit Doubleheader Keeps Florida's Gulf Coast Busy
Naples-area captains are running a tarpon-and-permit doubleheader as the spring migration carries into summer, per Naples Offshore Fishing Charters — mornings spent jumping quality tarpon on the push, afternoons switched over to sight-fishing large permit. Up the coast in Homosassa, Salt Strong reports anglers dialing in redfish, snook, and trout with a stealthy approach, since calm, hot summer water lets fish feel an angler's presence well before a lure lands nearby. Salt Strong's seatrout playbook this week leans on long bay drifts with proven lures rather than live bait or electronics, productive even when tidal push is modest. With a new moon overhead, expect a stronger tidal swing than recent weeks, which should sharpen those drifts. Florida Sea Grant's scalloping resources are still active, a reminder that Gulf Coast bay-scallop season is in full swing alongside the fishing action. Water temps aren't in today's buoy feed, so plan around typical mid-July Gulf Coast warmth and check local conditions before running offshore.
Treasure Coast snook rebound as red snapper season stalls in court
Snook fishing picked up sharply on Florida's Treasure Coast this month once a dredging project in the St. Lucie Inlet paused, per Snook Nook's July report out of Stuart — anglers with side-scan are marking large schools around the detached jetty and Hole in the Wall, with live croakers and pilchards drawing the most bites. Snook remain in a closed summer season on the Atlantic side (typically closed June through August), so treat any hookups as catch-and-release and confirm current regs before targeting them directly. Elsewhere on the Atlantic coast, Sport Fishing Mag notes mutton snapper still showing around Biscayne Bay on live chum, and a Coastal Angler Magazine reader logged a personal-best 21-inch flounder in the Vilano Intracoastal on candy mullet. Meanwhile red snapper season plans for Florida's Atlantic coast are in flux after a federal court blocked the state's pilot program, per CCA Florida.
Snapper Bite Stays Red Hot Through the Florida Keys This Summer
Key West boats are still riding one of the best snapper stretches in recent memory into mid-July. ALL IN Key West reports "huge yellowtails, tons and tons of mutton snappers" through May and June, calling it some of the best fishing they've seen in 16 years on the water, with mutton snappers "chewing like crazy" around the May full moon spawn and yellowtails "practically jumping in the boat." Offshore, the same captain has been finding grouper, cobia, barracuda and kingfish on Gulf-side trips, while live-bait drifts along the reef edge are turning up king mackerel, tuna and sailfish. Sport Fishing Mag notes mutton snapper anglers working Biscayne Bay are leaning on live chumming with pilchards and small-mesh block chum to hold fish on structure, a tactic that translates well to the Keys' finger channels and reef edges this time of year. Regulatory news is swirling around South Atlantic red snapper season, but that fishery remains closed to harvest pending court proceedings, per CCA Florida.
Summer Heat Pattern Settles Over Lake Okeechobee and St. Johns Bass
USGS gauge 02232000 on the St. Johns is showing a flow reversal to -160 cfs today, the kind of sluggish, tide-nudged current typical of this stretch once mid-July heat sets in and the river slows to a crawl. No water-temp reading came through with today's data pull, but expect Okeechobee and the upper St. Johns to be running deep into the 80s by midday, pushing largemouth bass off the main lake and into shade lines, mats, and deeper cover during the heat of the day. Tactical Bassin's summer playbook — working shallow shade with jigs early and pulling back to deeper cover as the sun climbs — is the standard approach for this kind of pattern, and Field & Stream's advice to slow the retrieve down applies just as much on Okeechobee grass flats as anywhere else. Bream should stay steady around the new moon, and catfish will feed best after dark.
Sarasota Bay trout bite stays red hot into peak summer
The peak summer seatrout bite is locked in across Sarasota Bay, with Capt. Brandon Naeve of CB's Saltwater Outfitters reporting aggressive Spotted Seatrout action on inshore grass flats, mangrove shorelines, and local passes in warm bay water. The same shop's July forecast from Capt. Rick Grassett keeps Tarpon in play, with spin anglers working travel lanes and drifting live baits under floats while fly anglers stake out or anchor on bar edges for more aggressive summer fish. Shark activity, Bull, Blacktip, and Lemon sharks, continues to build in Sarasota Bay and nearshore Gulf waters as the season progresses. Capt. Chuck Cress also put clients on Redfish working an oyster bar in upper Sarasota Bay, with plenty of mullet and bait activity in the same zone. No live buoy or gauge data is available for this update, so plan around the New Moon tide swing and check a local forecast before running offshore.
Snook and trout bite heats up along Panhandle beaches
Gulf water temps are pushing 89°F at NOAA buoy 42012 off the Panhandle shelf, and the shallow-water bite is running hot right along with it. Coastal Angler Magazine's latest "Hot Summer Snook and Trout" report has linesiders and speckled trout stacking up in the passes and tight to the beaches this month, workable on both live bait and artificials. Cobia are still cruising behind bait pods and under working sharks per Coastal Angler Magazine's cobia feature, though the spring push has faded into more scattered summer activity typical for July. Winds are light at both offshore buoys, around 9-11 mph, with air temps near 86°F and no wave-height or tide data reported this cycle. Redfish stay a dependable year-round target in Panhandle backwaters through the summer months. Scallop season continues drawing boat traffic toward Port St. Joe, per Pensacola Fishing Forum chatter, consistent with Florida Sea Grant's active scallop-sorting guidance for the season.
Tarpon push keeps rolling as Naples permit bite dials in
Tarpon are jumping and grabbing quality fish through the ongoing migration push, with mornings spent on tarpon before switching over to sight-fishing large permit in the afternoon, per Naples Offshore Fishing Charters' latest report. That two-species pairing has been the backbone of the Gulf Coast bite this stretch, with occasional bonus fish mixed in along the way. Meanwhile, Coastal Angler Magazine flags summer snook and speckled trout stacking up in the passes and along the beaches as the hot-weather pattern sets in, calling it some of the year's best action for linesiders. Between the tarpon-permit rotation offshore and nearshore and the snook/trout bite tightening up in the passes, Gulf Coast anglers have multiple high-percentage targets right now. No fresh buoy or gauge readings came through for this cycle, so treat water temps and swell as typical for mid-July until the next data pull confirms specifics.