Florida fishing reports
580 reports for Florida — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Mutton and yellowtail snapper bite stays red-hot in the Keys
Mutton snapper are chewing "like crazy" around the recent full-moon spawn, and yellowtail snapper are "practically jumping in the boat," according to ALL IN Key West, which says the May-June bite has been as good as any it has seen in 16 years fishing out of Key West, with July availability just opening up. The same operation is also putting clients on grouper, cobia, barracuda and kingfish on Gulf-side trips, and reports sailfish activity starting earlier than usual this year on live bait in strong Gulfstream current. On the regulatory side, CCA Florida flags that a federal court has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the 2026 South Atlantic red snapper Exempted Fishing Permit pilot program for Florida and neighboring states, landing just hours before Florida's Atlantic red snapper season was due to open — worth checking before targeting that species. We don't have live buoy or gauge readings for the Keys right now, so confirm exact water temps and tide timing locally before running offshore.
Sarasota Bay Trout Bite Turns Aggressive as Summer Peaks
Spotted Seatrout are firing on all cylinders in Sarasota Bay, with Capt. Brandon Naeve of CB's Saltwater Outfitters reporting an aggressive peak-summer bite on inshore grass flats, mangrove shorelines, and local passes — action that produced a nice trout for a young angler and his dad this past week. Tarpon remain a solid target too: per Capt. Rick Grassett's July forecast from the same Sarasota shop, live baits drifted under floats along travel lanes, or sight-cast to fish stacked on bar edges, are drawing strikes, with July fish typically more aggressive than earlier in the season. Redfish are mixing in around oyster bars in upper Sarasota Bay, per Capt. Chuck Cress, alongside mullet schools and the occasional bluefish. Shark activity — blacktips, bull sharks, and occasional migratory species — stays elevated in the bay and nearshore Gulf through the season, per Capt. Naeve. Statewide, Coastal Angler Magazine flags snook and trout as a strong July combo in the passes and along the beaches.
Summer heat has Okeechobee bass and St. Johns bluegill firing early
The St. Johns River gauge near USGS site 02232000 logged a modest 259 cfs flow early this morning, a steady, unhurried stage typical for a Florida river in mid-summer with no big rain pulses moving through. With water on the low side, largemouth bass across Okeechobee and St. Johns waters are settling into a classic hot-weather pattern: Tactical Bassin's July roundup points anglers toward power-fishing the shallows early and jig fishing as the sun climbs, with a Neko rig as a follow-up when reaction bites slow. Bluegill remain a dependable target too, with Field & Stream's guide noting bream stack up on weed lines over mud bottoms this time of year, feeding on the same summer insect activity driving the bass bite. Crappie, by contrast, tend to slide deeper and go quieter once surface temps climb into summer ranges, so expect a tougher, more patient bite there. Early and late are the windows worth planning around.
Yellowtail and mutton snapper keep Keys anglers busy through summer
Snapper fishing remains red hot across the Florida Keys heading into mid-July, with ALL IN Key West reporting yellowtail snapper "practically jumping in the boat" alongside strong numbers of mutton snapper, plus a solid mixed bag of grouper, cobia, barracuda, and kingfish on recent Gulf-side trips. The captain says fishing has been as good as any stretch in 16 years running trips out of Key West, coming off a nonstop May and June with July openings now available. Live bait has also been producing king mackerel, tuna, and sailfish along the reef edges, per the same operator. On the regulatory side, CCA Florida reports a federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the 2026 South Atlantic red snapper Exempted Fishing Permit pilot programs just hours before Florida's Atlantic season was set to open, so anglers planning to target red snapper offshore should check current state and federal rules before harvesting. No live buoy or gauge readings were available for this report; conditions below reflect angler intel only.
Amberjack and mingos turn on off Pensacola as billfish season heats up
A July 4th trip out of Pensacola found the Gulf lying flat calm — "a pond," per one report on the Pensacola Fishing Forum — with a slow start that turned around once anglers scaled down to slow-pitch jigs and found amberjack and vermilion snapper ("mingos") stacked over bridge rubble. A follow-up post from the same forum two days later logged a personal-best Spanish mackerel, another sign the summer mixed bag is filling in along Panhandle nearshore structure. Offshore, the big-game scene is drawing attention too: Coastal Angler Magazine reports Fleur de Lis topped the 2026 Florida Panhandle Billfish Series out of the Emerald Coast circuit, confirming billfish opportunities off Destin and Pensacola are active this month. No fresh buoy or gauge readings came through for this update, so treat water temperature and swell as typical summer-Gulf conditions until the next check-in. Bridge rubble and reef structure remain the go-to for bottom species right now.
Tarpon push still rolling as Gulf Coast anglers dial in Permit, AJs
Naples Offshore Fishing Charters reports the spring Tarpon migration has been in full swing along Florida's Gulf Coast, with captains jumping and landing quality fish through the mornings before switching over to sight-fishing large Permit in the afternoons. Kingfish, cobia, and amberjack have been mixed in as steady bonus species on those same trips. Up in the Panhandle, a Pensacola Fishing Forum angler's July 4th trip found the amberjack bite still alive over bridge rubble, scaling down to slow-pitch jigs to also pick up vermillion snapper (mingos) once the AJs got wise to the first offering - a pattern that lines up with the amberjack and offshore-structure action Naples-area captains have also been working this season. Regulatory backdrop matters too: CCA Florida has flagged ongoing concern from Gulf-state senators over illegal foreign harvest pressuring red snapper stocks, a reminder to check current federal and state rules before keeping fish. Overall it's shaping up as a solid, on-schedule summer stretch for FL's Gulf side with good variety across the water column.
Treasure Coast snook feeding well as inlet dredging halts
The St. Lucie Inlet's snook bite has rebounded now that a channel dredging project has paused, per Snook Nook's July report out of Stuart — anglers with side-scan are marking big schools near the detached jetty and Hole in the Wall, with live croakers and pilchards drawing bites. Florida's snook season stays closed statewide through September 1, so it's catch-and-release only on the Treasure Coast for now. The bigger story for Atlantic-side anglers is red snapper access: CCA Florida reports a federal court just granted a preliminary injunction blocking the 2026 South Atlantic red snapper Exempted Fishing Permit pilot programs for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, landing hours before Florida's planned Atlantic season opener. Anglers Journal notes the state-management push, including a proposed 39-day season, remains in legal limbo. Tarpon should be moving through inlets and along the beaches as usual for early July, a typical seasonal pattern along this stretch.
Trout bite stays hot on Sarasota grass flats as tarpon linger into July
Spotted seatrout are attacking baits aggressively across Sarasota Bay's grass flats, mangrove shorelines, and passes right now, according to Capt. Brandon Naeve of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, who called it the peak of the summer trout bite. Redfish are cooperating too: Capt. Chuck Cress reported clients pulling a red off an upper Sarasota Bay oyster bar amid mullet schools and bluefish. Tarpon haven't checked out yet. Capt. Rick Grassett's July forecast has spin anglers still working travel lanes with live baits under floats, noting July fish tend to fight harder before schools thin out later in the month. Shark action remains a Sarasota Bay staple through summer, with Naeve noting bull, blacktip, and lemon sharks working the bay and nearshore Gulf. With no fresh buoy or gauge readings available today, we're leaning on this week's captain and shop reports rather than raw water data. Check a local forecast before you run out.
Peak-summer bass feeding window arrives on Okeechobee and the St. Johns
No fresh buoy or gauge readings came through for Lake Okeechobee or the St. Johns River this cycle, so this report leans on national bass-fishing intel and seasonal knowledge rather than local sensor data. Tactical Bassin's July rundown, "Top 5 Baits For July Bass Fishing," notes that rising water temperatures this month push largemouth metabolism to its yearly peak, with fish aggressively chasing prey from bank, kayak, and boat alike — a pattern that applies directly to Okeechobee's grass flats and the St. Johns' backwaters. Fishing the Midwest's weedline piece adds a complementary technique note: working emerging weed edges with moving baits has been drawing strikes as the open-water season settles in. Bluegill, crappie, and catfish don't have specific reports in this cycle's feeds, so their status below reflects typical mid-summer Florida patterns rather than direct testimony. Check state regs before harvesting, and expect early morning and late evening windows to outfish the midday heat.
Yellowtail and mutton snappers keep Key West bite red hot
Yellowtail snapper are "practically jumping in the boat" this stretch, according to Key West charter operation ALL IN Key West, which also reports mutton snapper chewing hard during recent spawning aggregations tied to the full moon. The same captain has logged steady grouper, cobia, and barracuda action on Gulf-side trips, plus an early start to sailfish season driven by strong Gulfstream current pushing in close to Key West. Live bait has been the top producer for king mackerel, tuna, and sailfish on recent runs, with bottom rigs holding up despite the current. Separately, anglers chasing red snapper on Florida's Atlantic side should watch the regulatory picture: CCA Florida reports a federal court preliminary injunction has blocked the 2026 South Atlantic red snapper pilot programs right as the season was set to open, so check current state guidance before targeting that species. Overall, the Keys reef and flats bite remains strong heading into mid-July, with snapper the standout.
Panhandle summer bite settles into a snapper-and-mackerel rhythm
Early July puts Destin and Pensacola squarely in peak Gulf-summer rhythm, with red snapper, Spanish mackerel, redfish, and speckled trout typically carrying the bite this time of year. This cycle's buoy and gauge feeds came back empty for the Panhandle, and the angler-intel sweep surfaced shop reports from South Florida's Atlantic coast and general national outlets rather than dedicated Destin/Pensacola sources, so there's no fresh, region-specific bite report to cite today. That's worth flagging rather than papering over: until a Panhandle-specific report lands, this update leans on typical seasonal patterns for the northern Gulf. Snapper are usually working deeper rigs, wrecks, and reef structure offshore, mackerel and redfish are holding around passes, bridges, and nearshore bait schools, and speckled trout are tucking into grass flats and deeper holes to dodge the summer heat. Check local shops and state guidance for current bag limits and season windows before heading out.
Tarpon migration keeps Naples anglers busy into summer
Naples Offshore Fishing Charters reports the Gulf Coast tarpon migration is in full swing, with morning trips consistently jumping and landing quality fish before boats swing over to sight-fishing large permit in the afternoons. That two-species split has been the backbone of the Southwest Florida program through late spring and into early summer, with occasional bonus species rounding out trips. Earlier in the season the same operation was seeing kingfish on plugs and flies, along with cobia and amberjack mixed into the nearshore variety, per their spring update. Water temperatures aren't available from buoy or gauge data this cycle, so anglers should lean on local knowledge and current reports before running offshore. The tarpon push typically holds through summer in this region, and permit remain a reliable target on the flats and nearshore structure as long as water stays clear enough for sight-casting.