Tarpon
Megalops atlanticus
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: catch-and-release. Fish over 40 in must stay in the water. One harvest tag/year only for a potential IGFA record.
Florida · Islamorada / Matecumbe
The mecca. Oceanside bones and permit, bayside backcountry, Channel 2 / Channel 5 current, wrecks for permit. Most pressured fish in the hemisphere.
Forecast
medium confidence
Morning line
Islamorada 7.0 on Saturday, April 18. 10 mph SE. Partly cloudy. YOLO day is Monday, August 31. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
Wind
OPEN-METEO
From SE · gust 11
Sky
OPEN-METEO
Clouds
Partly cloudy
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Moon
2% lit
Waxing crescent
spring range · 2%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 1.2 ft
low slack
0.49 ft MLLW
Clock
NOAA 8723970
Monthly YOLO day
Monday, August 31 · 8.7
Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waning gibbous · mid · tide range ~0.7 ft · wind to 15 mph · Thunderstorms · 63%
Next two weeks
Pulling the 14-day strip…
FL - Long Key State Park (Keys)
sand dropoff · saved map · mid
Oceanfront camping with bonefish flats at the tent. Reserve far ahead. · camp-surf · GULF ATLAS! - FISH
Channel 2 / Channel 5
channel gut · public structure · deep
Moving water. Permit and tarpon on the fall and the first of the flood. Channel Five is USGS GNIS 280292 just south.
Channel Five
channel gut · public structure · deep
USGS GNIS 280292. The named cut. Current is the whole fishery. Adjacent FKNMS polygons are no-take.
USGS GNIS 280292
Indian Key Channel
channel gut · public structure · deep
USGS GNIS 284511. The fill-and-cut current between Tea Table and Indian Key.
USGS GNIS 284511
Islamorada oceanside flats
hard flat · field manual · skinny
The mecca. Big, few, educated. Clean incoming, sun at your back. Lorelei is intel, not a mark.
Robbie's / Islamorada bayside
mangrove edge · field manual · mid
Tarpon roll under the breakfast dock. That is a tourist fact. The backcountry behind it is the fishery.
Incoming water
9.7Sat 9:00 AM → Sat 1:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Outgoing water
9.4Sat 3:00 PM → Sat 10:00 PM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Incoming water
9.7Sat 10:00 PM → Sun 8:00 AM
Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.
Outgoing water
9.7Sun 7:00 AM → Sun 10:00 AM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Incoming water
9.7Sun 9:00 AM → Sun 2:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
County and state ramps near this water. FKNMS no-take is Keys-only, on the legal list.
Harry Harris Park / Tavernier
Monroe County Parks
County park on the oceanside at the south end of Key Largo. Tavernier Creek is the cut.
Official sourceFounders Park / Islamorada
Village of Islamorada
Public ramp, bayside. The oceanside flats are a run from here.
Official sourceNOAA FKNMS management zones — Sanctuary Preservation Areas, Ecological Reserves, Research-Only.
Cheeca Rocks
Sanctuary Preservation Area — no fishing / no take (typical SPA)
FKNMS GISAlligator Reef
Sanctuary Preservation Area — no fishing / no take (typical SPA)
FKNMS GISHen and Chickens
Sanctuary Preservation Area — no fishing / no take (typical SPA)
FKNMS GISDavis Reef
Sanctuary Preservation Area — no fishing / no take (typical SPA)
FKNMS GISConch Reef
Sanctuary Preservation Area — no fishing / no take (typical SPA)
FKNMS GISConch Reef (Research Only)
Research Only — closed except permitted science
FKNMS GIS+ 3 more zones on the map.
Tarpon
Megalops atlanticus
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: catch-and-release. Fish over 40 in must stay in the water. One harvest tag/year only for a potential IGFA record.
Bonefish
Albula vulpes
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: catch-and-release only, hook-and-line only.
Permit
Trachinotus falcatus
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: hook-and-line. Special Permit Zone (Keys) is tighter than the rest of the state — typically C&R. Verify FWC.
Hogfish
Lachnolaimus maximus
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: Atlantic and Gulf bags differ. Monroe County is tighter. Fork-length minimum. Verify FWC.
Yellowtail snapper
Ocyurus chrysurus
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: typically 12 in total length, inside the snapper aggregate. Verify FWC.
Mutton snapper
Lutjanus analis
Thermal window
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In peak season for this water.
Florida: typically 18 in, inside the snapper aggregate. Verify FWC.
Great barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda
Thermal window
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Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. In peak season for this water.
Generally unregulated. Ciguatera risk rises with size. Do not keep a big one for the table.
Jack crevalle
Caranx hippos
Thermal window
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Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Present, not peak.
Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.
Regs citedFWC saltwater recreational · current FWC regional rules · rolls in 7 days. Snook closures are regional. Boca Grande is not Jupiter. Verify FWC before you keep one.