Keys Fishing Report: Early Winter Bounty in the Florida Keys

Good morning from the heart of the Florida Keys, this is Artificial Lure with your local angler’s report for Sunday, November 2nd, 2025. If you’re getting lines wet anywhere from Key Largo down through Key West today, you’re catching the Keys at their early winter best.

Tide-wise, we’re working off an early morning low around 2:30 AM with a strong push up to high tide right about now—just after sunrise at 7:36 AM for Islamorada and high right around 7:00 AM further down in Key West, making for some prime moving water this morning. The sun came up at 6:32 AM and will tuck down at 5:39 PM, so you’ve got a beautiful full day to work your spots. The tidal coefficient is middling—plenty enough to stir up the flats and the channels, without making things too wild in the bays, according to Tide-Forecast and Tides4Fishing.

Weather’s stable. The National Weather Service down in Key West calls for light southeast breezes, air temps hovering from the low 70s into the high 70s, and only a light chop on the bay. That’s perfect for anything from poling flats to chasing birds offshore.

Now, on to the fishing. That first cold front last week put a charge into the backcountry—folks have been reporting strong catches of snook, redfish, and speckled trout out in the Everglades and upper Keys, according to Richard Hastings in Keys Weekly. Snook have been busting bait on the windward shorelines, and redfish are holding tight where the mullet muds stack up in the bays.

Speckled trout are drumming up serious action in the softer potholes—try pitching shrimp under popping corks or a white paddle-tail jig when they’re holding deeper. For the fly crew, topwater flies worked along early morning shorelines have been drawing explosive strikes from both snook and juvenile tarpon.

The bonefish bite continues to impress, especially on the cleaner, cooler flats following these fronts. Sightcasters have been rewarded with fish on shrimp and crab imitations—just be sure to land them soft. And here’s the kicker: the bonefish are running bigger on the ocean side flats this month, with some seasoned locals saying this is as good as they’ve seen in years.

Offshore, things are a bit steadier with the winds, but dolphin (mahi) are still around in scattered numbers. And keep your eyes peeled—there are some late-season tunas popping up along color changes in deeper water. But do take note: the recreational hogfish harvest is closed as of November 1st this year, according to the FWC and AOL News, so let those go if you hook one.

Bait and lures are classic Keys fare: live pilchards and pinfish are deadly all around, but artificial fanatics are seeing strong results with soft plastics imitating shrimp and baitfish, particularly the Z-Man and Gulp lines in “New Penny” and white. For finesse, in the clear water, the spybait technique can be a sleeper—Aaron Martens’ advice holds true, a slow and steady retrieve with Duo Realis Spinbait or similar lures will tempt wary fish cruising the edges. And for trout and snook, you can’t go wrong with a paddletail jig or a walk-the-dog topwater like a Spook Jr. at sunrise.

Two hot spots today:
- The flats out from Snake Bight in the Everglades are loaded with snook and reds hunting after mullet—just work there on a rising tide.
- For bonefish hunters, the ocean side out near Channel Five holds some bigger fish—especially with the midmorning incoming tide and strong sunlight to spot tails.

That’s your Sunday Keysy rundown. Thanks for tuning in, y’all! Don’t forget to subscribe for more tight lines, local tips, and up-to-date action from the islands.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning from the heart of the floor to keys.
This is artificial lure with your local anglers report for Sunday,
November two, twenty twenty five. If you're getting lines wet
anywhere from Key Largo down through Key West today, you're
catching the keys at their early winter best. Tide wise,
we're working off an early morning low around two thirty am,

(00:20):
with a strong push up to high tide right about
now just after sunrise at seven thirty six am for Islamorada,
and high right around seven am further down in Key West,
making for some prime moving water. This morning. The sun
came up at six thirty two am and we'll tuck
down at five thirty nine pm, so you've got a

(00:40):
beautiful full day to work your spots. The tidal coefficient
is middling, plenty enough to stir up the flats and
the channels without making things too wild in the bays,
according to Tide Forecast and Tides for Fishing Weather's Stable.
The National Weather Service down in Key West calls for
light southeast breeze, airtemps hovering from the low seventies into

(01:03):
the high seventies and only a light chop on the bay.
That's perfect for anything from polling flats to chasing birds offshore.
Now on to the fishing. That first cold front last
week put a charge into the back country. Folks have
been reporting strong catches of snook, redfish, and speckled trout
out in the Everglades and Upper Keys. According to Richard

(01:25):
Hastings and Keys weekly, snook had been busting bait on
the windwood shorelines and red fisher holding tight where the
mullet MUDs stack up in the bays. Speckled trout are
drumming up serious action in the softer potholes. Try pitching
shrimp under popping corks or a white paddletail jig when
they're holding deeper for the fly crew. Top waterflies worked
along early morning shorelines have been drawing explosive strikes from

(01:48):
both snook and juvenile tarpin. The bonefish bike continues to impress,
especially on the cleaner, cooler flats. Following these fronts, sitcasters
have been rewarded with fish on, shrimp and crabmts. Just
be sure to land them soft. And here's the kicker.
The bonefisher running bigger on the ocean side flats this month,
with some seasoned locals saying this is as good as

(02:09):
they've seen in years. Offshore, things are a bit steadier
with the winds, but Dauf and Meyer are still around
in scattered numbers, and keep your eyes peeled. There are
some late season tunas popping up along color changes in
deeper water, but do take note. The recreational hogfish harvest
is closed as of November first this year, according to
the FWC and AOL News, so let those go if

(02:33):
you hook one. Bait and lores are classic keys fare
live pilchards and pinfish are deadly all around, but artificial
fanatics are seeing strong results with soft plastics imitating shrimp
and baitfish, particularly the z Man and Golp lines in
New Penny and White. For finesse in the clear water,
the spy bait technique can be a sleeper. Aaron Martin's

(02:55):
advice holds true. A slow and steady retrieve with duo
reac alice spin bait or similar LuSE will tempt wary
fish cruising the edges, and for trout and snook, you
can't go wrong with a paddletail jig or a walk
the dog topwater like a spook junior at sunrise. Two
hot spots today. The flats out from Snake Bite in

(03:18):
the Everglades are loaded with snook and reds hunting after
mullet just work there on a rising tide, but bonefish
hunters the ocean side out near Channel five holds some
bigger fish, especially with the mid morning incoming tide and
strong sunlight to spot tails. That's your Sunday Keezy Rundown.
Thanks for tuning in, y'all. Don't forget to subscribe for

(03:42):
more tight lines, local tips, and up to date action
from the islands. This has been a quiet please production.
For more checkout Quiet please dot ai