October 24th Keys Fishing Report: Mullet Run, Snook, Trout, and More

Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your boots-on-the-dock Friday fishing report for the Florida Keys, October 24th, 2025.

First light was at 7:29AM and sunset will glaze over the flats by 6:52PM. We have a moving tide kind of day: Key West started with a skinny low tide at 6:03AM and we’re heading toward a 1.54-foot high at 12:39PM. Things drop again to a moderate 0.97-foot low at 5:15 and crank up to another high just before midnight at 2.23 feet, so plenty of current to play with, especially midday and late night. Conch Key tells a similar story: low just after five, high at 11:30, low at 4:30, high at 10:45. Tidal amplitude is up, and currents are strong, so look for water movement to bunch up the bait and the fish.

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, today’s fishing is rated poor in the evening, but that don’t mean they aren’t chewing—just gotta work a little harder or time your window for the tide swings.

Weatherwise, we got brisk north winds piping in, and skies look fair—should settle off nicely as we get closer to the weekend, pushing bait south and juicing up predator activity along the banks and creeks.

How about the bite itself? Tarpon are still around, though not balled up thick like summer. Rick Stanczyk out of Islamorada says it’s fair fishing for tarpon—he’s been picking at a few every trip, with some days producing a handful of bites and the occasional triple hookup, especially in spots holding bait. He got into baby tarpon in the creeks for a few days, and yesterday ran into a rump group of bigger fish while targeting snook. There’s no huge schools, but if you find mullet moving, tarpon aren’t far behind. Rick put a nice one in the boat on live pinfish, so if you’re keen on pins, bring a dozen.

On the inshore side, the fall mullet run’s in full swing, and that means snook and trout on the inside grass flats, with speckled trout taking 3–4 inch paddle tails or Zman TrickTrout soft plastics fished on a light jighead. The Flats Class pros remind us to use a 7’0” to 7’4” medium-light spinning rod with a moderate-fast action to keep those paper-mouthed trout pinned and shake off less. For baits, you can’t go wrong with a MirrOlure MirrOdine, white or greenback, and live pilchards or finger mullet for multi-species mayhem.

Best bait for snook and tarpon has been live mullet or pinfish, though big Gulp! jerk shads and DOA baitbusters will absolutely get hit in muddy, moving water around feeding windows.

Offshore chatter notes sporadic mahi-mahi—nothing crazy but a few keepers caught past the reef line on skirted ballyhoo when weed lines stack up. Nearshore patch reefs and bridges are coughing up a mix of mangrove snapper and the occasional grouper flirting with season’s end.

As for hot spots, hit Channel Two or Seven Mile bridges on the tide changes for snapper, grouper, and pompano—especially the deeper shadow lines in the morning and late afternoon. Boot Key Harbor is holding mixed-size tarpon at the creek mouths, and Snake Creek’s been steady for trout and mangrove snapper on soft plastics.

In summary: fish the moving water midday for snapper and offshore runs, match your lures to the bait in the water, and stick with live pinfish or mullet for larger predators. If you’re working artificials, keep it natural in color and toss where current sweeps the bait.

Thanks for tuning in to your Florida Keys fishing report with Artificial Lure. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss what’s biting. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers, artificial lore here with your boots on
the dock. Friday Fishing report for the Florida Keys, October
twenty fourth, twenty twenty five. First light was at seven
twenty nine am and sunset will glaze over the flats
by six fifty two pm. We have a moving tide
kind of day. Key West started with a skinny low

(00:21):
tide at six zero three am, and we're heading toward
a one point five four foot high at twelve thirty
nine pm. Things drop again to a moderate zero point
ninety seven foot low at five point fifteen and crank
up to another high just before midnight at two point
two three feet, So plenty of current to play with,
especially midday and late night. Conk Key tells a similar story.

(00:45):
Low just after five high at eleven thirty, low at
four thirty high at ten forty five. Tidal amp platoon
is up and currents are strong, so look for water
movement to bunch up the bait and the fish. According
to the Farmer's Almanac, today's fishing is rated poor in
the evening, but that don't mean they are chewing. Just

(01:06):
gotta work a little harder or time your window for
the tide slings. Weatherwise, we got brisk north winds, piping
in and skies look fair. Should settle off nicely as
we get closer to the weekend, pushing baits south and
juicing up predator activity along the banks and creeks. How
about the bite itself. Tarpin are still around, though not

(01:26):
balled up thick like summer brick. Stanchik out of Islamorta
says it's fair fishing for tarpin. He's been picking out
a few every trip, with some days producing a handful
of bites and the occasional triple hookup, especially in spots
holding bait. He got into baby tarpin in the creeks
for a few days, and yesterday ran into a rump

(01:46):
group of bigger fish while targeting snook. There's no huge schools,
but if you find mullet movement, tarpin aren't far behind.
Rick put a nice one in the boat on live pinfish,
So if you're keen on pins, bring a dozen. On
the inshore side. The fall mullet runs in full swing,
and that means snook and trout on the inside grass
flats with speckled trout taking three four inch paddle tails

(02:09):
or Zeman trick trout soft plastics fished on a light jighead.
The flats class pros remind us to use a seven
foot zero to seven foot four medium light spinning rod
with a moderate fast action to keep those paper mouthed
trout pinned and shake off less. For baits, you can't
go wrong with a mirror loose mirro dean white or

(02:30):
green back and live pilchards or finger mullet for multi
species mayhem best bait for snoke and tarpin has been
live mullet or pinfish, though big gop jerkshads and da
bait busters will absolutely get hit in muddy moving water
around feeding windows. Offshore chatter notes sporadic mahi mahi, nothing crazy,

(02:52):
but a few keepers caught past the reef line on
skirted Balahu when weed lines stack up near shore patch
reefs and bridges are coughing up a mix of mangrove,
snapper and the occasional grouper flirting with season's end. As
for hotspots, hit Channel two or seven mile bridges on
the tide changes for snapper, grouper and pompino, especially the

(03:14):
deeper shadow lines in the morning and late afternoon. Boat
Key Harbor is holding mixed sized tarpin at the creek
mouths and Snake Creek's been steady for trout and mangrove
snapper on soft plastics. In summary, fish the moving water
mid day for snapper and offshore runs. Match your lures
to the bait in the water and stick with live

(03:36):
pinfish or millet for larger predators. If you're working artificials,
keep it natural in color, and toss where current sweeps
the bait. Thanks for tuning in to your Florida Keys
Fishing report with artificial lure. Don't forget to subscribe so
you never miss what's biting. This has been a quiet
please production. For more check out Quiet Please dot ai