Islamorada Fishing Report: Tarpon, Snook, and Mahi Madness on the Menu

Artificial Lure here with your Islamorada fishing report for Friday, May 30, 2025.

We’re starting the morning with a high tide at 2:22 a.m., low tide rolling in around 7:58 a.m., followed by another high at 1:14 p.m., and a low closing out the day at 9:50 p.m. That means your best backcountry and patch reef windows will be on the incoming tide mid-morning and the outgoing just before sunset. Sunrise hit at 6:33 a.m. and sunset’s coming at 8:07 p.m., giving us a solid 13 and a half hours of daylight to bend some rods.

Weather’s on the summer side—warm, humid, and with the typical southeast breeze kicking. Clouds are drifting in, so play the light for sight-fishing, especially on the flats. Water temps are right in the fish zone. According to Coral Sea Charters, this is what we’re talking about for “Sportfishing Capital of the World”—solid action all around.

Let’s get to the fish. The tarpon bite is still sizzling in the channels and bridges. Multiple guides, including Captain Rick Stanczyk out of Bud n’ Mary’s Marina, are still putting anglers on silver kings up to triple hookups a trip. Early mornings and evenings are your ticket for tarpon, especially around Channel 2, Channel 5, and the legendary Long Key Bridge. Crab, mullet, or live pinfish are classic, but big soft plastics and magnum swimbaits are getting hammered too.

Backcountry’s alive with snook, sheepshead, and speckled seatrout. Just this week, anglers have reported quality snook on mangrove edges and creeks, plenty of trout on the grass flats, and even some redfish in the mix. Live shrimp and pilchards are working wonders for all three. If you’re fly or artie-inclined, chartreuse Clouser Minnows or paddle-tail jigs are crushing it. The flats in Florida Bay and the basins around Flamingo and Snake Bight are hot.

Out on the patch reefs, the yellowtail snapper bite has turned on. According to recent trips, limits are coming quick in 40 to 60 feet, especially with a steady chum slick and cut ballyhoo or squid drifting back. Mangrove snapper and some nice muttons have been mixed in. For the deep droppers and offshore fans, mahi are starting to show up under weedlines and floating debris from 10 to 20 miles out—troll small feathers, and have pitch rods ready rigged with live baits.

Two hotspots for today:
- **Long Key Bridge**: Tarpon at dawn and dusk, plus a shot at jacks and sharks.
- **Channel edges in the Backcountry**: Snook and speckled trout on moving water.

That’s your Friday rundown from Islamorada—plenty of rod-bending action, both inshore and offshore. Keep your tackle light for backcountry, bring heavy leaders for tarpon, and watch those tides.

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