Keys Fishing Report: Tarpon, Snook, Yellowtail Bite Strong on Memorial Day Weekend

Artificial Lure here with your Islamorada fishing report for Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Weather’s classic late-spring Keys—warm, muggy, and mostly sunny with a light southeast breeze that’ll keep the backcountry from being glass flat but won’t blow you off the water. Sunrise came in right before 6:35 AM, with sunset expected just after 8:05 PM, which means we’ve got over 13 hours of sunlight to play with today.

Tides are looking solid for inshore action. High tide hit at 3:13 AM, followed by a low around 8:57 AM, and we’ve got another high at 2:09 PM. That rising water mid-morning through early afternoon should have the fish moving up onto the flats and channel edges—perfect timing for chasing the usual suspects.

Tarpon are still the star, especially early in the morning and again at dusk. The evening outgoing tide is your window for those bridge monsters and channels around Indian Key and Channel 2. Live mullet is still top dog for bait, but big swimbaits and DOA Baitbusters are getting hammered by the early runners, especially on the ocean side. According to Captain Rick Stanczyk, the big fish are still rolling, and there’s a legit shot at a 100-pounder most nights.

Backcountry’s heating up with a mixed bag—snook, speckled seatrout, and some chunky sheepshead are being caught around the mangroves and island edges, especially near Flamingo and in the Snake Bight area. Soft plastics on a 1/8 oz jighead in root beer or new penny colors are working, but cut shrimp and live pilchards are fooling both snook and trout throughout the mornings.

Offshore, mahi are showing up in decent numbers as sargassum mats drift closer. Find the weedlines past Alligator Reef, troll small rigged ballyhoo or chuggers, and keep pitch rods ready for schoolies popping up in the prop wash. A few cobia have been hanging near channel markers and wrecks; live pinfish or bucktail jigs tipped with squid are reliable.

On the reefs, yellowtail snapper are biting steady, especially on the falling tide. Anchor up, start your chum slick, and float back small pieces of cut bait—silversides or squid—in 40-70 feet. Early-morning outings are producing limits before the sun gets high. There’s still some grouper action, mainly in the deeper holes and ledges closer to Crocker Reef.

Hot spots today:
- The flats behind Islamorada toward Sandy Key for snook and trout.
- The Channel 5 and Channel 2 bridges for rolling tarpon at dusk.
- Patch reefs near Alligator for non-stop yellowtail snapper.

That’s the bite for today, folks! Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe for tomorrow’s update. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.