6 DEC 2025 · Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from Islamorada with your morning fishing rundown.
We’ve got a classic early-winter Keys pattern setting up: light to moderate **east–southeast breeze**, seas 2–3 feet in the Straits, and Florida Bay staying pretty friendly according to the Marine Weather forecast out of Key West. Sunrise is right around **7:00 a.m.**, sunset about **5:40 p.m.**, giving us plenty of low-angle light for sight-fishing on the flats and edges.
Tides in the Islamorada/Florida Bay system today are running a modest range, with a **rising water early, peaking mid‑morning, and another push late in the afternoon**, based on the Islamorada Upper Matecumbe and Flamingo tide tables from Tide-Forecast and Tides4Fishing. That means your best windows will be the **last two hours of the incoming and the first of the outgoing**—perfect for working channel mouths, creek edges, and oceanside points.
On the **backcountry side**, guides running out of Islamorada and Flamingo the last couple days have been putting solid numbers of **redfish, snook, and sea trout** in the boat, with a mix of slot **mangrove snapper** and a few surprise **black drum**. Pilchards, live shrimp, and small pinfish under a cork or on a light jighead have been the ticket. Soft plastics on 1/8–1/4 oz jigs in **new penny, gold, or root beer** are getting crushed on the flats when the sun gets up and the water warms a notch.
On the **reef and patch reefs**, boats working the 20–40 ft stuff have been boxing good **yellowtail, mutton snapper, lane snapper, porgy, and keeper mackerel**. Fresh-cut ballyhoo, squid strips, and live shrimp on a long fluoro leader are hard to beat. Chum heavy, then drift back small baits naturally. The east breeze keeps the chum line straight and the yellowtails happy.
Out on the **edge and beyond**, the sailfish bite has started to perk up with this easterly flow. A few boats running kites off Alligator Reef and Crocker Wall have released multiple **sails**, along with **kingfish, cero mackerel, and a handful of blackfin tuna** on the color change and humps. Goggle-eyes, pilchards, and ballyhoo in the kite spread, plus a flatline with a fluorocarbon leader, are your best bet.
For **lures**, keep it simple and local:
- On the flats and in the mangroves: **gold spoons**, 3–4" **paddle tails** on light jigs, and small **topwaters** at first light for snook, reds, and baby tarpon.
- On the reef: **bucktail jigs** tipped with shrimp or cut bait, and small **metal jigs** for mackerel.
- Offshore: **pink and blue feather jigs**, small **skirted ballyhoo rigs**, and vertical jigs over the humps for blackfin.
A couple of **hot spots** to circle on your chart:
- **Channel Two and Channel Five bridges**: great right now for **mackerel, snapper, jacks, and the odd tarpon**, especially on the top of the tide with a good chum slick and live shrimp or small pilchards.
- **Alligator Reef light**: steady **yellowtail, muttons, and mackerel** on the patches nearby, with sails cruising the edge when that east wind lines up and the water color changes.
Overall **fish activity** is strong around the better tide swings and when the breeze lays just enough for good boat control. Midday can slow if it gets too bright and slick, so downsize your leaders, lighten up your weights, and get baits a little farther from the boat.
That’s the scoop from here in the purple islands. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.
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