Key West Reef Fishing

Key West boasts the third-largest barrier reef in the world and the only living reef in North America. That makes Key West reef fishing one of the most exhilarating trips that an angler can experience anywhere on our blue planet.

Our reef fishing or a combo or reef/wreck charters are one of our most popular trips; we spend a little time almost everyday on the reefs here in Key West.

‘The Reef’ as we call it here is home to one of the largest varieties of game fish in the world, not just the United States or North America. There are at least 40 different varieties of game fish that call these waters home with at least another 20 sub-species to boot.

When enjoying Key West reef fishing you can expect to catch the tastiest game fish including but not limited to yellowtail snapper, Mutton snapper, Kingfish, Ciro Mackerel, Black and Red Grouper along with several other species.

The variety of game fish is incredible, but what also makes Key West reef fishing memorable is the sheer size of the fish we catch. It is estimated that some 1,000 IGFA records have been taken from the waters off Key West since record-keeping began.

Something else that surprises many visiting anglers is how close our reef is to the dock; only about 7 miles. That translates to a 20-minute boat ride to the closest spots, but even getting to the outer reef is a breeze.

Bottom Fishing

After a morning filled with action of yellowtails, barracuda, and sharks its nice to slide out to some deeper reef and try for bigger snappers and groupers. This generally means that we will anchor on deep the reef on the reef or just off the edge in about 120 feet.

We use a combo of live and dead bait at this point and the bottom fishing we love here in Key West is some of the best you will find in the world. We visit many different parts of the reef located in different depths resulting in a lot of variety in the fish that we catch.

We consistently catch some of the tastiest game fish this way; giant Black and Red Grouper can be caught when they are in season and Mutton and Mangrove Snapper are here year-round.