The last couple of months has found the best deep sea fishing on the reef , over wrecks and around rock piles. The current has run West and the prevailing east wind has made for a lot of good Snapper fishing. The Grouper seem to know we can't keep em and have been biting fearlessly.Most days we fly a kite and pick up Kingfish, Cerro and Bonitos.

With the last of winter in Key West we start getting the "WIND" although it will be rough on and off over the next couple of months the fishing for offshore pelagics is going to pick up tremendously. Sailfish are being caught regularly by those who are trying .  Dolphin aren't far behind . And if the wind is a little calm a wahoo around the full moon won't be a surprise.

The season has been strong and Key West deep sea fishing has been strong, so we are looking forward to the seasonal fishing picking up .

The year end fishing in Key West is shaping up to be really great this year. Small Sailfish are showing up daily , even though a lot of mates are looking a little sheepish after missing the hook up more than once. Blackfin Tuna are coming to the surface on dark overcast days and for the Traditional Key West Sunset , I guess everything loves the beautiful sunsets here.

The reefs are loaded with bait and live Ballyhoo really liven up the bite on the surface and the bottom fishing for Grouper really picks up with those wiggly worms. The Gulfstream is slipping in and out and along the edge the water temperature has been 82. This is bringing a run of Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) through with numerous catches in the 15 – 20 lb range.

The dolphin are  a nice treat for late fall and always put up an exciting fight. King Mackerel are starting to show up and over the next few weeks good quantities of big fish will be abundant in the offshore waters near Key West. The Bottom Fishing for Yellowtail and Mutton Snapper remains strong with the only caveat being having the wind and currents playing nice with each other, nobody wants to catch the anchor line.

Sharks! They are always about and this one was caught while fishing the bottom just on the edge of the reef.

Amberjack , also known as reef donkey, can spice up the day. We usually jig these and in the winter you never know if it will be an amberjack or a tuna when jigging the rocks and wrecks near Key West.

Good fishing and good catching!

  As we start the month of August the heat is really starting to add up . Water temperatures in the 90's have helped build a lot of afternoon rain and thunderstorms in Key West this summer. We have had a couple of exciting rides home this summer, can't say we really dodged lightning but we didn't catch either. Thank Goodness. The warm water has put a lot of fishing deeper too where the Gulfstream water is cooler than the nearshore waters..  The Dolphin fishing has been disappointing this summer and all good catches have been around debris that you found first. Fortunately the combination of slow Dolphin and hot Snapper fishing on the reef has kept a lot of fishermen nearshore, and when you do venture deep the competition is not so heavy.

  The Snapper fishing has been solid with really great catches of Yellowtail , Mangrove and Mutton Snapper all up and down the reef , get some chum ,some secret numbers and catch a bunch of nice fish. This pattern should remain for the rest of the Summer. Good snapper fishing on the reef , spotty Dolphin fishing on first found debris and a few Wahoo and Marlin to liven up the troll. Swordfishing at night has been productive around the full moons as the squid come to the surface at night. As bycatch of the Swordfish we have gotten big Blackfin Tuna at night while drifting for the Swords. Night fishing is not just for Swords , on the reef the Snapper bite is hot at night , and the temperature is much cooler.

Hi, this is Capt. Chuck Butler with Charter SeaClusion, operating out of Key West Oceanside Marina, where we offer a variety of deep-sea fishing charters aboard my forty-six foot Bertram sportfish “SeaClusion”.


June is the biggest month for fishing in Key West. School is out and families from Florida and  afar come to Key West for fishing. There is no wonder why, the Dolphin migration is in full swing. Large schools of Mahi are passing through our waters and making for great catches and great memories.

Finding Dolphin is more like hunting. The Dorados must be tracked down . Birds are the easiest way to spot the fish below. Erratic low level flight patterns are almost a sure sign of fish. Catching them then becomes the next challenge. It can break your heart when that big bull has eyes for flying fish only. Weed lines are always a great place to fish , but if you don’t get up real early your early bird neighbor may have already worked that line over. Any piece of floating debris is a fish magnet and should be fished thoroughly before being left behind. Trolling past a pallet is just the start, if fish are not hooked up on the first couple of passes, try a live bait. If the debris is holding a lot of bait break out the vertical jigs and drop em deep. We try to get down 250 – 300 feet with great results including Cobia in 750 feet of water in the middle of June.

The big schools of  5 – 10 pound fish is what  June Dolphin fishing is all about in Key West. You don’t have to be an expert when you start hooking up and by the end of the day you will be a much better angler.  Nothing like practice, practice, practice.

Can anybody say Wahooooooooooo? June is a great month for really big Wahoo. These tasty fish can swim at incredible speeds and often straight at you. THE biggest mistakes when fighting Wahoo are taking the boat out of gear and not winding the reel. I can’t tell you how many times lackluster reeling has resulted in “I think the fish got off”, and my response is “ no,  but now it is”. What happens when the fish swims at 30 mph+ towards you and the line goes slack, Wahoo are shaking their heads as they fight and just a little after the line goes slack they do get loose. Reel fast enough to keep the rod tip bent and these speedsters will come to gaff – eventually.

Last but not least deep dropping is back and Snowy Grouper and Tilefish are back on the menu. Be careful very tight limit on Snowies ONE per boat Period. Plenty of Rudderfish and Rosies to take up the slack . Dropping on these spots is a great way to break up the day and catch a few bottom fish to go with the Dolphin.

May is arguably one of the best months of the year for fishing offshore in Key West. So many different types of fish are available that choosing can be the biggest problem of the day.   

By far one of the most sought after fish is the Dolphin, and in May Mahi-Mahi are making their way into the Key West waters in a big way. This is the time of year that the big brutes make their way West. Weed lines are OK but give me a couple of diving birds and I will show you a Bull Dolphin. Debris and weed lines are not what they will be in another month. The big fish this month are moving West into the current. They are eating on the run, hooking up and fighting a fish will usually cost you two or three more as they just keep moving.

Sailfish finally decided to come to Key West around the middle of April and will be here at least thru the first part of May. Sailfish tailing in the Gulfstream and a well full of worms truly defines sport fishing. The action is hot and pitching baits to Sailfish and watching the hook up right behind the boat gets the blood going every time.

Permit are not a fish we see  a lot of offshore, but in May they are still spawning on wrecks and rock piles before they head back to the flats and backcountry. Live crabs and shrimp work great. I have been trying the artificials but the success has not matched the convenience.

No forecast for May would be complete without a mention of Mutton Madness on the full moon. This celebration of the spawn is ritual with many in the Keys. Although the stories are always about the night everybody caught a limit it is not just that easy.  Where is pretty easy the crowds gather at the usual spots around dusk. Pinfish and Pilchards (anybody remember what they look like?) are the baits of choice. Ten per person is a lot of Mutton if you get into them, but fishing at night is always exciting.


Last but not least, GROUPER! The season opens on May 1st and Grouper is on the menu in Key West again. The four month closure is over and we can start fileting instead of releasing these tasty fish. The bag limits are complicated, pay attention, because the FWC is.

So when you figure out what you want to catch, this is the time to get out on the water and enjoy some of the best fishing Key West offers.