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Key West Fishing Is Where World
Fishing Records Are Made & Broken

Key West fishing offers the the FLorida Keys sport fishing enthusiast a number of exciting options.

Fishing the waters off Key West has resulted in some of the biggest International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world records.

By 2010 Key West FL had amassed over 600 of these fishing records, mostly on light tackle boats.

Just some of the Florida Keys fish that have topped the charts and scales are, mahi mahi (dorado or dolphin), wahoo, permit, grouper, kingfish, mutton snapper, yellowtail snapper, sailfish, swordfish, shark, great barracuda, and amberjack.


Ernest Hemingway with Sailfish and Marlin


Key West Fishing is as Good Today As It Was When
Ernest Hemingway Was Deep Sea Fishing Florida Keys

Photo State Library and Archives of Florida


No doubt about it, fishing Key West is always good. The coral reefs and artificial wreck reefs are consistently great spots for catching a variety of Florida fish, using various fishing techniques.

Depending on your depth, you can fly fish, spin cast, chum or bottom fish. Just some of the Florida Keys fish you'll catch are grunt, grouper, snapper, barracuda, shark, cobia, mahi mahi, wahoo, amberjack, and blackfin tuna.

The water in the Key West area also gets open and deeper faster than further north in the Keys. With quick, easy access to the Gulf Stream, you'll find that deep sea fishing Key West is highly productive. Here you can spend more time battling it out with the billfish and other pelagic species, and less time getting there.

Anglers also get to mix it up a bit while on the deep blue. You can troll, kite fish, chum, and even fly fish once the big predators have surfaced after your bait.

Deep drop fishing using strobe lights is also popular and gives anyone sport fishing Florida Keys a chance to go after the super large bottom dwellers. Expect to catch various species of grouper including the massive warsaw grouper, snowy grouper, queen snapper, vermillion snapper, tile fish, rose fish, hake, and various species of shark.

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Since there are so many options available to you when planning a Key West fishing trip, one of the simplest solutions is to plan on including a Key West charter fishing trip on your vacation.

This eliminates a lot of the questions about where to go, what to have for fishing gear, and it also makes the likelihood of your fishing trip resulting in a success instead of coming back empty handed.

The knowledge you'll gain from going out with a seasoned professional fishing charter crew is worth the trip alone, but the ability to bring back that trophy fish is the true icing on your cake!

You can click on any of the pictures or names in the table below to start reading detailed information on Key West fishing charter companies as well as other fishing guides throughout the Florida Keys.

You'll see the information is broken down by region, and when you click on any of these images you'll go to the appropriate charter fishing page for that area.

Beside each Florida Keys fishing charter company's name you'll also see a Check Rates Button. By clicking on this you'll be transported to that company's landing page and here you'll get all the facts and details you want.

Information on the Captain's background and experience, where they fish, what they use, where they go, what they fish for, boat specs, current fishing trip rates and availability. Everything you need to get started on your Key West fishing trip.



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Booking Commissions At No Extra Cost To You

Florida Keys Fishing Charters By Area

Select Types Of Fish To Target
Pick Where You Want To Go
Select Choice Of Tackle
Get Rates!








Popular Key West Fishing Spots

Below are some of the more popular coral reef and artificial reef sites you can visit while enjoying your fishing in Key West adventure. The locations are listed from northeast to southwest and their GPS coordinates are included.

American Shoal Reef Bridge Spans and Concrete, 42' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 33.119N 81 28.018W

Adolphus Busch Sr. 210' Steel Ship, 100' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 31.841N 81 27.688W

Joe's Tug 90' Steel Tug Boat, 65' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 27.85N 81 44.27W

Hoyt Vandenberg 522' Steel Ship, 145' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 27.597N 81 44.188W

Key West Tournament Reef 100' Steel Barge, 184' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 27.252N 81 46.25W

Key West Tournament Reef 260' Steel Ship, 180' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 27.25N 81 46.25W

Cayman Salvage Master 187' Steel Ship, 92' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 27.21N 81 45.98W

Stargazer Reef Steel Structures, 13' deep
GPS coordinates: 24 227.3N 81 52.0W


Fishing Key West At Sand Key Lighthouse


Fishing Key West Near Lighthouse At Sand Key
State Archives Of Florida, Florida Memory, Dale M. McDonald Collection





Popular Key West Public Fishing Spots
Bridges and Piers

Below are 3 popular bridge and pier fishing spots in the Key West area, listed from north of town to Key West City proper:

Park Channel Fishing Bridge
US-1, Mile Marker 18.5

Shark Key Fishing Bridge
US-1, Mile Marker 12

White Street Fishing Pier
South end of White St, Key West

The great thing about Key West fishing is that you can do more than just fish if you want. You can start off your day playing on any one of the great Key West beaches, then head off to a local fishing pier or bridge to wet a line.

You can then round off your day by strolling Duval St and visiting some of the historic and unusual bars. Then cap off your evening with a fine meal at any of the great Key West restaurants.

Key West fishing is as much fun as the city itself. It's hard to imagine coming to Key West FL and not spending at least one day on the water.

So whether you go backcountry fishing in the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, or deep sea fishing for that legendary prize Hemingway and Zane Grey loved to chase, you'll be glad you did.






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Local Weather Zip Codes

Key Largo - 33037
Marathon - 33050
Key West - 33040