So, your bags are all packed, airline tickets ready to go, and it’s off to the Southernmost City for the ultimate vacation: fishing in Key West, Florida! Get ready for action packed angling with offshore charters, or serene flats fishing punctuated by extreme bursts of action when a fish bites and it’s all out havoc. There’s a party boat experience with the whole crowd of angers, and then there’s the private charter for just you, your guide, a captain and some friends. There’s all this and so much more when you go fishing in Key West Florida.

Thousands of excited anglers make the trip each year, just to go fishing in Key West, Florida. Our salt water sport fishing grounds are that rich, and our Key West fishing guides are that good. Start dreaming now, and plan ahead for discounts. We can help you find a good deal with an excellent boat that boats a find reputation. We listen to feedback from the anglers who fish with our guides, so we know for sure our guides are the best on the island. Just a few of our testimonials! Day after day our captains prove that fishing in Key West is the absolute best way to go! Pictures taken during fishing trips with our boats say it all. Wahoo, tuna, marlin, sailfish, grouper, snapper, bonefish, tarpon, permit, sharks and the list goes on. We have a boat for you, whether you want some grouper from the back country, some permit from the flats, or some wahoo steaks from offshore for your dinner, you can get it by fishing in Key West, Florida.

Once you hit play you can then hit the HQ button to watch in high quality

Chris Garcia

http://www.fishkeywestguides.com/cool_water.php

Once you hit play you can then hit the HQ button to watch in high quality

Chris Garcia

http://www.fishkeywestguides.com/cool_water.php

Once you hit play you can then hit the HQ button to watch in high quality

Chris Garcia

http://www.fishkeywestguides.com/cool_water.php

Once you hit play you can then hit the HQ button to watch in high quality

Chris Garcia

http://www.fishkeywestguides.com/cool_water.php

What does a pallet found floating offshore have to do with Key West dolphin fishing? Well, the difference between a good fishing trip and a super dolphin fishing trip!

That’s because a pallet is a shelter in an otherwise shelter-less deep water area. Small fish see the pallet as a hideout from larger fish. Marine life also grows on the underside of the pallet and form a small garden of nutrients for those same small fish hiding out. Charter fishing guides that take visitors out for a day of Key West dolphin fishing will head for such a floating structure if they spot one. In fact, the captain of an offshore fishing boat will often scan water for such a precious item because it means there’s a good chance of finding dolphin underneath, too.

Dolphin run in schools of small fish, which are lovingly called “schoolies” by anglers. Hook one, and the rest will follow it. So, spotting an offshore pallet means you might have several mahi mahi on the lines at once, so get some lines ready fast! This particular pallet in the picture scored several mahi mahi for a recent Key West dolphin fishing trip.

Key West fish range from inshore mangrove snappers you can catch right off a dock, to offshore pelagic species like marlin and tuna. On the reef, typical Key West fish caught are grouper, snapper, and mackerel. Yellowtail snapper are very common and extremely good to eat. In fact, the most common Key West fish targeted by party boats are Yellowtail.

Another tasty Key West fish is grouper. Black grouper are found all over the reef, six miles out and further. These are bottom-fished and prized for their tasty flesh. Bottom fishing can also produce other grouper, like Reds and Jewfish. Jewfish, or Goliath Grouper, are sport fish only, protected by Federal law. Because of their mammoth size, they are extremely fun to catch.

Trolling can yield Key West fish like mahi mahi, wahoo, and sailfish. For these species, go further out than the main reef to deeper waters. Trolling takes time but can yield lots of action once a big pelagic fish is hooked. Deep sea fishing in Key West is great partly because of the species brought in by the Gulf Stream, which sometimes is as close as two miles from Sand Key Light, on the reef near Key West.

Key West fish on the flats are your permit, tarpon, snook, sharks, bonefish, and barracuda (also found in deeper waters, as are the sharks). Lots of anglers who go flats fishing in Key West like to use fly rods and tackle. When you hook some of these Key West fish on fly, it’s pretty amazing, to say the least!

Key West fishing boats range from tiny flats boats to center consoles to large offshore sport fishers that can accommodate several people in comfort and style. Choose your charter by what kind of fishing and what type of Key West fish you want to catch.

The Key West fishing boats that go offshore run half day, three quarters day, and full day charters. These are the big boats with air conditioning and comfortable seating inside. They run out of Garrison Bight and Key West’s Historic Seaport and can be booked online for best prices. Reserve your trip ahead of time and make your Key West vacation as hassle free as possible. Do your legwork before you get here and there’s more time for relaxing or fishing.

If it’s fishing by yourself you’re interested in, then you may be interested in Key West boat rentals. Rent a boat for a partial day, full day, or just a couple of hours around sunset for a quick sunset tour or maybe a little tarpon fishing. Renting a boat is good if you know the waters and know where to go for fishing, but a guide or fishing charter is how you will catch the most fish. You may even learn something while you’re at it, like better fly fishing technique, info about the species you’re targeting, weather patterns and fishing, or any other bits of knowledge that most Key West fishing guides will share with you when you fish with them. Key West fishing boats are better with guides!

Capt. Damon Santelli

Outcast Charters

http://www.fishkeywestguides.com/outcast.php

I have been fishing Keys’ waters for close to 20 years, at least once a year and usually fourteen days at a stretch and I have no doubt that the two best light tackle charter boats are Coolwater and Outcast.

Over the years I have enjoyed the best fishing of my life with these guys, who will always go that extra yard to ensure I have a great day. On our annual ‘Boys’ Trip’ (last two weeks in April each year, don’t ask they are already busy) we fish Coolwater and Outcast and they have never yet failed to reach maximum expectation.

Roy Marlow and I came out top for three years out of five in the Key West Classic Light Tackle Tournament, where the task of catching permit, tarpon and sailfish, all on 12lb test tackle, with no repeat captures until a ‘slam’ is achieved, is possibly the ultimate angling test. Complete harmony between captain and anglers is 100% essential and we managed that without any compromise.

The boats are excellent, fitted out with state-of-the-art navigation and fish-finding aids and top-drawer tackle. These guys are even mega-fussy about hooks and don’t skimp by using cheap rubbish.

Don’t think though that Coolwater and Outcast are only suitable for experienced anglers: I have recommended many anglers, from the UK and abroad, even from the USA, to fish with them and virtually every one of those anglers has let me know what a great time they had and stories of massive catches. It didn’t surprise me, of course, as I’ve had that experience plenty of times.

Several of my TV shows have featured action aboard these two boats and we have shown huge tarpon, massive sharks, superb sailfish and offshore action plus great catches of reef fish.

I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have no reservations whatsoever in recommending these two operations. From where I stand, they are the bee’s knees.

Keith Arthur; Presenter Sky Sports’ television fishing show “Tight Lines”, Talksport Radio’s “Fisherman’s Blues” and weekly columnist in the UK’s largest selling angling weekly, Angling Times.