Reef Fishing in Key West  

The fish on the left is a mutton snapper, the one on the right some kind of wrasse. Just two of the amazing number of fish species that inhabit the reef around Key West

Key West is blessed with some great reef fishing. The main reef is about 6 miles south of Key West in the Atlantic. There are also smaller patches of reef both inside and outside the main reef, together with some smaller reefs in the Gulf of Mexico.  

Reef fishing is all-action fishing with the added bonus that the fish you catch are some of the finest eating fish around. The main Atlantic reef is home to millions of yellowtail and mutton snapper plus several varieties of grouper, whilst the Gulf reefs are home to grouper, mangrove snapper, king mackerel, permit, cobia and a fair selection of assorted sharks.

This colorful fellow is a hog snapper...I mean the fish not the angler, that's Tommy Young, another regular UK visitor

A day fishing the Atlantic reef for yellowtail snapper is guaranteed to be a fish-filled, fun day. Blocks of frozen, finely chopped chum are tied to the stern of the boat and within minutes there will be a shoal of fish behind the boat. At first they will be "chubs" but in no time you'll see the yellowtails coming to the surface to eat the tiny pieces of food melting off the frozen blocks. It's then simply a case of popping a small bait on to a smallish hook and drifting your bait back to the fish. On light tackle the yellowtails put up a tremendous scrap...great fun.

Yellowtails - Great sport on light tackle and absolutely delicious to eat. During the Spring huge numbers of yellowtails inhabit the reef prior to spawning.

The commotion of a few yellowtails being caught soon draws the attention of other visitors, both welcome and not so. It won't be long before someone reels in half a yellowtail, cut cleanly in two by a barracuda or other toothy critter. It's only a matter of time before someone is reeling in a yellowtail when it suddenly becomes very heavy... it's been eaten by a grouper !!. The normal course of events when that happens is to drop a heavy line over the side of the boat with a livebait on a strong hook and a weight to send it to the bottom. With any luck you'll soon be attached to a good sized black grouper and then the fun begins. We've seen grown men cry when fish after fish has found the refuge of the reef. It's amazing how powerful a big black grouper is, you'll be convinced that the rod is about to break at any second !.