Nearshore Fishing Key West In December A Good Bet.
December 10th 2021 – The weather here in Key West has been EPIC! Light winds and perfect temps in the mid 70s really re- enforces why I love living in the Keys. Nearshore backcountry fishing in December is a good bet with any conditions.
Fishing Report
As the water temps cooled off this fall and into our “winter” the fishing has really come to full on fun in the backcountry here off of Key West. Lots of our reef fishing species such as mutton snapper, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper and mackerel come in to feast on the massive amounts of bait fish in the shallows. This is a great time of the year to stay shallow and catch fish using artificial and bait.
In addition to the food species the barracuda fishing has been amazing on the flats giving our light tackle enthusiasts a thrill catching these speeders pretty regularly.
The main staple of any Key West backcountry fishing charter in December is the trout and lady fish bite. Mix that in with the blue fish, jack crevalles and yellow jacks then you have a huge selection of rod benders. All of which have been here in strong numbers these last few weeks since the first of our 4 cold fronts.
Fishing Forecast
Looking ahead we see that the winds will be coming up on Monday next week. 15 to as high as 25 knots out of the East will certainly get your attention on a deep sea fishing or reef fishing trip. This may help for the sailfish run down the reef for those that are in it to win it.. However, for those with weaker stomachs it might be a time to look into some backcountry fishing to still get out and enjoy a nice day fishing – avoiding the cookie bag. (Toss your cookies)..
Next week with the higher winds we will not see a cool down too much. I am thinking mid to low 80s for a high pretty much through the next weekend as we slide into Christmas week where we are all hoping the winds start to chill out and let us get back to our amazing deep sea fishing this year. This will open up some great opportunities for flats fishing in December. Although the winds will be up making casting tough I still expect to see some tropical opportunities on the flats like Permit and maybe some bonefish if it gets warm enough. Keep an eye peeled for the stray cobia in the shallows.
Otherwise the bait fish will go nuts with the warmer water in turn making the predators super feed. Its going to be a good week in the shallows for those that can give up the blue water and reef fishing opportunities to go where it is calmer and catch some fish.
Fishing Charters
We fish bay boats this time of the year. Mostly 24 ft boats that ride really well and make a nice day of it in the chop. We have some openings for folks to get out with us next week but our schedule starts to get tighter into Christmas week give us a call and we are happy to find a great fishing guide that can get you out, be it inshore or offshore.
Call us to learn more or check out our web site for more information about our charters here at Dream Catcher Charters. We are always near a phone and there is nothing like real local information to help you plan your next trip to Fishing Key West.
