Key West fishing report for January 28 2026 is a chilly one. The Florida Keys in Key West are experiencing one of the coldest winters since 2010. Air temps down into the low 50s and with the north west and north winds over 20 kn can bring the wind chills down to the 40s. Not exactly Chamber of Commerce weather and there is more to come this coming weekend bringing our temps even further down. Usually it can be traditionally pretty slow the second and third week in January for us here in Key West now whenever we have the business now we just don’t have the weather. We are doing what we can to navigate these wintry conditions and get our people out fishing without beating them up or freezing them to death.

Deep Sea Fishing Report

Deep sea fishing last week before the weather showed up was actually pretty good. During our last warm up, we managed some pretty nice fish offshore, including Sailfish, mahi, blackfin, tuna, and Wallco and beginning of the month of January on board the INXS, our 47 ft Viking Key West deep-sea fishing charter. The wahoo showed up perfectly for the full moon. The Sailfish were mostly random, but in good numbers the mahi-mahi were around for about a week and they took off when it started getting colder. The north and northeast winds last week did produce some nice tuna bites but these last few days have been pretty slow so we’ve been resorting to catching king fish on the reef some of the king fish or 15 to 18 pounds making for a nice fight for our people.

Backcountry and Flats Fishing Report

of course, the backcountry fishing report will show the nicer days when we do well. When the wind switched over to the Southeast for a few days the Tarpon fishing picked up briefly. The problem with our Key West Winters is one day it could be 78 and very nice then the next air temps dip into the 50s. This yo-yo in temperatures keep having the fish re-acclimating one day to the next affecting their behavior, and certainly their bite. As we look forward, it seems that things will stay nice and cold for the next week or so so the fish will acclimate to cooler temps and start putting the feed on.

Pro tip: if I were planning a trip to Key West and deciding on whether to go fishing or not in the next week or so, I would choose backcountry fishing to get the rods bent, and have your best shot of actually getting out and not getting beat up. Or, when booking with us here at Dream Catcher Charters, a deep-sea trip can be easily converted to a backcountry fishing trip based on the weather, we have lots of flexibility in that, seeing as we own all of the different types of boats, and all of our crew does each job.

Reef Fishing Report

Reef fishing has been very good for yellowtail snapper’s mutton snapper’s, and some of the pelagic that move through this time of year, Fish such as king fish, the random mahi and sailfish that rush the reef, looking for a quick snack off of our copious amount of bait that is in town currently. Many times this time of year I have seen mahi-mahi and sailfish in less than 20 feet of water. Definitely an added bonus to any reef fishing trip.

Marquesas Keys Fishing

Marquesas keys fishing when we are able to get out there has been pretty darn good. The water has been a little bit too chilly for our tropical species. However, the snapper fishing near shore is off the hook Fishing the local shallow water shipwrecks has also produced some nice cobia. Winter is always my favorite time to get out there as it’s cooler and the fishing is amazing. Definitely a trip that you might want to plan if you can play the weather with your time in Key West.

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Marquesas Keys Fishing

Key West Fishing Forecast

The long range forecast takes me out about 10 days and the weather is definitely the governor of good Times on the water. In the forecast, I see northerly wind pretty much for the forecast. With air temperatures in the mid to lower 60s throughout. Winds will be there between 15 and 25 kn pretty much the whole time right on through say February Northerly winds will be there between 15 and 25 kn pretty much the whole time right on through say February 6th

I expect the back country fishing to remain the same with the beta moves around back. They’re being fed on by Spanish mackerel, Jack’s barracudas, sharks, Trout, pompano, and many other species. Deep-sea fishing will do well just past the reef. We have a wahoo full moon coming up this weekend, and Friday may be our only shot at getting a wahoo or two, as Saturday looks like Hell on into Sunday which will stall just about everything we do with super low temperatures and very high winds keeping most of us in Port.

Key West Travel

Even with our local weather flexing like this, Key West is still an amazing place to visit when most of your homes up north are snowed in. Winter time here, especially is a great time to see Key West and take a shot at grabbing the weather window and getting out on the water. Florida Keys fishing is amazing but it is supposed to be fun.

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Key West Travel Site

When booking a fishing charter call them direct and speak to a real person. Don’t trust your valuable vacation day on an online reservation for a private charter you know nothing about because you haven’t spoken to somebody. The only way to book one of our trips is by calling us direct and doing at old school. We sent you a confirmation with your date who you’re fishing with all about your trip and emergency contact numbers that you can reach us at any time.

Call Direct 305-292-7212
Email Us info@dreamcatchercharters.com
Text Us 786-847-3808

Stay warm everybody – Capt Steven