Lane snapper filling the cooler with kingfish and cobia rounding out the day.
Conditions: Cold front pattern — NE/NW winds 12–20 kts behind fronts, calm warm windows in between. Water temp 68–72°F. Visibility 25–35 ft.
February was textbook winter Key West reef fishing. The lane snapper bite was strong — solid 1–2 lb fish on most drops once the boat settled on a piece of bottom. Cut squid down on the bottom was the ticket, with a chunk of ballyhoo mixed in for the bigger bites.
Kingfish hung on the deeper reef edges with most fish in the 8–15 lb range and a few bigger smokers mixed in. Cobia showed up here and there on the wrecks, and the cero mackerel bite stayed steady in the chum slick all month.
Watch the weather windows. The day a cold front blows out is often the best day of the month — clean water, big fish stacked up, and barely any pressure on the reef.
Fishing changes month to month — book today and see what's coming over the rail right now.