How to fish it
Look for birds, weed lines and temperature breaks. Swordfish are deep-dropped in 1,200–1,800 ft farther out. Get hump positions (such as the Islamorada Hump) from your chart plotter.
See today's tides and currents on the conditions page, or open this spot on the map.
What you can catch here
Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
20" fork length minimum; 5 per person or 30 per private boat per day, whichever is less (charters: 5 per paying customer, none for captain and crew); open year-round.- Bait
- Rigged ballyhoo for trolling; live pilchards or chunks of ballyhoo and squid to hold a school at the boat
- Tackle
- 20–30 lb conventional for trolling; 7 ft medium spinning rod, 4000–5000 reel and 20 lb line to pitch baits
- Rig
- 6–8 ft of 40–60 lb mono or fluorocarbon (80 lb for big bulls); 6/0–7/0 hook on trolled ballyhoo, 3/0–5/0 on pitch baits
Sailfish
63" lower-jaw fork length minimum; 1 billfish per person per day; open year-round. Almost always released: a fish you mean to release stays in the water in federal waters, and any landed billfish must be reported to NOAA within 24 hours.- Bait
- Live goggle-eyes, pilchards, threadfin herring or ballyhoo, fished from a kite or slow-trolled
- Tackle
- 7 ft rod with a 12–20 lb class conventional or 4000–6000 spinning reel, 20 lb mono
- Rig
- 15–20 ft of 40–50 lb fluorocarbon; 4/0–7/0 non-offset circle hook sized to the bait, bridled through the nose
Wahoo
No minimum size; 2 per person per day; open year-round. The federal limit is the same (landed with head and fins intact).- Bait
- Rigged ballyhoo behind a planer or under a skirt; live blue runners slow-trolled along the edge
- Tackle
- 50–80 lb class conventional for high-speed trolling; 30 lb class for ballyhoo
- Rig
- 2–3 ft of #9–#12 single-strand wire or cable (their teeth cut mono); 7/0–9/0 hooks; an in-line weight or planer to get the bait down
Blackfin tuna
No minimum size; 2 per person or 10 per boat per day, whichever is greater; open year-round. No federal HMS permit is needed for blackfin in state or federal waters.- Bait
- Live pilchards or threadfin herring free-lined in a live-bait chum slick; chunks of bonito or sardine in a chunk line
- Tackle
- 7 ft rod with a 6000–8000 spinning reel or a 20–30 lb conventional, 30–50 lb braid
- Rig
- 8–10 ft of 25–40 lb fluorocarbon (blackfin are leader-shy); small 2/0–4/0 circle or live-bait hook
Swordfish
47" lower-jaw fork length (or 25" cleithrum to keel) minimum; 1 per person, up to 4 per private boat (6 per charter boat); open year-round; hook and line only; every landed swordfish reported to NOAA within 24 hours. Almost all Islamorada swordfishing is in federal waters, where the HMS Angling permit is required.- Bait
- A whole squid, or a strip cut from the belly of a bonito or mahi and sewn into a bait
- Tackle
- Two-speed or electric reel on an 80 lb class rod, 80–130 lb braid
- Rig
- 15–20 ft of 250–400 lb mono; 9/0–11/0 hook; 8–15 lb of lead on a breakaway link 50–100 ft above the bait
Access
- Fished by
- Charter a boat; Bring your own boat
- Skill
- Intermediate
- Position
- A general area about 18 km across, drawn as a circle on the map rather than a pin.
Not for navigation. Positions are approximate. Use official charts, watch your depth and respect private property and posted signs.