Fishing charters Florida Keys

Oh almost forgot to say "check locally before buying a fishing license". Certain areas and piers etc you don't need a license. IE; Venice Pier, and others.

Hubby gets an annual salt water license every year for the year at $47. I believe he also every other year gets a fresh water license which I believe is the same price. Someone said it's expensive as an out of stater. Believe me we've bought non resident fishing licenses in many states and provinces (BC = $162), and we personally feel that Florida fishing licenses are some of the best priced ones out there. Even for say 2 weeks, if you're an avid fisher person like my hubby is, $47 is cheap entertainment. I think when we got our Washington State licenses in 2015, it worked out that the one salmon we did finally catch cost us about $87 LOL.

If we are going to be travelling around a state/province and not fishing on consecutive days, we've typically found it more cost effective as well convenient, to buy an annual license versus several 2, 3 or 5 day licenses, however they aren't cheap for non-residents for sure. Just saying how it's worked out for us for many years travelling and fishing a lot.

jungshin wrote:
My 3 day license was 17.50 for salt and 17.50 for fresh for an out of stater earlier this month.

Surf fishing is approx. 50 bucks a year for non resident. Date of purchase to one yr. later. Florida, that is.
Marvin

I do a good bit of kayak fishing in the Keys. On the Gulf side mainly but sometimes close to docks etc on the Atlantic side if the wind is right. Use live shrimp mainly on a small jig head. Lures for barracuda. Catch snapper, barracuda, grunts mostly although did catch a nice grouper and red fish too. Caught a 4 foot barracuda this year from my kayak. You can rent kayaks in many places although I don't know about " fishing " kayaks. Obviously you can fish from any kayak, some are just better than others.

On charters they are pretty pricey unless you have a group of 4-6 to share cost. About same price as here on NC coast. 400-1200 a day depending on size of boat and how far you are going out. Probably get a 1/2 day inshore charter for 250-300 with a max of 2-3 people. I have priced them but never taken one in the Keys.

Head boats are on about every island that has anything. They run about 40- 60.00 or so. Not a fan of those because of the crowds but a good way to catch dinner. Someone mentioned Robbies in Islamorada. I know there you can reserve the stern of the boat which is less crowded and best fishing, like 10 dollars more per person. Well worth it from what I here. Other boats like the Marathon Lady in Marathon may do the same, although I have heard complaints that some captains reserve those choice spots for their friends or regulars ( and maybe a few $$ on the side ). Anyway I would recommend stern fishing if you go that route. You will need to book in advance for stern spots in busy times. I looked at Robbies in Jan for a possible trip and they had spaces but the stern was all booked up. You can reserve there and maybe others online. Disadvantage of booking in advance is weather. I know the Marathon Lady went out on days that I would not want to be on the ocean and I have never been sea sick. Trust me being on a boat with a bunch of sick people is not fun even if you are ok.

I check the marine weather daily when down there for kayak fishing. It is usually pretty accurate 3-5 days out. Past that is a **** shoot.

I get a annual license for about 45.00 I think. You can also get 3 or 10 day out of state license.
Happy fishing

Oh now that's good to know about the license

My 3 day license was 17.50 for salt and 17.50 for fresh for an out of stater earlier this month.

Many of the boat and restaurant marinas have docks that 'many' people fish off of. Shore line fishing now requires a license too! Only thing is if you are out of state you will need a license that is pretty costly for out of state. When you do a charter they provide the license for you.

http://myfwc.com/news/resources/fact-sheets/shoreline-fishing/#1

thanks for the suggestions

downtheroad wrote:
When we were down there, We sure didn't find any, "cheap fishing charters,"
Except this:

That is my kind of fishing----------Flagler Beach, FL

We found (not necessarily the best by any means) but Bud & Mary's and Robbies at Islamorada offered some of the best bang for our buck. Out on Charter Hubby, Son in law & a dad and his son split $600 between 4 for about 5 hours out on the water Mahi/Mahi mainly. Did the "party boat" for $35/each hubby and I one day, and caught it not too busy and it was OK. Caught mixture of fish including Barracuda FWIW.