# Monday, October 5, 2026

© 2026 Morning Update · Tides and Fishing: Key West · Mon, 05 Oct 2026 03:07:46 GMT · 4:49

https://morningupdate.org/key-west-tides-fishing/episodes/tides-and-fishing-key-west-monday-october-5-2026-2026-10-05/

Maya: Good morning, Key West. It's Monday, October fifth, and you're listening to Tides and Fishing: Key West, your daily look at the tides, the bite, and the water before you ever leave the dock.
Devon: I'm Devon, she's Maya, and we've got the full morning lineup for you. Tides first, then what's biting around the islands, the marine forecast, and a night-sky send-off for the folks fishing after dark.
Maya: Let's start with the water. Noah's tide predictions for Key West today show a gentle, steady pattern. High tide rolls in at five fifty this morning at two point two feet, then a low tide at twelve forty-five this afternoon, down to just zero point six feet, and a second high tide at seven thirty-eight tonight at one point five feet.
Devon: All of that is comfortably below our above-normal threshold of two and a half feet, so tides are running completely normal today. Nothing flooding the docks, no surprises on the flats.
Maya: Looking ahead to tomorrow, Tuesday, you'll see four turning points. A low tide just after midnight at twelve oh four at one foot, a high tide at seven oh nine in the morning at two point two five feet, a low at one thirty-six in the afternoon at zero point six feet, and a second high at eight sixteen in the evening at one point seven feet.
Devon: So the whole week shapes up as classic Keys tides — mixed, modest, and never pushing flood levels. If you're poling the skinny backcountry water, this is about as friendly as it gets.
Maya: Now to the fishing, and here's our honest report: fresh captain reports out of Key West have been thin this week, so I'll give you what's actually verifiable and tell you plainly where it's coming from.
Devon: First, some real news from Florida Sportsman and Noah Fisheries. The South Atlantic federal recreational red snapper season opens Friday, October ninth, and runs through Monday, October twelfth. One fish per person per day, no minimum size limit. That's a short window, so if you can get out front on the reef that weekend, mark it down.
Maya: And from Captain Ralph Delph's Key West offshore report, the Gulf Stream has pushed in tight against the reef west of Cosgrove Light, and the split in the current has been mixing things up. Tuna, little tunny, some wahoo, and a few sailfish, plus good-size dolphin, have been finding their way to boats floating live baits.
Devon: On the bottom, persistent anglers have pulled black grouper well into the forty-pound class, and a few mutton snapper up to twenty pounds. Yellowtail snapper along the reef has been the most consistent thing in the bottom-fishermen's boxes.
Maya: Inshore, good catches of mutton snapper have come off the patches and shallow water to the west, and permit are starting to show around the wrecks and on the flats — though Delph says they're not eating very well yet. He figures they'll be eating anything you throw at them in another couple of weeks.
Devon: The main tarpon push should be building with this month's new moon, and most of the tarpon action so far has been in the channels and basins. Blacktip sharks are around for the light-tackle folks who like a real show.
Maya: One more honest note: the Dirty Boat captain's log out of the lower Keys, updated October third, reports no verified fresh catches and is essentially a conditions log this week. So treat this as a lean week on firsthand reports — the conditions are right, but go out and be the one who finds the bite.
Devon: Alright, the marine forecast, straight from the National Weather Service in Key West, issued Sunday night. Monday looks about as friendly as it gets. East to southeast winds five to ten knots, decreasing to near five knots. In Hawk Channel, seas one to two feet subsiding to around one foot, nearshore waters smooth to a light chop.
Maya: Out in the Straits of Florida, seas around two feet, subsiding to one to two feet. Florida Bay and the Gulf side: seas around one foot or less, waters smooth. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, nothing organized.
Devon: And this is the part small-boat captains want to hear: no small craft advisories, no gale warnings, no marine warnings in effect anywhere around Key West. That's a green light for bay boats, skiffs, and the flats — just keep an eye on the sky for pop-up afternoon thunderstorms like always in the Keys.
Maya: Last call for the night anglers — the sky tonight. The moon is a waning crescent, only thirty-two percent lit, and it doesn't rise until two twenty-one in the morning. That means the first half of the night is properly dark, which is great for star-gazing and great for the night bite.
Devon: In the early evening, the Summer Triangle rides high overhead — Vega, Deneb, and Altair — and Saturn glows in the east. With the moon down until the small hours, the Milky Way has room to show itself over dark water.
Maya: So if you're fishing dock lights for snook or tarpon tonight, you'll have a starlit sky for the first shift, then a sliver of moonlight for the second.
Devon: That's Monday's edition. Tides normal, seas calm, moon down until late, and a red snapper window opening this Friday. Hard to ask for a better start to the week.
Maya: Good luck out there, tight lines, and we'll see you tomorrow morning with fresh tides and whatever the water tells us. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. This is Tides and Fishing: Key West.