Full Day Nearshore

A full day nearshore gives Captain Brooks the whole playbook. Eight hours is enough to fish the reef line south of Key West, run the Gulf-side wrecks, and work the hard bottom in between — and enough to keep moving until we find the bite instead of settling for a spot that's only okay. It's the best way to see how much water this stretch of the Keys actually covers, and it's the trip that consistently sends people home with the fullest cooler.

The target list is deep: yellowtail snapper over a chum slick, mutton snapper and red and black grouper on the bottom, permit and cobia around structure and wrecks, with barracuda and jacks mixed in to break up the day. With a full day, the odds of connecting with a quality fish go way up — bigger muttons, better grouper, and the kind of permit that make the whole trip. All of it comes back cleaned, filleted, and bagged, and Key West has plenty of restaurants happy to cook your catch that evening.

You'll fish from a 2023 Pathfinder 2600 HPS with a 300HP Yamaha, GPS, fishfinder, wireless trolling motor, and live wells stocked with pinfish, pilchards, and ballyhoo. Rods, reels, tackle, lures, live bait, ice, water, and Florida fishing licenses are all included for up to five anglers — bring food, drinks, sunscreen, and sunglasses and nothing else. Captain Brooks has fished these waters since childhood and now guides these waters full time, and a full day is where that experience pays the biggest dividends.