Florida Keys • Upper and Middle Florida Keys
When do permit bite in the Florida Keys?
Permit are open August through March in the Keys and closed April through July, on the flats and channel edges on a rising tide and on the wrecks and patch reefs. No temperature range is published for this species in this water yet, so the rating leans on season, depth and structure instead.
How does FishIntel forecast the best days to catch permit?
FishIntel reads NOAA and satellite ocean data, including sea surface temperature breaks and chlorophyll edges, and turns changes near your zone into a plain-English permit forecast. See a sample report at fishintel.ai/sample-report.
The Keys are inside FWC's Special Permit Zone: 22 in fork length, 1 per harvester, no more than 2 per vessel, CLOSED 1 April to 31 July, and hook and line only in state waters (FWC, read 2026-09-30). Regulations change, so check the current rules for the species you are targeting before treating a rating as a plan.
Confirm current rules before you keep a fish. Official rules: FWC, NOAA Fisheries.
No temperature range is published for this species in this water yet, so the rating leans on season, depth and structure instead.
A season and a depth tell you whether permit is on the cards this month. They do not tell you where the water is doing something today. A FishIntel report reads the actual sea surface temperature, chlorophyll fronts and current convergence over your own zone every morning, and says which of those edges is worth running to.
FishIntel was co-founded by Captain Kit Carson and Alan Lanham.