Waterlands

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CobiaRetention open

Bar · Florida

Biscayne Flats

25.64°N · 80.17°W · Bar · Biscayne Bay

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Best score today · 9 AM · Cobia

75/100Great
Now
304 AM EDT
Best window
7-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.0 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 AM · now

Time4ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide2.0 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.3 kn · toward W
Wind3 kn SWgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.5 ft · 4 s
Air temp78°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy44% cloud
Water85°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Atlantic state waters (Nassau through Miami-Dade counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Cobia

Retention open
Daily limit
1 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Minimum 36 in, fork length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
1 per person or 2 per vessel, whichever is less. Spears, gigs, hook and line, seine or cast net.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Cobia, read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Atlantic croaker Retention open (50 per day)
  • Black drum Retention open (5 per day)
  • Bluefish Retention open (3 per day)
  • Bonefish Catch & release (No retention)
  • Crevalle jack Retention open
  • Florida pompano Retention open (6 per day)
  • Gag grouper Closed (No retention)
  • Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
  • Gray triggerfish Retention open (10 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
  • King mackerel Retention open (2 per day)
  • Mahi-mahi Retention open (5 per day)
  • Permit Retention open (1 per day)
  • Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
  • Red grouper Retention open (3 per day (3 Atlantic grouper and tilefish combined))
  • Red snapper Check regulations
  • Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
  • Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
  • Snook Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open (50 per day)
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
  • Summer flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
  • Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Cobia is best here

Out of season for Cobia · shoulder season starts in 6 weeks

Cobia season by week of the year. Out of season for Cobia · shoulder season starts in 6 weeks.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cobia in Florida

Spot profile

Biscayne Flats

Depth
5-20 ftSlope
Structure
Flat · Outer · ExposedFlat · slope
Season
Off seasonCobia

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Biscayne Flats

Biscayne Flats is a bar in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Depth is 5-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads flat, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 18 species here; the best right now are bonefish, common snook and Atlantic tarpon. It is peak season now for common snook and crevalle jack, and shoulder season for bonefish, Atlantic tarpon, red drum and permit. Bonefish peak from March through May and from October through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through November. Atlantic tarpon peak from March through June.

Tackle & technique

Cobia
Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
Bonefish
Bonefish push onto shallow sand and grass flats with the rising tide to root for shrimp, crabs and clams, often in water under 2 feet deep, and fall back to channel edges and deeper flats as the tide drops. Most fish are sight cast to with a small shrimp or crab fly, a light jig or a live shrimp, which takes bright sun, light wind and a quiet approach. They are catch and release only in Florida, and in Hawaii many anglers also fish bait from shore along sand channels and reef edges.
Common snook
Snook ambush bait around mangrove shorelines, bridge and dock lights, jetties and the mouths of passes and inlets, generally in 2 to 15 feet of water. Fish moving water, especially the outgoing tide, with a live pilchard, pinfish or shrimp, or a jerkbait or soft plastic swum past the structure. In summer they spawn along beaches and inlets, and in winter they crowd into rivers, canals and deep backcountry creeks where the water stays warmer.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Biscayne Channel

    Channel · 1.1 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic tarpon 65
    • Bonefish 64

    3 kt SWH 5:01 AM · 2.0 ftL 11:42 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Cape Florida Anchorage

    Channel · 2.0 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic tarpon 65
    • Bonefish 62

    3 kt SWH 5:01 AM · 2.0 ftL 11:42 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Cape Florida Channel

    Channel · 2.6 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic tarpon 65
    • Bonefish 64

    3 kt SWH 5:01 AM · 2.0 ftL 11:42 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Cape Florida

    Cape · 2.1 mi

    65
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 65
    • Bonefish 59
    • Atlantic tarpon 59

    3 kt SWH 5:01 AM · 2.0 ftL 11:42 AM · 0.8 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with FWC before you keep a fish.