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CobiaRetention openChannel · Florida
Big Carlos Pass
26.40°N · 81.88°W · Channel · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook80
- Atlantic croaker75
- Gray snapper71
- Atlantic tarpon70
- Red drum70
- Spanish mackerel69
- Crevalle jack67
- Permit65
- Southern flounder64
- Black drum63
- Florida pompano62
- King mackerel59
- Gag grouper58
- Cobia57
- Spotted seatrout56
- Gray triggerfish55
- Red grouper55
- Red snapper55
- Greater amberjack50
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 10 PM · Cobia
- Now
- 577 PM EDT
- Best window
- 8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding0.8 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Big Carlos Pass scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 7 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
69Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
93Wind: 2 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
63Water temp: 85°F, warmLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.7 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
66Season: ShoulderHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
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
- Black drum Retention open (5 per day)
- Bluefish Retention open (10 per day)
- Bonefish Catch & release (No retention)
- Crevalle jack Retention open
- Florida pompano Retention open (6 per day)
- Gag grouper Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
- Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
- Gray triggerfish Retention open (1 per day)
- Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
- King mackerel Retention open (3 per day)
- Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
- Permit Retention open (2 per day)
- Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
- Red grouper Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
- Red snapper Retention open (2 per day (10 snapper combined))
- Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
- Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
- Snook Catch & release (No retention)
- Southern flounder Retention open (5 per day)
- Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
- Spot Retention open
- 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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Big Carlos Pass
- Depth
- 5-15 ftSlope
- Structure
- Pass · Inner · Semi-exposedPass · slope
- Season
- Shoulder 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 Big Carlos Pass
Big Carlos Pass is a channel in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 5-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads pass, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper. It is peak season now for common snook, Atlantic croaker, gray snapper and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, Spanish mackerel, crevalle jack and permit. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Gray snapper peak from June through September.
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.
- 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.
- Atlantic croaker
- Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- New Pass80
Channel · 2.2 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 80
- Atlantic croaker 74
- Gray snapper 70
4 kt SSEH 12:12 AM · 2.1 ftL 5:31 AM · 1.4 ft
- Estero Bay78
Bay · 1.2 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 78
- Atlantic croaker 73
- Gray snapper 72
4 kt SSEH 11:59 PM · 2.4 ftL 5:27 AM · 1.3 ft
- Ostego Bay77
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 77
- Atlantic croaker 71
- Gray snapper 70
2 kt EH 11:59 PM · 2.4 ftL 5:27 AM · 1.3 ft
- Starvation Flats62
Flat · 1.9 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 62
- Common snook 61
- Permit 56
2 kt EH 1:07 AM · 2.1 ftL 6:15 AM · 1.6 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.