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PermitRetention openBar · Florida
Useppa Oyster Bar
26.65°N · 82.21°W · Bar · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Spanish mackerel79
- Common snook72
- Red drum72
- Spotted seatrout71
- Florida pompano69
- King mackerel68
- Black drum66
- Gray snapper63
- Gray triggerfish59
- Red grouper59
- Sheepshead58
- Atlantic croaker35
- Atlantic tarpon35
- Cobia35
- Crevalle jack35
- Permit35
- Gag grouper20
- Greater amberjack20
- Red snapper20
- Southern flounder20
Best score today · 6 PM · Permit
- Now
- 3511 AM EST
- Best window
- 4-8 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Useppa Oyster Bar 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
Saturday, Nov 14 · 5 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
94Tide: FloodingCurrent: 1.0 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
69Wind: 9 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
95Water temp: 77°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Permit
Species seasonality
20Off season · capped at 35Season: Off seasonHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Permit
Retention open- Daily limit
- 2 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Slot 11 to 22 in, fork length. One fish over 22 inches allowed per person, counted in the bag limit.
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- No more than 2 permit over 22 inches per vessel. Hook and line only in state waters. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Outside the Special Permit Zone. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Permit, Florida pompano and African pompano, 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)
- Cobia Retention open (1 per day)
- 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 (1 per day)
- Greater amberjack Closed (No retention)
- King mackerel Retention open (3 per day)
- Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
- Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
- Red grouper Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
- Red snapper Closed (No retention)
- Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
- Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
- Snook Retention open (1 per day)
- Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
- Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
- Spot Retention open
- Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
- Summer flounder Closed (No retention)
- Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
- Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)
Source: FWC · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Permit is best here
Out of season for Permit · shoulder season starts in 17 weeks
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Useppa Oyster Bar
- Depth
- 1-5 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
- Season
- Off seasonPermit
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 Useppa Oyster Bar
Useppa Oyster Bar is a bar in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 1-5 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Spanish mackerel, common snook and red drum. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, red drum, spotted seatrout and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for common snook, king mackerel, black drum and gray snapper. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November.
Tackle & technique
- Permit
- Permit cruise flat edges and channels in 2 to 6 feet of water in the Keys and Biscayne Bay, and school over wrecks and reefs in 30 to 120 feet, especially during the spring spawn. A live or artificial crab is the standard bait, cast ahead of a tailing fish on the flats or dropped to a school on a wreck. They spook easily in shallow water, so good light and a long, quiet cast are needed.
- Spanish mackerel
- Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.
- 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
- The Narrows80
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: Common snookShoulder season- Common snook 80
- Spanish mackerel 80
- Red drum 77
10 kt EL 1:44 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:32 PM · 1.6 ft
- Water Turkey Bayou79
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 79
- Spotted seatrout 76
- Spanish mackerel 73
10 kt EL 3:30 PM · 0.2 ftH 10:25 PM · 1.4 ft
- Murdock Bayou79
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 79
- Spotted seatrout 76
- Spanish mackerel 74
10 kt EL 1:44 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:32 PM · 1.6 ft
- Platt Point74
Cape · 1.4 mi
Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season- Spanish mackerel 74
- Common snook 72
- Red drum 72
10 kt EL 1:44 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:32 PM · 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.