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SailfishRetention openBay · Florida
Buttonwood Bay
25.91°N · 81.59°W · Bay · Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook78
- Atlantic croaker74
- Red drum74
- Permit69
- Atlantic tarpon68
- Gray snapper67
- Florida pompano66
- Southern flounder66
- Spanish mackerel66
- Crevalle jack65
- Black drum63
- Gag grouper61
- King mackerel60
- Gray triggerfish58
- Red grouper58
- Red snapper58
- Spotted seatrout58
- Cobia55
- Greater amberjack52
- Yellowfin tuna51
- Sailfish47
- Mahi-mahi46
- Wahoo43
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 9 AM · Sailfish
- Now
- 4710 AM EDT
- Best window
- 8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding3.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Buttonwood Bay 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 · 10 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
78Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.2 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
72Wind: 4 kt ESEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
70Water temp: 85°F, warmLight: OvercastSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 0.8 ftSeason & habitat · Sailfish
Species seasonality
61Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Sailfish
Retention open- Daily limit
- 1 per day (1 billfish combined)
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Minimum 63 in, lower jaw fork length
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Report landed billfish to NOAA within 24 hours. A federal HMS Angling Permit is needed in federal waters, not in state waters. Sailfish you plan to release may not be removed from the water in federal waters, or in state waters if you hold an HMS permit. 1 billfish per person per day. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Billfish, Tuna, and Swordfish, 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 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))
- 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 yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Sailfish is best here
Shoulder season for Sailfish · 5 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Buttonwood Bay
- Depth
- Up to 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSailfish
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 Buttonwood Bay
Buttonwood Bay is a bay in Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is up to 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 24 species here; the best right now are common snook, Atlantic croaker and red drum. It is peak season now for common snook, Atlantic croaker, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for permit, Atlantic tarpon, Florida pompano and southern flounder. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Red drum peak from September through November.
Tackle & technique
- Sailfish
- Sailfish feed along reef edges and color changes, usually in 80 to 240 feet off Southeast Florida and farther out along the Gulf and Carolina shelf edge. Fly live goggle-eyes, pilchards or threadfins from kites, or slow-troll live ballyhoo, on non-offset circle hooks. In winter the best bite often comes the day or two after a cold front, when north wind stacks bait along the edge.
- 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
- Coon Gravy Gate78
Channel · 0.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 78
- Atlantic croaker 77
- Gray snapper 73
4 kt ESEH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft
- Gator Bay78
Bay · 0.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 78
- Atlantic croaker 74
- Red drum 74
4 kt ESEH 12:17 PM · 3.8 ftL 7:07 PM · 0.4 ft
- Shell Key Bay78
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 78
- Atlantic croaker 74
- Red drum 71
4 kt ESEH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft
- Blackwater Bay78
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 78
- Atlantic croaker 74
- Red drum 71
4 kt ESEH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 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.