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Yellowfin tunaShoulder seasonBay · 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 snook73
- Atlantic croaker72
- Red drum71
- Florida pompano68
- Permit65
- Atlantic tarpon64
- Southern flounder63
- Spanish mackerel62
- Gray snapper61
- Crevalle jack59
- Black drum56
- King mackerel54
- Spotted seatrout54
- Gag grouper51
- Cobia49
- Gray triggerfish48
- Red snapper48
- Yellowfin tuna48
- Red grouper47
- Greater amberjack45
- Sailfish45
- Mahi-mahi44
- Wahoo40
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 9 AM · Yellowfin tuna
- Now
- 481 PM EDT
- Best window
- 2-7 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing3.7 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 · 1 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
63Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.7 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
90Wind: 2 kt SPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
69Water temp: 85°F, warmLight: OvercastSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.6 ftSeason & habitat · Yellowfin tuna
Species seasonality
62Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
No rule for Yellowfin tuna is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with FWC before you keep a fish.
Species rules 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))
- 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 Yellowfin tuna is best here
Shoulder season for Yellowfin tuna · 5 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Buttonwood Bay
- Depth
- Up to 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonYellowfin tuna
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 Florida pompano, permit, Atlantic tarpon 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
- Yellowfin tuna
- Yellowfin feed in blue water along canyon edges, the shelf break, current edges, deepwater platforms and FADs, usually from the surface to about 300 feet. Troll ballyhoo, spreader bars and cedar plugs early in the day, then chunk butterfish or sardines, fish live hardtails, or drop jigs to marks. Around Gulf platforms and in the canyons the night bite on chunks and jigs is often better than the day.
- 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 Gate76
Channel · 0.9 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 76
- Common snook 74
- Florida pompano 68
2 kt SL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ftH 1:09 AM · 3.6 ft
- Shell Key Bay74
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 74
- Atlantic croaker 72
- Florida pompano 68
2 kt SL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ftH 1:09 AM · 3.6 ft
- Blackwater Bay74
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 74
- Atlantic croaker 72
- Florida pompano 68
2 kt SL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ftH 1:09 AM · 3.6 ft
- Gator Bay73
Bay · 0.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 73
- Atlantic croaker 72
- Red drum 71
2 kt SL 7:07 PM · 0.4 ftH 1:18 AM · 3.5 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.