Waterlands

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CobiaRetention open

Channel · Florida

Coon Key Pass

25.91°N · 81.64°W · Channel · Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 9 AM · Cobia

81/100Great
Now
608 AM EDT
Best window
2-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.0 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Thu · 85

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score60Good
Tide2.0 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.6 knmodeled · toward E
Wind4 kn Egusts 9 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy20% cloud
Water85°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier 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
  • 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)
Always check with FWC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cobia in Florida →

Spot profile

Coon Key Pass

Depth
Up to 15 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Pass · Inner · ProtectedPass · flat bottom
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 Coon Key Pass

Coon Key Pass is a channel in Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is up to 15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads pass, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 24 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 Spanish mackerel, Atlantic tarpon, crevalle jack and Florida pompano. 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

View all on map →
  • Southwest Gate

    Channel · 1.4 mi

    79
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 79
    • Atlantic croaker 76
    • Gray snapper 75

    3 kt NEH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Goodland Bay

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    78
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 78
    • Red drum 74
    • Atlantic croaker 73

    4 kt EH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Sugar Bay

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    77
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 77
    • Red drum 77
    • Atlantic croaker 72

    4 kt EH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Blue Hill Creek

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    77
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 77
    • Red drum 76
    • Atlantic croaker 72

    4 kt EH 12:12 PM · 3.8 ftL 6:58 PM · 0.5 ft

Open in the tide map

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.