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WahooRetention openChannel · Florida
Dismal Key Pass
25.88°N · 81.56°W · Channel · Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook75
- Atlantic croaker71
- Gray snapper67
- Atlantic tarpon66
- Red drum66
- Black drum61
- Southern flounder60
- Spanish mackerel60
- Crevalle jack58
- Permit56
- Red snapper52
- Gag grouper51
- Spotted seatrout51
- Gray triggerfish49
- King mackerel49
- Cobia48
- Florida pompano48
- Red grouper48
- Yellowfin tuna48
- Greater amberjack43
- Sailfish40
- Mahi-mahi38
- Wahoo36
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 9 AM · Wahoo
- Now
- 365 AM EDT
- Best window
- 2-7 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Dismal Key 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 · 5 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
60Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.3 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 3 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
33Water temp: 86°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.0 ftSeason & habitat · Wahoo
Species seasonality
54Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Wahoo
Retention open- Daily limit
- 2 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Not published
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- No minimum size. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Wahoo, 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))
- 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)
Source: FWC · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Wahoo is best here
Shoulder season for Wahoo · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Dismal Key Pass
- Depth
- Up to 10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Pass · Outer · Semi-exposedPass · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonWahoo
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 Dismal Key Pass
Dismal Key Pass is a channel in Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is up to 10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads pass, outer water and semi-exposed.
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 Atlantic tarpon, black drum, southern flounder and Spanish mackerel. 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
- Wahoo
- Wahoo patrol drop-offs, seamounts, rigs and weed lines where current and temperature breaks meet, usually along the 100 to 600 foot contours. High-speed trolling at 12 to 18 knots with weighted lures covers ground, and slower trolling with ballyhoo or diving plugs works over known structure. Use wire leader, because their teeth cut monofilament.
- 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
- Turtle Bay72
Bay · 1.0 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 72
- Atlantic croaker 67
- Red drum 66
3 kt EL 6:36 AM · 1.5 ftH 12:17 PM · 3.8 ft
- Gator Bay72
Bay · 1.7 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 72
- Red drum 70
- Atlantic croaker 67
3 kt EL 6:36 AM · 1.5 ftH 12:17 PM · 3.8 ft
- Santina Bay72
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 72
- Atlantic croaker 67
- Red drum 66
3 kt EL 6:36 AM · 1.5 ftH 12:17 PM · 3.8 ft
- Pumpkin Bay72
Bay · 2.2 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 72
- Atlantic croaker 67
- Red drum 66
3 kt EL 6:36 AM · 1.5 ftH 12:17 PM · 3.8 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.