Waterlands

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Yellowfin tunaShoulder season

Bay · Florida

Little Coon Gap

28.90°N · 82.65°W · Bay · Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Yellowfin tuna

78/100Great
Now
451 PM EDT
Best window
4-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.1 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: Sun · 84

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 1 PM · now

Time1PNOW
Score45Good
Tide2.1 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind6 kn NNEgusts 15 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.3 ft · 5 s
Air temp89°Hot
WeatherPartly cloudy45% cloud
Water86°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

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 Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (5 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 today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Yellowfin tuna is best here

Shoulder season for Yellowfin tuna · 5 more weeks at shoulder

Yellowfin tuna season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Yellowfin tuna · 5 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Yellowfin tuna in Florida →

Spot profile

Little Coon Gap

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Outer · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Little Coon Gap

Little Coon Gap is a bay in Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is under 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, outer water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 24 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, common snook and red drum. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, common snook, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for permit, Florida pompano, southern flounder and Atlantic tarpon. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. 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.
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.
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

View all on map →
  • Little South Pass

    Bay · 2.1 mi

    72
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 72
    • Florida pompano 61
    • Common snook 60

    6 kt NNEL 8:19 PM · 0.2 ftH 1:54 AM · 2.1 ft

  • The Narrows

    Bay · 2.4 mi

    72
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 72
    • Common snook 72
    • Red drum 69

    7 kt NEH 2:33 PM · 1.9 ftL 10:06 PM · 0.3 ft

  • Dixie Bay

    Bay · 1.9 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic croaker 68
    • Red drum 68

    6 kt NNEH 2:33 PM · 1.9 ftL 10:06 PM · 0.3 ft

  • Coon Gap

    Bay · 0.2 mi

    68
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 68
    • Common snook 66
    • Red drum 66

    6 kt NNEH 2:07 PM · 2.2 ftL 9:12 PM · 0.2 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.