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SailfishRetention openBay · Florida
Rocky Cove
28.96°N · 82.72°W · Bay · Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Red drum73
- Common snook72
- Atlantic croaker71
- Gray snapper66
- Atlantic tarpon64
- Permit64
- Southern flounder64
- Crevalle jack63
- Florida pompano63
- Spanish mackerel63
- Black drum61
- Gag grouper60
- King mackerel58
- Gray triggerfish56
- Red grouper56
- Red snapper56
- Spotted seatrout55
- Cobia53
- Greater amberjack50
- Yellowfin tuna49
- Sailfish47
- Wahoo43
- Mahi-mahi42
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 11 PM · Sailfish
- Now
- 4710 AM EDT
- Best window
- 9 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding3.2 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Rocky Cove 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
76Tide: FloodingCurrent: WeakWind & pressure
ECMWF
95Wind: 6 kt NNEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
55Water temp: 86°F, warmLight: OvercastSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 0.3 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 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)
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
Rocky Cove
- Depth
- Under 1 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Rocky Cove
Rocky Cove 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 red drum, common snook and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for red drum, common snook, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, permit, southern flounder and crevalle jack. Red drum peak from September through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September.
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.
- Red drum
- Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
- 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
- Tin Pan Gap76
Channel · 1.1 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 76
- Common snook 73
- Gray snapper 73
6 kt NNEH 12:05 PM · 4.0 ftL 7:34 PM · 0.7 ft
- Demory Gap75
Channel · 1.3 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 75
- Common snook 72
- Gray snapper 72
6 kt NNEH 12:05 PM · 4.0 ftL 7:34 PM · 0.7 ft
- Long Point73
Cape · 0.2 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 73
- Common snook 72
- Atlantic croaker 71
6 kt NNEH 12:05 PM · 4.0 ftL 7:34 PM · 0.7 ft
- Black Point73
Cape · 1.7 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 73
- Atlantic croaker 72
- Red drum 70
6 kt NNEH 1:01 PM · 2.7 ftL 8:19 PM · 0.2 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.