Waterlands

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Yellowfin tunaShoulder season

Channel · Florida

South Pass

28.92°N · 82.69°W · Channel · Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 11 PM · Yellowfin tuna

79/100Great
Now
487 AM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Low0.9 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 · 86

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 AM · now

Time7ANOW
Score48Good
Tide0.9 ftLow
Current0.1 knmodeled · toward N
Wind5 kn NNEgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.3 ft · 5 s
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy63% cloud
Water87°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 yesterday

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

South Pass

Depth
Up to 10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Pass · Outer · Semi-exposedPass · 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 South Pass

South Pass is a channel in Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River 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 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

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

View all on map →
  • Little Coon Gap

    Bay · 2.6 mi

    66
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 66
    • Common snook 64
    • Atlantic croaker 61

    5 kt NNEL 8:08 AM · 0.7 ftH 2:07 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Little South Pass

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    62
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 62
    • Atlantic croaker 61
    • Red drum 61

    5 kt NNEH 1:01 PM · 2.7 ftL 8:19 PM · 0.2 ft

  • Crystal Bay

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    60
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 60
    • Atlantic croaker 58
    • Red drum 58

    5 kt NNEH 1:01 PM · 2.7 ftL 8:19 PM · 0.2 ft

  • Black Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    60
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 60
    • Atlantic croaker 58
    • Red drum 58

    5 kt NNEH 1:01 PM · 2.7 ftL 8:19 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.