Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

CobiaRetention open

Bar · Florida

Dildo Key Bank

25.04°N · 80.87°W · Bar · Florida Bay including Barnes Sound, Blackwater Sound, and Buttonwood Sound

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 11 AM · Cobia

78/100Great
Now
352 PM EDT
Best window
6-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
High3.1 ft

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

Notify me when Dildo Key Bank scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 PM · now

Time2PNOW
Score35Fair
Tide3.1 ftHigh
Current0.7 knmodeled · toward SE
Wind5 kn WSWgusts 13 · easing
Sea stateLight chop0.8 ft · 4 s
Air temp83°Hot
WeatherOvercast100% chance of rain
Water83°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Monroe County state waters (Florida Keys)

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 Closed (No retention)
  • 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 Check regulations
  • Permit Retention open (1 per day)
  • Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
  • Red grouper Retention open (3 per day (3 Atlantic grouper and tilefish 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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Cobia is best here

Out of season for Cobia · shoulder season starts in 6 weeks

Cobia season by week of the year. Out of season for Cobia · shoulder season starts in 6 weeks.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cobia in Florida

Spot profile

Dildo Key Bank

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bank · Inner · Semi-exposedBank · flat bottom
Season
Off 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 Dildo Key Bank

Dildo Key Bank is a bar in Florida Bay including Barnes Sound, Blackwater Sound, and Buttonwood Sound. Depth is under 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bank, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 18 species here; the best right now are bonefish, common snook and permit. It is peak season now for common snook and crevalle jack, and shoulder season for bonefish, permit, red drum and Atlantic tarpon. Bonefish peak from March through May and from October through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through November. Permit peak from March through June.

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.
Bonefish
Bonefish push onto shallow sand and grass flats with the rising tide to root for shrimp, crabs and clams, often in water under 2 feet deep, and fall back to channel edges and deeper flats as the tide drops. Most fish are sight cast to with a small shrimp or crab fly, a light jig or a live shrimp, which takes bright sun, light wind and a quiet approach. They are catch and release only in Florida, and in Hawaii many anglers also fish bait from shore along sand channels and reef edges.
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

  • Florida Bay

    Bay · 4.5 mi

    80
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 80
    • Crevalle jack 78
    • Atlantic tarpon 71

    5 kt WSWL 4:38 PM · 0.3 ftH 9:41 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Conchie Basin

    Bay · 4.2 mi

    73
    Top: BonefishShoulder season
    • Bonefish 73
    • Common snook 63
    • Crevalle jack 63

    3 kt WSWL 10:04 PM · 0.7 ftH 2:37 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Man of War Channel

    Channel · 3.2 mi

    71
    Top: BonefishShoulder season
    • Bonefish 71
    • Common snook 68
    • Crevalle jack 64

    3 kt WSWL 10:04 PM · 0.7 ftH 2:37 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Rabbit Key Basin

    Bay · 3.3 mi

    68
    Top: BonefishShoulder season
    • Bonefish 68
    • Common snook 67
    • Crevalle jack 64

    3 kt WSWL 10:04 PM · 0.7 ftH 2:37 AM · 2.5 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.