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CobiaRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook80
- Red drum76
- Atlantic tarpon75
- Gray snapper75
- Atlantic croaker74
- Southern flounder68
- Permit67
- Crevalle jack65
- Spanish mackerel65
- Black drum63
- Florida pompano61
- Spotted seatrout60
- King mackerel57
- Cobia56
- Gag grouper56
- Red snapper56
- Gray triggerfish53
- Red grouper53
- Greater amberjack51
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 6 PM · Cobia
- Now
- 5612 AM EDT
- Best window
- 3-7 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.2 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Big 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 · 12 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
99Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.8 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 4 kt ESEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
37Water temp: 87°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 0.2 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
65Season: ShoulderHabitat: Prime structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
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 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 (3 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 Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Big Pass
- Depth
- 1-3 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Pass · Inner · Semi-exposedPass · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder 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 Big Pass
Big Pass is a channel in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 1-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads pass, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, red drum and Atlantic tarpon. It is peak season now for common snook, red drum, gray snapper and Atlantic croaker, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder, permit and crevalle jack. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November. Atlantic tarpon peak from May through July.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Gooseneck Pass80
Channel · 0.5 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 80
- Gray snapper 75
- Atlantic tarpon 75
4 kt ESEH 1:23 AM · 1.4 ftL 6:42 AM · 0.7 ft
- Coon Creek77
Channel · 0.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 77
- Gray snapper 75
- Red drum 75
4 kt ESEH 2:00 AM · 1.8 ftL 6:42 AM · 1.3 ft
- Cockroach Channel77
Channel · 1.0 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 77
- Gray snapper 75
- Atlantic croaker 74
4 kt ESEH 1:23 AM · 1.4 ftL 6:42 AM · 0.7 ft
- Marys Point72
Cape · 0.0 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 72
- Gray snapper 70
- Red drum 68
4 kt ESEH 1:23 AM · 1.4 ftL 6:42 AM · 0.7 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.