UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
CobiaRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook72
- Atlantic croaker68
- Atlantic tarpon67
- Gray snapper64
- Red drum64
- Black drum58
- Southern flounder58
- Spanish mackerel57
- Crevalle jack55
- Permit54
- Gag grouper51
- Red snapper51
- Spotted seatrout50
- King mackerel48
- Cobia47
- Gray triggerfish47
- Red grouper47
- Florida pompano43
- Greater amberjack42
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 9 PM · Cobia
- Now
- 472 AM EDT
- Best window
- 7-11 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.3 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Big Sarasota 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 · 2 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
58Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.3 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 6 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
35Water temp: 88°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.1 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
65Season: ShoulderHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In 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 Sarasota Pass
- Depth
- 2-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Pass · Outer · 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 Sarasota Pass
Big Sarasota Pass is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads pass, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, Atlantic croaker and Atlantic tarpon. It is peak season now for common snook, Atlantic croaker, gray snapper and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, black drum, southern flounder and Spanish mackerel. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. 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.
- 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
- Fishery Point68
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 68
- Gray snapper 63
- Atlantic croaker 62
6 kt EL 5:00 AM · 1.1 ftH 10:46 AM · 2.2 ft
- Coconut Bayou67
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Atlantic croaker 66
- Common snook 66
6 kt EL 3:44 AM · 1.2 ftH 9:50 AM · 2.1 ft
- Hamsen Bayou67
Bay · 0.7 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Atlantic croaker 66
- Common snook 66
6 kt EL 3:44 AM · 1.2 ftH 9:50 AM · 2.1 ft
- South Coconut Bayou66
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 66
- Atlantic croaker 64
- Common snook 64
6 kt EL 3:44 AM · 1.2 ftH 9:50 AM · 2.1 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.