Waterlands

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Gray snapperRetention open

Bay · Florida

Longboat Pass

27.44°N · 82.69°W · Bay · Tampa Bay waters

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Best score today · 6 PM · Gray snapper

86/100Epic
Now
6911 AM EST
Best window
4-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing0.6 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Sunday, Nov 15 · 7 AM

Time7A
Score65Great
Tide0.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.8 kn · toward W
Wind8 kn Egusts 23 · steady
Air temp70°Warm
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water76°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Gray snapper

Retention open
Daily limit
5 per day (10 snapper combined)
Possession
Not published
Size
Minimum 10 in, total length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Open year-round in Gulf and Atlantic state waters. Special rules apply in Biscayne National Park. Counts toward the 10-snapper aggregate per person per day. Reef fish gear rules apply. Land with head and fins intact. Federal waters have a 12-inch minimum and a 10-fish bag.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Snappers, 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 Closed (No retention)
  • Gray triggerfish Retention open (1 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Closed (No retention)
  • 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 Closed (No retention)
  • Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
  • Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
  • Snook Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
  • Summer flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
  • Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Gray snapper is best here

Shoulder season for Gray snapper · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Gray snapper season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Gray snapper · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Gray snapper in Florida →

Spot profile

Longboat Pass

Depth
2-15 ftSlope
Structure
Pass · Inner · Semi-exposedPass · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonGray snapper

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 Longboat Pass

Longboat Pass is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 2-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads pass, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Spanish mackerel, common snook and red drum. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, red drum, spotted seatrout and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for common snook, king mackerel, black drum and gray snapper. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November.

Tackle & technique

Gray snapper
Mangrove snapper hold tight to mangrove roots, bridge pilings, jetties and reef ledges, from a few feet deep inshore to 150 feet offshore. Chum to pull them out of cover, then freeline or lightly weight a live shrimp or pilchard on fluorocarbon leader, since they shy away from heavy line in clear water. The bite improves at dusk and after dark.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.
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

  • Millar Bay

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    79
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 79
    • Red drum 77
    • Common snook 76

    9 kt EL 1:39 PM · 0.2 ftH 8:44 PM · 1.7 ft

  • Cow Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    74
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 74
    • Red drum 73
    • Common snook 71

    9 kt EL 1:39 PM · 0.2 ftH 8:44 PM · 1.7 ft

  • Palma Sola Bay

    Bay · 3.2 mi

    74
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 74
    • Red drum 72
    • Common snook 71

    9 kt EL 2:21 PM · 0.2 ftH 9:30 PM · 1.7 ft

  • Grassy Point Bayou

    Bay · 3.6 mi

    69
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 69
    • Spotted seatrout 66
    • Spanish mackerel 63

    9 kt EL 11:32 AM · 0.3 ftH 8:17 PM · 1.7 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.