Waterlands

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CobiaRetention open

Bay · Florida

Lyons Bay

27.12°N · 82.46°W · Bay · Tampa Bay waters

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Best score today · 7 AM · Cobia

76/100Great
Now
546 PM EDT
Best window
6-10 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.8 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 PM · now

Time6PNOW
Score54Good
Tide0.8 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.5 kn · toward N
Wind4 kn Egusts 11 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.7 ft · 4 s
Air temp78°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy92% chance of rain
Water88°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

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 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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cobia in Florida

Spot profile

Lyons Bay

Depth
2-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · 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 Lyons Bay

Lyons Bay is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are red drum, common snook and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for red drum, common snook, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, crevalle jack, permit and Spanish mackerel. Red drum peak from September through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September.

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.
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.
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

  • Venice Inlet

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    73
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 73
    • Red drum 72
    • Atlantic tarpon 72

    4 kt EH 4:58 AM · 2.1 ftL 2:46 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Roberts Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    71
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 71
    • Common snook 70
    • Gray snapper 69

    4 kt EH 4:58 AM · 2.1 ftL 2:46 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Blackburn Bay

    Bay · 1.9 mi

    71
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 71
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic croaker 68

    4 kt EH 4:58 AM · 2.1 ftL 2:46 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Eagle Point

    Cape · 1.3 mi

    67
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 67
    • Common snook 66
    • Gray snapper 65

    4 kt EH 4:58 AM · 2.1 ftL 2:46 PM · 0.4 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.