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CobiaRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook64
- Red drum63
- Gray snapper61
- Atlantic croaker58
- Atlantic tarpon58
- Southern flounder56
- Spanish mackerel53
- Permit51
- Black drum50
- Florida pompano50
- Crevalle jack49
- Spotted seatrout47
- Cobia44
- Gag grouper44
- Red snapper44
- King mackerel43
- Gray triggerfish41
- Red grouper41
- Greater amberjack39
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 8 PM · Cobia
- Now
- 446 AM EDT
- Best window
- 8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Sarasota Bay 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 · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
61Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.8 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
94Wind: 3 kt ENEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
37Water temp: 87°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.9 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
55Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable 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
Sarasota Bay
- Depth
- About 10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Sarasota Bay
Sarasota Bay is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is about 10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, red drum and gray snapper. It is peak season now for common snook, red drum, gray snapper and Atlantic croaker, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder, Spanish mackerel and permit. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November. Gray snapper peak from June 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.
- 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
- Cranes Bayou67
Bay · 1.7 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Common snook 62
- Southern flounder 61
4 kt ESEH 10:59 AM · 2.1 ftL 6:17 PM · 0.6 ft
- Long Bar Point67
Cape · 2.8 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Common snook 60
- Southern flounder 59
3 kt ENEH 10:48 AM · 2.3 ftL 6:03 PM · 0.8 ft
- Buttonwood Harbor66
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 66
- Gray snapper 63
- Atlantic croaker 60
4 kt ESEH 10:48 AM · 2.3 ftL 6:03 PM · 0.8 ft
- Quick Point61
Cape · 3.7 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 61
- Red drum 60
- Gray snapper 59
4 kt ESEH 10:59 AM · 2.1 ftL 6:17 PM · 0.6 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.