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CobiaRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Atlantic croaker66
- Common snook58
- Atlantic tarpon52
- Gray snapper52
- Red drum52
- Florida pompano51
- Southern flounder46
- Black drum43
- Permit42
- Spanish mackerel41
- Crevalle jack40
- Gag grouper40
- Red snapper40
- Spotted seatrout38
- Gray triggerfish37
- Red grouper37
- Cobia35
- King mackerel34
- Greater amberjack33
- Sheepshead31
Best score today · 6 PM · Cobia
- Now
- 352 AM EDT
- Best window
- 2-7 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- High1.9 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Tampa 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 · 2 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
15Tide: High slackCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 5 kt ESEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
35Water temp: 88°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.4 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
Tampa Bay
- Depth
- 15-20 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 Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 15-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, common snook and Atlantic tarpon. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, common snook, gray snapper and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, Florida pompano, southern flounder and black drum. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Tampa Bay Channel69
Channel · 1.2 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 69
- Common snook 59
- Atlantic tarpon 55
5 kt ESEL 6:25 AM · 1.4 ftH 12:29 PM · 2.5 ft
- Smacks Bayou66
Bay · 3.2 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 66
- Red drum 54
- Common snook 53
5 kt ESEL 6:25 AM · 1.4 ftH 12:29 PM · 2.5 ft
- Placido Bayou66
Bay · 3.7 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 66
- Red drum 56
- Common snook 53
5 kt ESEL 6:25 AM · 1.4 ftH 12:29 PM · 2.5 ft
- Big Bayou65
Bay · 3.7 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 65
- Red drum 54
- Common snook 53
4 kt ESEL 6:25 AM · 1.4 ftH 12:29 PM · 2.5 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.