Waterlands

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CobiaRetention open

Bar · Florida

Wake Porter Fish Havens

27.70°N · 82.75°W · Bar · Tampa Bay waters

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Best score today · 10 PM · Cobia

73/100Great
Now
4811 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Oct 2 · 9 AM

Time9A
Score35Fair
Tide0.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.9 kn · toward S
Wind4 kn SEgusts 12 · steady
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherOvercast39% chance of rain
Water85°FPersisted

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

Wake Porter Fish Havens

Depth
15-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bar · Outer · ExposedBar · 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 Wake Porter Fish Havens

Wake Porter Fish Havens is a bar in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 15-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, outer water and exposed.

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

  • Pass-a-Grille Channel

    Channel · 1.3 mi

    76
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 76
    • Atlantic croaker 74
    • Atlantic tarpon 74

    5 kt ENEH 12:18 AM · 1.7 ftL 4:55 AM · 1.2 ft

  • Mud Key Cutoff

    Channel · 1.2 mi

    74
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 74
    • Common snook 68
    • Atlantic tarpon 65

    5 kt ENEH 11:57 PM · 1.8 ftL 4:14 AM · 1.4 ft

  • 70
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 70
    • Red drum 69
    • Common snook 66

    5 kt ENEH 12:18 AM · 1.7 ftL 4:55 AM · 1.2 ft

  • McPherson Bayou

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    70
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 70
    • Red drum 65
    • Common snook 63

    5 kt ENEH 11:57 PM · 1.8 ftL 4:14 AM · 1.4 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.