Waterlands

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WahooRetention open

Bar · Florida

Chester Shoal

28.59°N · 80.54°W · Bar · Volusia-Brevard County Line to Sebastian Inlet 0-20 nm

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Best score today · 8 PM · Wahoo

74/100Great
Now
444 AM EDT
Best window
2 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding3.4 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Tue · 76

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 AM · now

Time4ANOW
Score44Fair
Tide3.4 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.3 knmodeled · toward NNW
Wind2 kn WSWgusts 5 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.2 ft · 8 s
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy81% cloud
Water83°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Atlantic state waters (Nassau through Miami-Dade counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Wahoo

Retention open
Daily limit
2 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Not published
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
No minimum size. Open year-round.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Wahoo, read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Atlantic croaker Retention open (50 per day)
  • Black drum Retention open (5 per day)
  • Bluefish Retention open (3 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 snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
  • Gray triggerfish Retention open (10 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
  • King mackerel Retention open (2 per day)
  • Mahi-mahi Retention open (5 per day)
  • Permit Retention open (2 per day)
  • Red drum Catch & release (No retention)
  • Red grouper Retention open (3 per day (3 Atlantic grouper and tilefish combined))
  • Red snapper Check regulations
  • 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 (50 per day)
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (2 per day)
  • Summer flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
Always check with FWC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Wahoo is best here

Shoulder season for Wahoo · 1 more week at shoulder

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

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Spot profile

Chester Shoal

Depth
20-25 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Outer · ExposedShoal · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonWahoo

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 Chester Shoal

Chester Shoal is a bar in Volusia-Brevard County Line to Sebastian Inlet 0-20 nm, Florida. Depth is 20-25 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 29 species here; the best right now are common snook, Atlantic croaker and Atlantic tarpon. It is peak season now for common snook, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic tarpon and spot, and shoulder season for black drum, Florida pompano, Spanish mackerel and red snapper. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October. Atlantic tarpon peak from July through September.

Tackle & technique

Wahoo
Wahoo patrol drop-offs, seamounts, rigs and weed lines where current and temperature breaks meet, usually along the 100 to 600 foot contours. High-speed trolling at 12 to 18 knots with weighted lures covers ground, and slower trolling with ballyhoo or diving plugs works over known structure. Use wire leader, because their teeth cut monofilament.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Jack Davis Cut

    Channel · 4.4 mi

    77
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 77
    • Atlantic tarpon 75
    • Common snook 74

    2 kt WSWH 5:38 AM · 3.9 ftL 11:57 AM · 0.9 ft

  • Pintail Creek

    Bay · 4.1 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Southern flounder 72
    • Atlantic tarpon 72

    2 kt WSWH 5:38 AM · 3.9 ftL 11:57 AM · 0.9 ft

  • Bluebill Creek

    Bay · 4.3 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Southern flounder 72
    • Spot 71

    2 kt WSWH 5:38 AM · 3.9 ftL 11:57 AM · 0.9 ft

  • False Cape

    Cape · 2.5 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic croaker 68
    • Atlantic tarpon 67

    2 kt WSWH 5:38 AM · 3.9 ftL 11:57 AM · 0.9 ft

Open in the tide map

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.