Florida · Miami / Biscayne Bay
North end of the grand-slam stage. Bones and permit on the oceanside flats and ocean banks, baby tarpon and snook in the west-side mangroves. Educated fish, short windows, boat traffic.
Tide + moon
low confidence
Morning line
Biscayne 8.9 on Saturday, May 3 — tide, moon, and season only. No wind forecast that far out. YOLO day is Monday, August 31. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.
Wind
NWS
No wind reading
Buoy
NDBC VAKF1
Quiet
Virginia Key did not report. Witness only — not the tide clock.
Sky
NWS
Sky not in
Sky not in
A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.
Glass
No barometer
—
No live or modeled glass on this desk.
Three-hour change on this station. The glass is not a bite.
Moon
32% lit
Waxing crescent
neap range · 32%
Water
No gauge
Water
—
Today’s range 2.2 ft
outgoing
0.27 ft MLLW
Coast
No live coast layer
Red-tide check failed. That is not all-clear — open the agency page before you wade.
Sargassum check failed. Not a GPS pin. Not all-clear.
Clock
NOAA 8723214
Monthly YOLO day
Monday, August 31
Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waning gibbous · mid · tide range ~2.3 ft · wind to 15 mph · Clouds · 39%
Next two weeks
Pulling the 14-day strip…
This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.
Cape Florida Channel
channel gut · public structure · deep
USGS GNIS 279999. The Key Biscayne throat. Current seams, not a wade.
USGS GNIS 279999
Stiltsville / Cape Florida edge
sand dropoff · public structure · mid
Public geography. Tide seams off Key Biscayne. Virginia Key gauge is the clock.
West-side mangroves
mangrove edge · field manual · mid
Baby tarpon and snook. Not the oceanside slam. Outgoing along the roots.
Featherbed Bank
hard flat · public structure · skinny
USGS GNIS 282399. South Biscayne classic. Incoming on the bank. Educated bones. Boat traffic is part of the problem.
USGS GNIS 282399
Safety Valve
hard flat · public structure · skinny
USGS GNIS 293633. Oceanside flood. Permit and bones on a clean incoming. Wind from the east dirties it fast.
USGS GNIS 293633
When is moving water in a good hour — not the day. First light and last light are named when the clock is the story. Today’s ring mixes the best mark, the lead fish, and the best window, then taxes the sky. A strong incoming can sit under a weak day if the wind or the fish is off. Calendar cells are a third recipe: range, moon, and the day’s forecast.
Outgoing water
9.4Sat 8:00 AM → Sat 10:00 AM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Incoming water
9.4Sat 10:00 AM → Sat 4:00 PM
Moving water in the right part of the day.
Last light · outgoing
9.1Sat 4:00 PM → Sat 11:00 PM
Last light on outgoing water.
Last light · incoming
8.0Sat 10:00 PM → Sun 5:00 AM
Last light on incoming water.
First light · outgoing
9.4Sun 4:00 AM → Sun 11:00 AM
First light on outgoing water.
County and state ramps near this water. FKNMS no-take is Keys-only, on the legal list.
Matheson Hammock Park
Miami-Dade Parks
West-side mangrove and basin launch. Baby tarpon and snook water, not the oceanside slam.
Official sourceCrandon Marina
Miami-Dade Parks
Key Biscayne. Oceanside banks and Stiltsville from here. Park fee.
Official sourceBlack Point Marina
Miami-Dade Parks
South Biscayne. Featherbed and the Safety Valve are the run.
Official sourceNOAA FKNMS management zones — Sanctuary Preservation Areas, Ecological Reserves, Research-Only.
No FKNMS polygon in this box. Mainland Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico, and the Bahamas are not Keys sanctuary closures.
Snook
Centropomus undecimalis
Thermal window
—
In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Region matters. SE/Atlantic (Jupiter, Biscayne): typically 28–32 in, 1/day, closed Dec 15–Jan 31 and June 1–Aug 31. Charlotte Harbor / Southwest (Boca Grande): typically 28–33 in, closed Dec 1–end of Feb and May 1–Sep 30. Snook permit required. Verify FWC.
Tarpon
Megalops atlanticus
Thermal window
—
In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Florida: catch-and-release. Fish over 40 in must stay in the water. One harvest tag/year only for a potential IGFA record.
Bonefish
Albula vulpes
Thermal window
—
In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Florida: catch-and-release only, hook-and-line only.
Permit
Trachinotus falcatus
Thermal window
—
In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Florida: hook-and-line. Special Permit Zone (Keys) is tighter than the rest of the state — typically C&R. Verify FWC.
Mangrove / gray snapper
Lutjanus griseus
Thermal window
—
In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Florida: typically 10 in, inside the snapper aggregate. Verify FWC.
Jack crevalle
Caranx hippos
Thermal window
—
Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.
Great barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda
Thermal window
—
Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. In peak season for this water. This tide stage (outgoing) matches how they hunt.
Generally unregulated. Ciguatera risk rises with size. Do not keep a big one for the table.
Regs citedFWC saltwater recreational · current FWC regional rules · rolls in 6 days. Snook closures are regional. Boca Grande is not Jupiter. Verify FWC before you keep one.
Next two weeks
rain