On This Water

Florida · Miami / Biscayne Bay

Bonefish should be the day — wait for the next incoming; they will not eat a bad presentation here.

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.

  • This brief is for 2026-02-15, not this morning. Wind is a forecast. Observed water versus the table is a today-only instrument.
6.8OF 10

Forecast

medium confidence

Forecast brief for Sunday, February 15. Back to this morning

Morning line

Biscayne 6.8 on Sunday, February 15. 12 mph SE. Mostly clear. YOLO day is Tuesday, August 25. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-0.8-0.00.81.62.4HLHLHLHLSat 7 PMSun 7 PMMon 7 PMTue 7 PMWed 7 PM
low slack · 1.75 ft · drag or hover for the clockNOAA tide gauge 8723214 · Virginia Key · ft MLLW · not a weather buoy

Wind

OPEN-METEO

NESW12MPH

From SE · gust 13

Sky

OPEN-METEO

Clouds

Mostly clear

A 20% shower chance is not a cancel. A soaker is.

Moon

3% lit

Waning crescent

spring range · 3%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 2.1 ft

low slack

1.75 ft MLLW

Clock

NOAA 8723214

  • HighSun 7:30 AM · 1.79
  • LowSun 1:32 PM · 0.01
  • HighSun 7:40 PM · 1.74
  • LowMon 1:53 AM · -0.28
  • HighMon 8:12 AM · 1.88

Monthly YOLO day

Tuesday, August 25 · 9.2

Best remaining dry day this month with a real wind forecast. waxing gibbous · mid · tide range ~1.7 ft · wind to 16 mph · Clouds · 25%

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

This pip is that mark on this tide — not the day on the ring.

  • Cape Florida Channel

    channel gut · public structure · deep

    7.1

    USGS GNIS 279999. The Key Biscayne throat. Current seams, not a wade.

    USGS GNIS 279999

    • channel gut on a low slack tide is a workable match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skiffspinfly
  • Stiltsville / Cape Florida edge

    sand dropoff · public structure · mid

    6.7

    Public geography. Tide seams off Key Biscayne. Virginia Key gauge is the clock.

    • sand dropoff on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skiffflyspin
  • Featherbed Bank

    hard flat · public structure · skinny

    5.5

    USGS GNIS 282399. South Biscayne classic. Incoming on the bank. Educated bones. Boat traffic is part of the problem.

    USGS GNIS 282399

    • hard flat on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skiffflyspin
  • Safety Valve

    hard flat · public structure · skinny

    5.5

    USGS GNIS 293633. Oceanside flood. Permit and bones on a clean incoming. Wind from the east dirties it fast.

    USGS GNIS 293633

    • hard flat on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skifffly
  • West-side mangroves

    mangrove edge · field manual · mid

    4.9

    Baby tarpon and snook. Not the oceanside slam. Outgoing along the roots.

    • mangrove edge on a low slack tide is a secondary match.
    skiffkayakflyspin

When

When is moving water in a good hour — not the day. 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

    9.1

    Sun 9:00 AMSun 3:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Incoming water

    8.8

    Sun 3:00 PMSun 10:00 PM

    Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.

  • Outgoing water

    7.8

    Sun 9:00 PMMon 4:00 AM

    Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.

  • Incoming water

    9.1

    Mon 3:00 AMMon 10:00 AM

    Water is moving, but the clock is against you — heat or dark.

  • Outgoing water

    9.1

    Mon 9:00 AMMon 4:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

Launch and beach access

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 source
  • Crandon Marina

    Miami-Dade Parks

    Key Biscayne. Oceanside banks and Stiltsville from here. Park fee.

    Official source
  • Black Point Marina

    Miami-Dade Parks

    South Biscayne. Featherbed and the Safety Valve are the run.

    Official source

Legal water

NOAA 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.

Why — and who

  • Tide is low slack from NOAA 8723214 Virginia Key.
  • Mostly clear. Clouds steal the window on bones and permit.
  • Wind 12 mph SE. Work the leeward shore. Fly gets harder.
  • Waning crescent moon — spring tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge spring.

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

7.3

Thermal window

64°92°

In peak season for this water.

Florida: catch-and-release only, hook-and-line only.

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

5.5

Thermal window

66°92°

Present, not peak.

Florida: hook-and-line. Special Permit Zone (Keys) is tighter than the rest of the state — typically C&R. Verify FWC.

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

3.7

Thermal window

56°92°

Off-season here.

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

3.7

Thermal window

68°94°

Off-season here.

Florida: catch-and-release. Fish over 40 in must stay in the water. One harvest tag/year only for a potential IGFA record.

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

3.7

Thermal window

64°92°

Off-season here.

Florida: typically 10 in, inside the snapper aggregate. Verify FWC.

Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

5.5

Thermal window

66°92°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Present, not peak.

Generally unregulated. Ciguatera risk rises with size. Do not keep a big one for the table.

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

3.7

Thermal window

64°94°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Off-season here.

Generally unregulated. Still, do not leave a pile.

Regs citedFWC saltwater recreational · current FWC regional rules · rolls in 7 days. Snook closures are regional. Boca Grande is not Jupiter. Verify FWC before you keep one.