On This Water

Florida · Miami / Biscayne Bay

Bonefish should be the day — oceanside banks for bones and permit — west-side mangroves for baby tarpon and snook.

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 2027-03-05. No wind forecast that far out — score is tide, moon, and season. Not a copper day.
  • Tide · modeled — NOAA 8723214 quiet
  • NDBC VAKF1 quiet
  • Red-tide check failed — not all-clear
  • Sargassum check failed — not all-clear
  • Water temp quiet
8.7OF 10

Tide + moon

low confidence

Forecast brief for Friday, March 5. Back to this morning

Morning line

Biscayne 8.7 on Friday, March 5 — tide, moon, and season only. No wind forecast that far out. Scores are 1–10, not a bite.

Mail it
-1.1-0.6-0.00.51.1LHLHLHLHFri 7 AMSat 7 AMSun 7 AMMon 7 AM
incoming · -0.68 ft · drag or hover for the clockModeled M2 clock — no NOAA gauge on this water. Not a buoy.

Wind

NWS

NESWMPH

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.

Moon

7% lit

Waning crescent

mid range · 7%

Water

No gauge

Water

48°92°

Today’s range 1.6 ft

incoming

-0.68 ft modeled

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

  • LowFri 7:00 AM · -0.83
  • HighFri 1:00 PM · 0.80
  • LowFri 7:00 PM · -0.76
  • HighSat 1:00 AM · 0.71
  • LowSat 8:00 AM · -0.69

Bahamas tides are modeled from lunar M2. Use them for windows, not a bar crossing.

Next two weeks

Pulling the 14-day strip…

Where

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

  • Featherbed Bank

    hard flat · public structure · skinny

    8.4

    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 incoming tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skiffflyspin
  • Safety Valve

    hard flat · public structure · skinny

    8.4

    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 incoming tide is a classic match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit.
    skifffly
  • Stiltsville / Cape Florida edge

    sand dropoff · public structure · mid

    8.3

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

    • sand dropoff on a incoming tide is a workable match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon.
    skiffflyspin
  • Cape Florida Channel

    channel gut · public structure · deep

    8.1

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

    USGS GNIS 279999

    • channel gut on a incoming tide is a workable match.
    • In-play: Bonefish, Permit, Tarpon.
    skiffspinfly
  • West-side mangroves

    mangrove edge · field manual · mid

    7.7

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

    • mangrove edge on a incoming tide is a workable match.
    • In-play: Snook, Tarpon.
    skiffkayakflyspin

When

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.

  • Incoming water

    9.4

    Fri 8:00 AMFri 3:00 PM

    Moving water in the right part of the day.

  • Last light · outgoing

    9.1

    Fri 2:00 PMFri 9:00 PM

    Last light on outgoing water.

  • Last light · incoming

    8.0

    Fri 8:00 PMSat 3:00 AM

    Last light on incoming water.

  • First light · outgoing

    9.4

    Sat 3:00 AMSat 10:00 AM

    First light on outgoing water.

  • Incoming water

    9.4

    Sat 9:00 AMSat 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 incoming (modeled — NOAA 8723214 Virginia Key did not answer).
  • Waning crescent moon — mid tide range. Sight water often prefers a moderate range and clean water over a huge spring.

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

8.4

Thermal window

64°92°

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (incoming) matches how they hunt.

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

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

8.4

Thermal window

66°92°

In peak season for this water. This tide stage (incoming) 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.

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

6.6

Thermal window

56°92°

Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) 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

6.6

Thermal window

68°94°

Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) 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.

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

6.6

Thermal window

64°92°

Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) matches how they hunt.

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

Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

5.8

Thermal window

66°92°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Present, not peak. This tide stage (incoming) matches how they hunt.

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

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

4.8

Thermal window

64°94°

Bycatch and beach noise — not the reason you came. Off-season here. This tide stage (incoming) matches how they hunt.

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.