Doctrine · not a honey-hole list

Seasonal fundamentals

When a coast, a type of water, and a fish actually line up. If you elected Texas on the list, this page opens on Texas — Seychelles stays off the board until you ask for it. Filter by region, method or habitat, and species. The year bar is peak versus present. Limits cite TPWD and FWC — verify before you keep one.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico — urban tarpon, east-island flats

DNER water. Real NOAA gauges. Not a Keys copy and not FWC.

San Juan is Condado Lagoon and the bay — tarpon under the bridges, snook in the edges, a north-coast drop that is an offshore method. Vieques and Culebra are the Spanish Virgins: more sand, bones and permit, Mosquito Bay a reserve. La Parguera is the southwest mangrove desk, clocked to Magueyes 9759110. Blue marlin live in the story of this island; this brief will not invent a billfish on a lagoon. License is DNER. Do not paste a Jupiter snook closure onto Condado.

October. Shoulder. Permit and bones on Vieques. Harbor tarpon still honest.

October · peak

What is actually on

Snook

Hogfish

Greater amberjack

Peak Present Off

Closures

No coast-wide harvest closure on the board. Still verify before you keep a fish.

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

Peak OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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60–88°F · best 70–84°F

Florida backcountry and passes. Rare in deep-south Texas. Cold-sensitive — a hard norther empties the shoreline.

Fly. 8–9 wt. Wide-gap baitfish or shrimp. Strip-set and keep him out of the roots.

Spin. Walk-the-dog or soft plastic along mangrove points on a moving tide.

Leads the brief on San Juan, Parguera.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER bag and season. Do not apply an FWC closure map to this island.

Official source

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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72–90°F · best 76–86°F

Keys migratory peak Apr–May. Boca Grande Pass is the spring stack. Jupiter inlet and beach. Texas beach/passes mid-summer. Venice south passes in the heat. Bahamas: resident fish in bights Apr–Oct.

Fly. 10–12 wt. Cockroach, toad, or baitfish. Bow to the king on the jump. 40–60 lb shock.

Spin. Live crab or large swimbaits at passes. Texas beachfront July–early fall is a bay-boat game, not the skinny skiff.

Leads the brief on San Juan, Vieques, Parguera.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: treat as catch-and-release unless DNER says otherwise the morning you keep one.

Official source

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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68–88°F · best 72–84°F

Absent in Texas. Keys: big, few, educated. Bahamas: the capital — winter singles, summer schools of 3–5 lb fish. Puerto Rico: east islands more than San Juan. Seychelles: Alphonse and Farquhar sand, not Mahé town water.

Fly. 8 wt. Gotcha, Crazy Charlie, shrimp. Long fluoro, soft landing. Bahamas will forgive more than Biscayne.

Spin. Possible with a tiny jig. The honest tool here is the fly.

Leads the brief on Vieques.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: treat as catch-and-release. East-island banks, not Condado Lagoon.

Official source

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–88°F · best 74–84°F

None in Texas. Keys mecca — flats, banks, wrecks. Bahamas west sides May–Oct. Puerto Rico: east-island banks, not Condado. Seychelles 'permit' is often the Indo-Pacific fish (Trachinotus blochii) — same job, different ocean.

Fly. 9 wt, 10 in wind. Merkin / Del Brown / Raghead. Lead the tailer, let the crab sink, one slow twitch.

Spin. Often deadlier. Live crab, DOA crab, 20–30 fluoro. No apology.

Leads the brief on Vieques.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: treat as catch-and-release. Verify DNER.

Official source

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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68–90°F · best 74–86°F

Summer noise. Texas passes and beachfront. Not the reason you booked Andros, but they will find you. They do not own a Texas or Keys headline.

Fly. 9–10 wt baitfish. They will destroy a trout setup. Fun, not subtle.

Spin. Topwater or heavy spoon. If the birds are on them, you are late — cast past the boil.

Puerto Rico. Incidental. Not why you booked Condado.

Official source

Hogfish

Lachnolaimus maximus

Peak OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Keys and Caribbean patch reefs. Not a Texas bay fish. Not a bonefish headline. He lives on the hard bottom, not the grass.

Fly. 8–9 wt. A small crab or shrimp on the patch. He is a picker. Do not trout-set a hog.

Spin. The honest tool. Shrimp or a small jig on the reef. Spear is a different license.

Leads the brief on Vieques, Parguera.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER. Reef, not Condado Lagoon.

Official source

Yellowtail snapper

Ocyurus chrysurus

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Islamorada to Key West, then the Bahamas and the Spanish Virgins. Patch reefs and the first drop. Absent from Texas bays.

Fly. 7–8 wt. A small baitfish or shrimp on the edge of the chum. This is a boat on the reef, not a poling skiff.

Spin. Chum and a light fluorocarbon. The Keys live on this fish. Not a Galveston trout.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER snapper rules.

Official source

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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68–88°F · best 74–84°F

The snapper that will live in a Texas jetty and a Keys creek. Schoolies on structure. Bigger fish on the wrecks. Not a yellowtail.

Fly. 7–8 wt. Small baitfish along the shade line. 16–20 lb near the roots.

Spin. Live shrimp or a small jig under the mangroves and on the rocks. Night on the lights is legal.

Leads the brief on San Juan, Parguera.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER.

Official source

Mutton snapper

Lutjanus analis

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Keys wrecks and Caribbean hard bottom. Not a Texas red. Not a yellowtail in a chum slick.

Fly. 9–10 wt. A crab or baitfish on the wreck. He will eat a merkin that was meant for a permit.

Spin. Live bait or a jig on the wrecks and patches. Spawn aggregations are not a freelance mark.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER.

Official source

Lane snapper

Lutjanus synagris

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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68–86°F · best 72–82°F

Nearshore Gulf and Caribbean hard bottom. Texas jetties and the first reefs. Not the federal red-snapper story.

Fly. 7 wt. Small shrimp on the nearshore hard. He is a schoolie.

Spin. Light jig or shrimp on the first structure. Measure — he is the small snapper people guess wrong.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER.

Official source

Black grouper

Mycteroperca bonaci

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Keys, Bahamas, Yucatan, Puerto Rico wrecks. The heavy grouper. Do not print him on Galveston.

Fly. 12 wt on a shallow wreck if you earned the shot. Usually a stand-up outfit.

Spin. Live bait on the wrecks and ledges. Keys and Caribbean. Not a Texas gag.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER.

Official source

Greater amberjack

Seriola dumerili

Peak OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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68–84°F · best 70–80°F

Gulf and Atlantic wrecks. Not a jack crevalle. Not a GT. Do not headline a flat with an AJ.

Fly. 12 wt on a shallow wreck if they come up. Most days this is a stand-up jig.

Spin. Heavy jig on the wreck. Season and slot are posted. He will spool a trout rod.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER. Not a GT.

Official source

Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

Present OctoberPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–88°F · best 74–84°F

Flats and wrecks will find you. Keys, Bahamas, Yucatan, Puerto Rico. Noise. They do not own the headline.

Fly. 9 wt. A big needle. Fun. Not why you booked the week.

Spin. A tube lure if you came for him. Wire. Ciguatera is a real reason not to keep a big one.

Puerto Rico. Incidental. Ciguatera. Not a Condado headline.

Official source

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