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.

December. Winter tarpon in the lagoon. Sail on the north drop. DNER, not an FWC calendar.

Type

Skiff

Pole the skinny, run the guts. A skiff loses a flat at dead low and loses the fish when you run across the bank they are using. Islamorada and Biscayne are poling theaters with boat traffic as a species. Flamingo is a different boat — backcountry, color, wind. Venice is a third — river-marsh, not a sight flat. Texas Rockport and Baffin are the same idea in grass and rock. Idle before you think you should.

San Juan Vieques Parguera

December · peak

What is actually on

Bonefish

Peak Present Off

Closures

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

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Peak DecemberPuerto 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

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