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.

Florida

Florida — two coasts, do not mix them

Keys oceanside is bones and permit. Backcountry is reds and snook. Boca is the pass. Jupiter is the inlet.

Biscayne is the north end of the grand-slam stage. Key Largo is the first Key — Card Sound, Garden Cove, Pennekamp as the launch, not a secret flat. Adjacent SPAs are no-take. Islamorada is the mecca — Channel 5, oceanside banks, wrecks for permit that have seen every crab. Flamingo is a different country: reds and snook, not oceanside bones. Marathon and Key West stretch it south. Then the mainland: Boca Grande Pass is the spring tarpon stack, Charlotte Harbor the snook and reds — Gulf rules, not Atlantic. Jupiter is inlet snook and a beach tarpon, clocked to Lake Worth Pier. Snook closures differ by FWC region. FKNMS polygons are Keys-only. Do not headline Jupiter with a bonefish.

March. Permit opens its shoulders. Boca tarpon start to stack. Jupiter snook reopen on the typical SE calendar — verify FWC.

Type

Fly

Fly when the day allows it. That is the whole doctrine. Eight-weight for tails and bones, nine for permit, ten-plus when a tarpon is the job. Wind is the tax — above about 16 mph the presentation gets ugly and the honest move is the spinning rod. Lead the fish, put the fly where he is going, and do not trout-set a trout. Keys fish have seen every Gotcha in the catalog. Bahamas will forgive a sloppy landing Texas and Biscayne will not.

Biscayne Key Largo Islamorada Flamingo Marathon Key West Boca Grande Jupiter

March · peak

What is actually on

Redfish

Black drum

Sheepshead

Bonefish

Permit

Cobia

Florida pompano

Peak Present Off

Closures

SE Florida snook (Jupiter, Keys, Biscayne). Typically closed Dec 15–Jan 31 and June 1–Aug 31. Catch-and-release is still fishing. Do not harvest a snook because a desk scored an 8.
Charlotte Harbor / Boca Grande snook. Typically closed Dec 1–end of Feb and May 1–Sep 30. Gulf region, not Atlantic. Verify FWC.

Redfish

Sciaenops ocellatus

Peak MarchFlorida

Thermal window

—

52–88°F · best 62–82°F

Texas and Louisiana main event. Tails in flooded grass, wakes on shell, winter schools on mud, bulls in the passes. Keys: backcountry only, not oceanside. Boca Harbor yes. Jupiter is a snook desk.

Fly. 8-weight. Crab or shrimp on bead-chain for tailers. Gold spoon when the wind wrecks the fly. 20 lb near oyster.

Spin. Weedless gold spoon, paddle, or soft plastic. Heavy spoon or big paddle for the fall jetty bulls.

Leads the brief on Flamingo, Boca Grande.

Florida. Florida SE: typically 18–27 in, 1/person, 2/vessel. Harvest banned in federal waters. Keys backcountry, not oceanside. Boca Harbor yes.

Official source

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

Present MarchFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Biscayne, Key Largo, Flamingo, Boca Grande, Jupiter.

Florida. 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.

Official source

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

Present MarchFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Biscayne, Key Largo, Islamorada, Flamingo, Marathon, Key West, Boca Grande, Jupiter.

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

Official source

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Peak MarchFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Biscayne, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Key West.

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

Official source

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

Peak MarchFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Biscayne, Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Key West.

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

Official source

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