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.

March. Tarpon turn on. Permit on the east banks. San Juan still a lagoon, not a flat.

Type

Offshore

Trolling, the edge, and deep jigging. This is not the grass brief. Weedlines, humps, and named banks — Islamorada Hump, Flower Garden, Gordo, El Bajo, the Cancún sailfish current. Fly-and-teaser when the wind allows it. A heavy jig when it does not. Switch the method filter to Offshore or the engine will hide these marks on purpose. Roosterfish is Baja. Do not invent him on a Galveston morning.

San Juan Vieques Parguera

March · peak

What is actually on

Bonefish

Permit

Peak Present Off

Closures

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

Mahi-mahi

Coryphaena hippurus

Present MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–88°F · best 74–84°F

Dolphin. Keys and Bahamas summer bluewater — weedlines, FADs, the edge. Texas: offshore, not the bay. Absent from a Galveston grass headline.

Fly. 10–12 wt. Baitfish or a chugger on a weedline. This is a boat-in-blue-water game, not a skiff on the flat.

Spin. Ballyhoo or a heavy spoon on color changes, sargassum, and the humps. If you can see the bank, you are inshore of them.

Puerto Rico. Florida: typically 10/person, 60/vessel, 20 in fork. Texas: 3/day in federal waters under HMS/coastal rules — verify NOAA HMS and TPWD. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA. Bahamas: check current bag.

Official source

Sailfish

Istiophorus platypterus

Peak MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–86°F · best 74–82°F

SE Florida and the Keys are the winter sail coast. Bahamas bluewater. Texas: possible way offshore, not Matagorda. Do not headline a flat with a billfish.

Fly. 12 wt. A shot on a teaser, then the fly. Not a wade. Not a poling skiff.

Spin. Kite, live bait, or a dredge off the reef edge. Islamorada and Stuart in winter. Texas sail are a rare offshore event, not the jetty.

Puerto Rico. Florida: catch-and-release for Atlantic sail except a rare harvest tag. Federal HMS permit in federal waters. Texas/Bahamas: treat as C&R.

Official source

Tuna (blackfin / yellowfin)

Thunnus atlanticus / Thunnus albacares

Present MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–88°F · best 74–84°F

Blackfin on Keys/Bahamas humps and wrecks. Yellowfin farther out. Texas: Flower Garden / canyon water. Not a Baffin or Biscayne headline.

Fly. 12 wt on a blackfin blitz if they come up. Yellowfin is a stand-up outfit, not an 8-weight.

Spin. Humps, wrecks, and the edge. Live bait or a heavy jig. Texas tuna live in 50–100 fathoms, not West Bay.

Puerto Rico. Federal HMS rules. Yellowfin typically 27 in curved fork. Blackfin often more liberal — verify NOAA HMS and FWC/TPWD the morning you leave the inlet.

Official source

Greater amberjack

Seriola dumerili

Present MarchPuerto 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

Wahoo

Acanthocybium solandri

Peak MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

—

70–84°F · best 74–80°F

Blue water. Keys and Bahamas winter. Texas is way offshore. Baja and the Seychelles have him too. Absent from a grass headline.

Fly. A teaser and a 12 wt if they come up. Usually a troll.

Spin. High-speed troll on the edge and the humps. Not a king mackerel. Not a bay.

Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico: verify DNER.

Official source

Blue marlin

Makaira nigricans

Present MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

—

72–86°F · best 76–84°F

Blue water only. San Juan’s north drop, the Bahamas, the Yucatan current, Seychelles offshore. Never a flat. Never a Galveston grass sentence.

Fly. A teaser, then the fly, on a boat that already found him. Not a skiff. Not a wade.

Spin. Troll the edge. Puerto Rico and the Bahamas tell this story honestly. Texas is a canyon day. Do not invent one on Condado.

Puerto Rico. Federal HMS and DNER. The north drop, not Condado. Treat as catch-and-release.

Official source

White marlin

Kajikia albida

Present MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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70–84°F · best 74–82°F

Atlantic and Gulf blue water. Not a sailfish. Not a Keys permit. Do not print him on a mangrove.

Fly. Teaser and fly on the same ocean as the blue. Smaller fish, same rule: not a flat.

Spin. Troll. Mid-Atlantic and the Gulf canyons. Texas is possible. Jupiter is a maybe. Condado is not.

Puerto Rico. Federal HMS. The drop, not the lagoon. Treat as catch-and-release.

Official source

Striped marlin

Kajikia audax

Present March

Thermal window

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70–84°F · best 74–80°F

Eastern Pacific. East Cape and the mouth of the Cortez. Absent from Texas, Louisiana, the Keys, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Seychelles. Same rule as the rooster: this ocean only.

Fly. Teaser and fly. East Cape and Magdalena when the water is right. Pacific only.

Spin. Troll. Baja. Not the Gulf of Mexico. Not Texas.

Official source

Swordfish

Xiphias gladius

Peak MarchPuerto Rico

Thermal window

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64–80°F · best 68–76°F

Night and deep. Islamorada and the Miami canyons tell this story. Puerto Rico’s north drop. Never a flat. Never a Galveston trout sentence.

Fly. This is not a fly fish. Night deep-drop or a daytime deep drop.

Spin. Deep drop. South Florida invented the modern recreational swordfish day. Texas is a canyon. Not a jetty.

Puerto Rico. Federal HMS and DNER. The north drop. Verify the morning you leave.

Official source

Roosterfish

Nematistius pectoralis

Present March

Thermal window

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72–88°F · best 76–84°F

Eastern Pacific — Baja East Cape and La Paz, Costa Rica, Panama. Absent from Texas, Louisiana, the Keys, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Seychelles. Lives on this atlas only on the Mexico Pacific desks.

Fly. 10–12 wt. A big baitfish in the surf. Baja and Central America Pacific, not the Gulf.

Spin. Live mullet in the wash. Same ocean as the rooster comb — the Pacific.

Official source

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