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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.

All coastsTexasLouisianaFloridaBahamasMexicoPuerto RicoSeychelles
Any typeFlySpinSightWadeSkiffRocksMarshSkinnyOffshore
Any fishRedfishSpeckled troutSouthern flounderBlack drumSheepsheadSnookTarponBonefishPermitJack crevalleMahi-mahiSailfishTuna (blackfin / yellowfin)HogfishYellowtail snapperMangrove / gray snapperMutton snapperRed snapperLane snapperGag grouperRed grouperBlack grouperCobiaFlorida pompanoTripletailKing mackerelSpanish mackerelGreater amberjackWahooBlue marlinWhite marlinStriped marlinSwordfishGreat barracudaRoosterfishGiant trevally
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bahamas

Bahamas — bonefish country

Winter singles. Summer schools. Permit on the west sides when it lays down.

Andros is the capital — west-side white sand, schools by the acre, double-digit singles in the creeks, tarpon in the bights, permit May through October on the west side and outer cays. Abaco is Marls and ocean cays; verify what is actually running after Dorian. Grand Bahama is the thinking wade, a town to sleep in, big singles on foot. Eleuthera and the Exuma edge take more weather and give you more permit. Tides here are a modeled lunar clock, labeled as such — there is no NOAA gauge on these islands. Flats licensing has been tightening; verify before you wade. Jacks will find you. They are not why you booked the week.

April. Bones through the spring. Tarpon in the bights. The week starts to feel like the photograph.

Type

Skinny water

Inches. Baffin, Lower Laguna, Keys oceanside banks, Andros west-side sand, Ascension Bay, St François, Vieques banks. Tide character is sight-skinny: a huge range can empty the flat; a dead-small range can leave fish in a bathtub with no refresh. Push too far and you are walking the boat home. Trophy trout on serpulid rock is not the same as a school of 3-pound bones — same depth, different fish, different mistake.

AndrosAbacoG. Bahama

April · peak

What is actually on

    TarponBonefishPermitHogfishYellowtail snapperMutton snapperBlack grouperGreater amberjack
Peak Present Off

Closures

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

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

Peak AprilBahamas

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Thermal window

—

64°92°

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 Andros, Abaco, G. Bahama, Eleuthera.

Bahamas. Bahamas: treat as C&R. Flats licensing has been tightening — verify before you wade.

Official source

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

Peak AprilBahamas

J

F

M

A

M

J

J

A

S

O

N

D

Thermal window

—

66°92°

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 Andros, Abaco, Eleuthera.

Bahamas. Bahamas: catch-and-release.

Official source

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