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.

April. Tarpon month. Boca Grande Pass is why the rest of the year exists. Keys migration. Jupiter inlet. Permit still in play.

Type

Jetty / rocks

Granite, pilings, passes. Midday is legal — sheep face the tide and pick. Fall jetty bulls are a Texas event, not a rumor. Flounder sit the sand drains on the outgoing. This is spinning-rod country with a short, ugly leader if you insist on a fly. Do not invent a wreck as a honey hole. Named structure only, and the fish still have to be in season.

Marathon Boca Grande Jupiter

April · peak

What is actually on

Redfish

Snook

Tarpon

Bonefish

Permit

Hogfish

Yellowtail snapper

Mutton snapper

Gag grouper

Red grouper

Black grouper

Cobia

Florida pompano

Spanish mackerel

Greater amberjack

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 AprilFlorida

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

Black drum

Pogonias cromis

Present AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

50–84°F · best 55–72°F

Winter/early spring. Schools with reds on Galveston mud. Roots — look for puffs and a thicker, darker tail.

Fly. Crab/shrimp a size bigger than the red. 8 wt schoolies, 9–10 for shoulders. He will eat a fly that sits.

Spin. Crab, light jig, or dead shrimp. A 30-pounder in a channel is a day that does not allow the fly.

Florida. Florida: check FWC regional rules before you keep a drum.

Official source

Sheepshead

Archosargus probatocephalus

Present AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

52–80°F · best 55–70°F

Winter and early spring on jetty granite and pilings. Midday better than dawn. He faces the tide and picks.

Fly. 7–8 wt, short 16–20 lb leader, ugly small crab. You are putting food on a post, not presenting to a cruiser.

Spin. The honest tool. Light jig or fiddler, 15–20 fluoro, watch the line. The bite is a tick.

Florida. Florida: check FWC regional sheepshead rules.

Official source

Hogfish

Lachnolaimus maximus

Peak AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon, Key West.

Florida. Florida: Atlantic and Gulf bags differ. Monroe County is tighter. Fork-length minimum. Verify FWC.

Official source

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Present AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

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 Biscayne, Boca Grande, Jupiter.

Florida. Florida: typically 10 in, inside the snapper aggregate. Verify FWC.

Official source

Gag grouper

Mycteroperca microlepis

Peak AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

62–82°F · best 66–76°F

Florida Gulf wrecks and the Big Bend rocks. Texas has him farther offshore than a bay brief. Not a Keys hogfish.

Fly. 10 wt on a shallow wreck if they are up. Most days this is a deep jig.

Spin. Live bait or a heavy jig on the rocks. Gulf and Atlantic seasons are not the same.

Florida. Florida Gulf and Atlantic seasons differ. Verify FWC grouper the morning you keep one.

Official source

Black grouper

Mycteroperca bonaci

Peak AprilFlorida

Thermal window

—

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.

Florida. Florida: typically a high minimum and a tight bag. Verify FWC. Monroe and FKNMS still apply.

Official source

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