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.
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.
May. Boca tarpon still the headline — then Gulf snook close May 1. Keys tarpon peak. Afternoon storms rewrite the 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.
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.
Mahi-mahi
Coryphaena hippurus
Peak MayFlorida
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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.
Florida. 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.
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.
Florida. Florida: catch-and-release for Atlantic sail except a rare harvest tag. Federal HMS permit in federal waters. Texas/Bahamas: treat as C&R.
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.
Florida. 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.
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.
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.