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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

Mexico

Mexico — two oceans, do not mix them

Yucatan is bones and sail. Baja is rooster and dorado. Neither is Texas.

Ascension Bay / Sian Ka’an is the Caribbean flat — Punta Allen, permit and bones, biosphere rules, a modeled tide. Isla Mujeres is the other Yucatan desk: winter sailfish on the current, summer mahi, a troll-and-kite day. Cross the country and you are in another fishery. East Cape is rooster in the wash and Gordo Banks when the blue water is in. La Paz is Espíritu Santo and El Bajo. CONAPESCA license. No NOAA gauge. Roosterfish does not live in the Gulf of Mexico.

September. Baja still has dorado. Yucatan flats exhale. The sail fleet is still months away.

September · peak

What is actually on

    SnookHogfishYellowtail snapperMangrove / gray snapperLane snapperCobiaKing mackerelStriped marlinRoosterfish
Peak Present Off

Closures

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

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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56°92°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: present in Yucatan lagoons. Verify CONAPESCA. Not a Baja fish.

Official source

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

Present SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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68°94°

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 Ascension.

Mexico. Mexico: treat as catch-and-release. Yucatan lodge water and CONAPESCA rules — verify before you keep anything.

Official source

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

Present SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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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 Ascension.

Mexico. Mexico: treat as catch-and-release on the Yucatan flats. Verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Jack crevalle

Caranx hippos

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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64°94°

68–90°F · best 74–86°F

Summer noise. Texas passes and beachfront. Not the reason you booked Andros, but they will find you. They do not own a Texas or Keys headline.

Fly. 9–10 wt baitfish. They will destroy a trout setup. Fun, not subtle.

Spin. Topwater or heavy spoon. If the birds are on them, you are late — cast past the boil.

Mexico. Incidental. Not why you booked Ascension or East Cape.

Official source

Hogfish

Lachnolaimus maximus

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°90°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: Yucatan reef. Verify CONAPESCA. Not Baja.

Official source

Yellowtail snapper

Ocyurus chrysurus

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°90°

70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Islamorada to Key West, then the Bahamas and the Spanish Virgins. Patch reefs and the first drop. Absent from Texas bays.

Fly. 7–8 wt. A small baitfish or shrimp on the edge of the chum. This is a boat on the reef, not a poling skiff.

Spin. Chum and a light fluorocarbon. The Keys live on this fish. Not a Galveston trout.

Mexico. Mexico: Yucatan reef. Verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Mangrove / gray snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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64°92°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Mutton snapper

Lutjanus analis

Present SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°90°

70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Keys wrecks and Caribbean hard bottom. Not a Texas red. Not a yellowtail in a chum slick.

Fly. 9–10 wt. A crab or baitfish on the wreck. He will eat a merkin that was meant for a permit.

Spin. Live bait or a jig on the wrecks and patches. Spawn aggregations are not a freelance mark.

Mexico. Mexico: Yucatan. Verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Lane snapper

Lutjanus synagris

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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64°90°

68–86°F · best 72–82°F

Nearshore Gulf and Caribbean hard bottom. Texas jetties and the first reefs. Not the federal red-snapper story.

Fly. 7 wt. Small shrimp on the nearshore hard. He is a schoolie.

Spin. Light jig or shrimp on the first structure. Measure — he is the small snapper people guess wrong.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Black grouper

Mycteroperca bonaci

Present SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°90°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: Yucatan reef. Verify CONAPESCA. Not Baja.

Official source

Cobia

Rachycentron canadum

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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64°90°

68–86°F · best 72–82°F

Gulf spring run. Texas and Florida beaches, then the wrecks. Not a trout. Not a permit.

Fly. 10–12 wt. A big baitfish on a crab-trap float or a ray. He will eat. Then he will go to the wreck.

Spin. Jigs and live bait around rays, traps, and the first wrecks. Spring migration along the beach.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

King mackerel

Scomberomorus cavalla

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°90°

70–86°F · best 74–82°F

Texas and Florida summer kings. The beach and the first wrecks. Not a trout. Not a wahoo.

Fly. 10 wt. A long baitfish on the first color change. Wire if you are tired of bite-offs.

Spin. Troll or a live bait on the beachfront and the wrecks. Summer Gulf.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Greater amberjack

Seriola dumerili

Present SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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64°88°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA.

Official source

Striped marlin

Kajikia audax

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°88°

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.

Mexico. Mexico: East Cape and the mouth of the Cortez. Typically catch-and-release. Verify CONAPESCA. Not an Atlantic white.

Official source

Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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66°92°

70–88°F · best 74–84°F

Flats and wrecks will find you. Keys, Bahamas, Yucatan, Puerto Rico. Noise. They do not own the headline.

Fly. 9 wt. A big needle. Fun. Not why you booked the week.

Spin. A tube lure if you came for him. Wire. Ciguatera is a real reason not to keep a big one.

Mexico. Incidental. Ciguatera is a real reason not to keep a big one.

Official source

Roosterfish

Nematistius pectoralis

Peak SeptemberMexico

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Thermal window

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68°92°

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.

Leads the brief on East Cape, La Paz.

Mexico. Mexico: verify CONAPESCA. East Cape and La Paz programs are typically catch-and-release.

Official source

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