Bonefish fishing in Biscayne Bay

In Biscayne Bay, bonefish peak March–May and August–November and are around year-round, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. March: On the Key Biscayne oceanside and the Stiltsville flats.

1. JanuaryAroundWarm afternoons only on the bay flats.
2. FebruaryAroundSnook opens; kings and cobia nearshore; the flats reload between fronts. Snook harvest opens the 1st — the inlets and bridges. Cobia and kings on the wrecks; bonefish and permit on the flats when the water tops 72.
3. MarchPeakOn the Key Biscayne oceanside and the Stiltsville flats.
4. AprilPeakPeak tarpon at the inlets and bridges; the flats are full. The Miami tarpon run — the inlets, the bay bridges and the beach at dawn. Permit on the flats and the wrecks.
5. MayPeakTarpon continue; snook to the inlets to spawn; permit on the wrecks. Snook stage at the inlets (harvest closes the 31st); tarpon still in the cuts; permit spawn on the nearshore wrecks.
6. JuneAroundBeach and inlet snook at dawn; snapper spawn on the reef. Snook in the surf and the inlet on the first light; mangrove snapper thick on the reef and the bridges; bonefish on the oceanside flats early.
7. JulyAroundSummer: snook, snapper and bones before the heat. Fish the first two hours of light: snook on the beach, bonefish on the flats; then the reef and the bridges for snapper.
8. AugustPeakBest summer flats month.
9. SeptemberPeakSnook reopens; the mullet run starts on the beach. Snook harvest reopens the 1st, and the fall mullet run brings snook, tarpon and jacks to the beach and the inlets. Bones on the higher fall tides.
10. OctoberPeakMullet run peak: snook, tarpon, jacks on every inlet and beach. The best beach fishing of the year — follow the mullet schools. Bones and permit on the flats; kings begin to return nearshore.
11. NovemberPeakBig fall tides — big fish.
12. DecemberAroundSnook closes mid-month; winter reef and inlet pattern. Last snook harvest to the 14th. Kings and cobia on the wrecks, snapper on the reef, bones only on the warm afternoons.

Biscayne Bay's grass flats and the finger channels between them, the bayside mangrove shorelines of the national park, the inlets (Government Cut, Haulover, Port Everglades), and the reef line within a couple of miles of the beach.

Fish Scouter charts 478 grass flat, 1 channel edge spots in the Miami & Biscayne Bay map area — the kinds bonefish hold on.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.

• Leader10–15 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#4–#1
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 68–90°F water, best at 74–84°F.

All about bonefish · Miami & Biscayne Bay, the whole year