UTERJanuary
The rivers hold the fish: trout, reds and snook in the spring water
Work the spring runs and river bends slowly on the warmest part of the day. Sheepshead on the rock piles and channel markers.
St. Marks to Tarpon Springs
Florida's Big Bend fishing
What's biting in Florida's Big Bend in October: pompano, king mackerel and Spanish mackerel at their peak, with striped mullet, cobia and tripletail around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 23 fish here month by month, from Steinhatchee to Homosassa.
The best month: reds schooled, trout back on the flats, Spanish and kings
A hundred miles of undeveloped coast: vast turtle-grass flats, limestone rock piles and ledges in ten feet of clear water, spring-fed rivers, oyster bars and salt marsh. No passes, no barrier islands — the Gulf just starts.
SteinhatcheeCedar KeyCrystal RiverHomosassa
Updated
Now · October
The best month: reds schooled, trout back on the flats, Spanish and kings
Big schools of reds on the outside, trout on every flat as the water drops through the 70s, Spanish and kings on the outside rocks.
RedfishSpotted seatroutSpanish mackerelGag grouperKing mackerelFlounder
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakPeakSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakArrivingLeavingLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Pompano
Fall fish in the channels and on the outside bars.
King mackerel
Fall run on the outside rocks.
Spanish mackerel
Fall fish on the outside edges.
Redfish
Big schools on the outside; spawn peaks September–October.
Spotted seatrout
On every flat as the water drops through the 70s.
Flounder
Creek mouths and channel edges on the falling tide.
Gag grouper
Fall push onto the shallow rocks.
Red grouper
Striped mullet
Cobia
The fall run back south.
Tripletail
Bonnethead shark
Snook
Sheepshead
Mangrove snapper
Goliath grouper
Black drum
Jack crevalle
Sand seatrout
Red snapper
Blacktip shark
Bull shark
The water
The tide here
Mixed, 2–4 ft
The biggest tides on the Gulf side — three to four feet — over a bottom so shallow you can run aground a mile from shore. The flats drain; fish the edges and the creek mouths on the fall.
Snook
Slot 28–33" · open Mar 1 – Apr 30 and Sep 1 – Nov 30
One per person with a snook permit. Snook are a recent arrival this far north — a warm-winter fish here, best in the springs and rivers. Check MyFWC for the rule of the day.
Structure that matters
Grass flatLedge / hard bottomArtificial reefChannel edgeMangrove shorelineOther
After a cold front
Fish push into the spring-fed rivers — Crystal, Homosassa, Withlacoochee — where the water holds 72°F all winter. After a hard front the river mouths and the deep creek bends are the whole game.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Sheepshead on the offshore rocks; gator trout in the rivers
The big sheepshead spawn on the nearshore rock piles. Trophy trout sit in the river holes; fish a slow suspending plug.
March
The flats wake up — trout on the grass, reds on the oyster bars
Trout spread onto the outside grass as the water climbs past 65. Reds tail on the oyster bars at low water; Spanish arrive on the outside edges.
April
Cobia on the rocks, trout everywhere, tarpon start to arrive
Cobia cruise the shallow rock piles and channel markers. Topwater trout at dawn; the first tarpon show off Homosassa toward the end of the month.
May
Homosassa tarpon — the giants — and shallow-water gag grouper
The famous giant tarpon off Homosassa and Chassahowitzka. Gag grouper sit on rocks in eight feet of water — sight-cast plugs to them.
June
Gag season opens on the shallow rocks; snapper and trout at dawn
Troll big plugs over the shallow rock piles for gags; live pinfish on the ledges for snapper. Trout before eight, then it's a scallop day.
July
Scallop season — and grouper, snapper, reds on the same rocks
Anchor on the rock piles: gags and snapper below, and the reds cruise the same limestone at high water. Tripletail on the crab floats.
August
Hot water: dawn on the grass, then the rocks and the springs
Reds in the shade of the rock piles and mangrove points; grouper and snapper on the ledges; trout only at first light. Springs stay cool.
September
The reds school up big; snook open; gags still on the rocks
September is redfish month — schools of a hundred on the outside bars and creek mouths. Snook season opens in the rivers.
October · now
The best month: reds schooled, trout back on the flats, Spanish and kings
Big schools of reds on the outside, trout on every flat as the water drops through the 70s, Spanish and kings on the outside rocks.
November
Trout and reds move toward the rivers; grouper closes end of month
Follow the fish toward the creek and river mouths as the fronts start. Last of the shallow gag fishing before the closure.
December
Into the rivers — the winter pattern sets up
River holes and spring runs on the falling tide; sheepshead on the markers and rocks; drum on the bars with a crab.
Fish guides for Florida's Big Bend
When, where and what to use, fish by fishBlack drumCobiaFlounderGag grouperGoliath grouperKing mackerelMangrove snapperPompanoRed grouperRed snapperRedfishSheepsheadSnookSpanish mackerelSpotted seatroutStriped mulletTarponTripletail
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