UTER
Photo: Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Albula vulpes
How to catch Bonefish
Bonefish feed in 68–90°F water and bite best at 74–84°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 3 waters; in October they are at their peak in The Florida Keys, Miami & Biscayne Bay.
70 pts · trophy at 28"Feeds 68–90°FBest 74–84°FIn season nowGrass flatChannel edge
About
The gray ghost of the flats: a silver fish that tails in a foot of water and runs a hundred yards on the first go. The Keys and Biscayne are one of the world's great bonefish fisheries.
How to fish it
Pole or wade the oceanside flats on the incoming, look for tails and nervous water, lead the fish and let the fly sink. Catch-and-release in Florida.
What it eats
live shrimpsmall crabsshrimp and crab flies
Live bait for it
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.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader10–15 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#4–#1
Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
Braid10–15 lb
The rule
checked September 2026Catch-and-release only in Florida; a fish may be temporarily held for a photo.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Alaska & Hawaii