Florida fishing reports
796 reports for Florida — what's biting, water temps, and where to focus.
Snook and redfish bite holds strong in Sarasota Bay
Water temperatures are still riding summer highs across Tampa Bay and Sarasota, reading 87.6°F at St. Petersburg and 85.6°F at Clearwater Beach per NOAA CO-OPS stations 8726520 and 8726724. Snook are the story of the week. Capt. Rick Grassett of CB's Saltwater Outfitters in Sarasota reports snook fishing has been good through September, with fish still holding in the surf along the coastal Gulf and staging around docks and bridges in the ICW close to passes. Capt. Kelly Kurtz, fishing out of CB's on Siesta Key, is finding an active inshore bite in Sarasota Bay for snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout. Capt. Chuck Cress put that redfish bite on display this week too, hooking into several reds immediately on a rising morning tide using a popping cork with live shrimp, and releasing a few small snook on the same rig.
Snook Bite Builds With Fall Mullet Run on Florida's Treasure Coast
Snook are locking into their fall pattern along Florida's Atlantic coast, with Snook Nook in Stuart reporting excellent fishing over the past several weeks, including plenty of quality fish in the 40-inch class around the St. Lucie Inlet. Live croakers and threadfins fished along the beach and around the inlet have produced the most consistent bites; when action slows, a dead threadfin worked on bottom will draw strikes too, though expect some bycatch. Water remains warm for late September: NOAA CO-OPS station 8722670 logged 87.8°F this afternoon, with station 8720218 reading 84.6°F to the north. Sport Fishing Mag notes snook are beginning their seasonal push toward winter holding areas as days shorten, with swimbaits such as Z-Man's Mulletron or Diezel MinnowZ working on aggressive fish. Snook Nook also flags this year's mullet run building later than usual, with the first schools of larger mullet showing inshore and along the beaches ahead of the smaller finger mullet expected in the coming weeks.
Snook and redfish turn on as Sarasota inshore heats up
Water temperatures are holding in the mid-to-upper 80s across the Tampa Bay-area tide stations, 87°F near the bay entrance and 85°F off Clearwater Beach, and the inshore bite in Sarasota Bay is active. Capt. Kelly Kurtz of CB's Saltwater Outfitters reports anglers finding snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout together on the same trips right now, working docks and bridges in Sarasota Bay. Capt. Chuck Cress, fishing out of the same shop, described hooking into several redfish on a rising morning tide using a popping cork with live shrimp, with smaller snook mixed in on the same outing. Capt. Rick Grassett's September forecast, also from CB's Saltwater Outfitters, calls snook fishing good this month, with fish still holding around passes and in the surf before the seasonal move inland begins.
Warm Gulf Stream Keeps Florida Keys Bite Rolling Into Fall
Water temperature at Key West is holding at 87.4°F this week, with Florida Bay reading a similar 86.7°F, keeping the reef and Gulf Stream fishery running on a summer pattern even as the calendar turns toward fall. ALL IN Key West reports the offshore and reef bite has stayed strong through the season, with steady numbers of fish coming over the rail on recent trips and live-bait trips producing especially well along the reef edge. Bud n' Mary's Islamorada Fishing Marina points to early summer through early July as the most productive stretch of the year in the Keys, and captains say that momentum has carried into September. CCA Florida also flags ongoing federal court activity over South Atlantic fishery management pilot programs, a storyline anglers along Florida's coast are watching closely this fall.
Snook and redfish bite heats up in Sarasota Bay
Water temps remain in typical late-summer Gulf range, with NOAA buoy 42036 reading 86°F and buoy 42013 at 88°F offshore, while CO-OPS station 8726520 in Tampa Bay logged 86.4°F this morning. That warmth is keeping the inshore bite going strong. Capt. Kelly Kurtz of CB's Saltwater Outfitters reports an active inshore bite for snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout in Sarasota Bay this past week, with clients landing redfish before release. Capt. Chuck Cress, fishing the same shop's waters, put a client on several reds using a popping cork and live shrimp on a rising morning tide, along with a few small snook. Snook are also showing well in Capt. Rick Grassett's September forecast for the area, which notes fish holding in the surf and around passes early in the month before starting their move toward docks, bridges, and inside wintering water as the month progresses.
Florida Keys bite stays strong as summer patterns hold into fall
Water temperatures are holding at 87.8°F at the Key West CO-OPS station and 86.7°F at the Lake Worth station up the coast, keeping the Keys locked in a late-summer pattern. ALL IN Key West reports fish "actively feeding in large numbers" across the reef and the Gulf side, calling recent trips some of the best conditions the captain has seen in 16 years running the water. Bud n' Mary's in Islamorada echoes the theme, pointing to warm water, calm seas and abundant bait as the ingredients behind a stretch it calls one of the most productive windows the Keys fishery offers, running from the shallow flats out to the Gulf Stream edge. Live bait presentations are working well per ALL IN Key West, and the read from both the charter and shop side is broad, high-volume action rather than one narrow bite.
Snook Bite Builds as Treasure Coast Mullet Run Kicks Off
Water temperatures along Florida's Atlantic coast are holding solidly in the mid-80s, with NOAA CO-OPS stations reading 85.3°F off Lake Worth and 83.8°F at Mayport this week, keeping the coast in a late-summer pattern even as the calendar turns toward fall. Inshore, Snook Nook in Stuart reports snook fishing has been excellent over the past several weeks, with steady numbers and quality fish, including many in the 40-inch-plus range, coming from anglers working live croakers and threadfins around the St. Lucie Inlet and along the beach. When the bite slows in the inlet, the shop notes a dead threadfin fished on the bottom still draws strikes, albeit with some bycatch. Snook Nook is also flagging the first signs of the annual mullet run, with schools of larger mullet showing up inshore and along the beaches, though the finger-mullet pods anglers watch for closely haven't arrived in force yet. On the regulatory side, CCA Florida reports a federal court granted a preliminary injunction blocking the 2026 South Atlantic red snapper Exempted Fishing Permit pilot programs just hours before Florida's Atlantic red snapper season was set to open under them.
Gulf snook bite building as summer heat holds on
Readings from our Gulf Coast monitoring stations show water still running warm, 86.4°F and 84.2°F, a sign summer hasn't loosened its grip even as the calendar turns toward fall. That warmth lines up with the week's best report: Sport Fishing Mag notes Gulf snook are feeding up hard as they start shifting toward their winter holding water, with swimbaits like the Mulletron and Diezel MinnowZ producing on aggressive fish. Separately, Florida Sea Grant flagged a rare rust tide bloom (Margalefidinium polykrikoides) in Charlotte Harbor, an organism distinct from red tide but worth tracking if you're fishing that stretch of coast this week.
Fall Transition Begins on Okeechobee and the St. Johns
Florida's long summer is starting to loosen its grip heading into late September, and that shift sets the tone on Lake Okeechobee and the St. Johns River this week. As surface temperatures ease off their summer peak, largemouth bass typically begin sliding off deep offshore structure and back toward vegetation edges and creek mouths, the classic early fall repositioning anglers watch for in Florida's big freshwater systems. Tactical Bassin's current fall-transition coverage frames the broader pattern well: bass shift from open-water schooling on baitfish toward more structure-relevant feeding as afternoons start to cool, even if the exact timing varies lake to lake.
Sarasota Snook Push Into the ICW as Fall Bite Builds
Tampa Bay water temperatures are holding in the upper 80s, 87.3°F at the NOAA station off St. Petersburg and 86°F at Clearwater Beach, and the inshore snook bite has turned on to match. Capt. Rick Grassett of CB's Saltwater Outfitters in Sarasota reports snook staging around docks and bridges in the Intracoastal and on shallow flats as fish begin their seasonal move away from the passes, with live shrimp and pilchards working well alongside DOA Baitbuster, Shrimp, and TerrorEyz lures. Capt. Kelly Kurtz, fishing out of the same Siesta Key shop, describes an active inshore bite for snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout across Sarasota Bay this past week. Capt. Chuck Cress adds a sharper data point: fishing a high rising tide, his clients hooked several redfish on a popping cork tipped with live shrimp, plus a few small snook. Separately, Florida Sea Grant flagged a rare rust tide algae, Margalefidinium polykrikoides, detected in nearby Charlotte Harbor — distinct from red tide and uncommon for this region, worth watching rather than acting on yet.
Warm Keys waters hold as snook stage for the fall shift
NOAA CO-OPS stations 8724580 and 8723970 are both reading water temperatures near 88°F this week, confirming the Florida Keys are still locked into late-summer warmth even as the calendar turns toward fall. That heat keeps the flats and nearshore reef holding in a peak-season pattern longer than points farther north. On the regulatory side, CCA Florida is tracking a rocky stretch for South Atlantic reef-fish management: a federal court just granted a preliminary injunction blocking the 2026 exempted fishing permit pilot programs for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, unwinding season plans that had only recently cleared. Anglers with offshore trips planned around that fishery should expect the rules to keep shifting through the fall. Elsewhere, Sport Fishing Mag notes snook are starting to feel the shorter days and begin moving toward winter holding water as the Gulf transitions, a shift worth watching as it reaches south Florida in the coming weeks.
Gulf snook begin their fall push off the Panhandle
NOAA's Panhandle water-temperature stations are still reading summer-warm as September winds down: Pensacola sits at 86.9°F, Panama City at 86.4°F, and Apalachicola at 86.7°F as of Thursday. Per Sport Fishing Mag, Gulf snook are starting to feel the shorter days and are beginning to work toward their winter holding areas, an early marker of the fall transition, with swimbaits like the Mulletron or Diezel MinnowZ producing on the more aggressive fish. The same outlet's fall migration coverage also points to false albacore starting to show along the surface as baitfish get pushed inshore, a pattern that typically works its way along the Gulf coast once the summer heat starts to ease. Snook seasons and limits vary by coast and by year, so check current Florida regulations before targeting or harvesting them.