Biscayne Bay, FL Fishing Report & Live Conditions

Biscayne Bay, FL fishing report

Biscayne Bay is a subtropical fishery, so forget striped bass, fluke, bluefish, black sea bass, tautog, weakfish, and kingfish — none of those species live here. What you're actually chasing on these flats and channels are bonefish, permit, tarpon, snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout. Tarpon migrate through in numbers during late spring and summer, while bonefish and permit are year-round residents on the shallow flats. Snook and redfish concentrate near mangrove edges and are most active in cooler months. Spotted seatrout school heavily on the grass flats in winter when water temperatures drop into the low 70s and below.

On the flats, fish move with the tide — incoming water pushes bonefish and permit onto turtle grass as they tail and feed; outgoing tide drains fish back to channel edges and deeper potholes, so station yourself on those drop-offs. Bridges hold snook and tarpon at night under lights, where live pilchards or white bucktail jigs worked in the current seam draw strikes. For seatrout on the grass, a soft-plastic paddletail under a popping cork is extremely productive in low-visibility water. Wind-blown dirty water kills flat fishing — wait for calm, clear conditions and use polarized glasses to spot fish before you cast.