Flats and skinny water

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

The hardest trophy on a flat. Deep body, black fins, impossibly picky.

What they like

  • 0.6–3 musual depth (they tolerate 0.3–30 m)
  • 24–30 °Cwater temperature they feed in
  • clear waterwater clarity
  • sloping edges, shallow flats, rough bottombottom they hunt, in order
  • a moving tide (rising or falling)tide
  • daylightlight

On the flats around the top half of the tide; over wrecks and rock piles in deeper water on calmer days.

Season by region

Peak months, shaded. Outside them the species may still be around, just less reliably.

Florida and the Gulf
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Caribbean and Bahamas
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Bait and technique

Methods: fly, spinning / casting.

Bait and lures: Live crabs are the classic; crab flies, small jigs.

Technique: Look for sickle tails on the flat edge and for schools over wrecks; present a crab where the fish is heading.

Rules

Florida: Florida: Special Permit Zone in the Keys with closed season Apr 1 - Jul 31; slot 22-27 in fork length outside, one per day. Verify with FWC.

Seasons, sizes and bag limits change every year and differ by zone. Check the current regulations before you keep anything.

Depth maps where permit live

Depth map preview of Bimini, Bahamas±0.67 m

Bahamas

Bimini, Bahamas

  • ±0.67 mtypical error
  • 1,990laser soundings checked
  • 74 km²of shallows

Updated 5 h ago

Preferences are expert estimates from the fisheries literature and angling practice, not measurements at your spot. The likelihoods on the maps are a planning aid, not a catch prediction.