Hillsboro Inlet (ocean), FL Fishing Guide

Species at Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)

• Redfish (red drum)

  moving water pushes bait off the grass and oyster

  Season: Jan–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 55–85°F

• Speckled (spotted) seatrout

  first light over grass; cooling fall gorge before winter

  Season: Mar–May, Sep–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 58–78°F

• Flounder (southern/Gulf)

  outgoing tide flushes bait; fall stage-out to inlets

  Season: May–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: the outgoing tide · Light: bright daylight · Water: 60–78°F

• Sheepshead

  winter convict on barnacle structure, easy current

  Season: Jan–Apr, Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 50–70°F

• Black drum

  crustaceans on bottom near structure, spring run

  Season: Jan–May, Nov–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 50–72°F

• Snook

  summer spawn stacks them in inlets on falling tide

  Season: Apr–Oct · Tide: the outgoing tide · Light: low light · Water: 70–85°F

• Pompano

  incoming surf digging sand fleas off the bar, spring/fall runs

  Season: Mar–Nov · Tide: the incoming tide · Light: bright daylight · Water: 65–82°F

• Spanish mackerel

  clean moving water, chasing glass minnows in daylight

  Season: Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 68–82°F

• Bluefish

  spring/fall migration blitzer slashing bait on the move

  Season: Mar–May, Oct–Dec · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 55–72°F

• Cobia

  spring run sight-fished on warming nearshore water

  Season: May–Jul · Tide: any tide stage · Light: bright daylight · Water: 68–80°F

• Tripletail

  warm-water loafer holding under floating structure

  Season: Jun–Oct · Tide: any tide stage · Light: bright daylight · Water: 72–86°F

• Jack crevalle

  warm-season chaos crashing bait on moving water

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 72–88°F

• Ladyfish

  warm-water schools slashing bait, dawn/dusk best

  Season: May–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: low light · Water: 70–88°F

• Atlantic croaker

  bottom feeder on cut bait in warm estuary water

  Season: Apr–Oct · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 62–84°F

• Whiting (sea mullet/kingfish)

  surf-zone bottom bite on fleas and shrimp bits

  Season: Mar–Jun, Sep–Nov · Tide: moving water · Light: any light · Water: 58–80°F

• Atlantic spadefish

  summer schools picking jellies/clams near structure

  Season: May–Sep · Tide: moving water · Light: bright daylight · Water: 70–84°F

What's biting at Hillsboro Inlet (ocean), month by month

Typical seasons for this stretch of coast — a warm or late year shifts them by a few weeks. The live forecast scores today's actual conditions.

Coastal runs that pass Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)

These species travel the coast with the seasons, so they show up on a schedule rather than living here year-round.

• Bluefish

  a fast bait-blitz run

  Timing: southbound Jan, Nov–Dec · northbound Mar–Apr · Driven by: temp + bunker/herring · Pace: fast, tracking the bait

• Bonito

  Atlantic bonito — erratic year to year; NC spring blitz + NE summer

  Timing: northbound Apr–Jun · southbound Sep–Oct · Driven by: sand eels, anchovies, butterfish · Pace: moderate; often just ahead of the albies

• False albacore

  false albacore — fall cascade Nantucket→Cape Cod→NJ→NC; the Cape Lookout run is famous

  Timing: southbound Aug–Nov · northbound Apr–May · Driven by: temp (75–86°F); bay anchovies, silversides · Pace: very fast — NC→Keys in ~23 days, ~50 mi/day

• Redfish (red drum)

  bull-red fall surf run cascades by latitude: Mid-Atl Sep–Oct → FL Oct–Nov → Gulf Nov–Dec

  Timing: southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: falling temps trigger the nearshore spawn run · Pace: cold-front-latency tide more than fish-following-fish

• Pompano

  the strongest, cleanest cascade we have — FL Treasure Coast winter run; Gulf spring run hits Pensacola ~April

  Timing: southbound Oct–Dec · northbound Feb–May · Driven by: sand fleas & the 68–75°F edge on the move · Pace: cold-front driven; ~2–4 wk lag NC→Miami in fall

• Cobia

  SE-Atlantic stock — winters off S.FL/Keys, sight-fishing run up the beach; no clean fall cascade (disperses offshore)

  Timing: northbound Feb–Apr · Driven by: warming water; rides with cownose rays & bunker, near the surface · Pace: ~6-wk spring run; arrives NC May–Jun, Chesapeake late May

• Spanish mackerel

  Atlantic stock — strong cascade up the SE coast in spring

  Timing: northbound Feb–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: glass minnows & scaled sardines · Pace: tracks the 68–70°F water; ~2–3 wk lag SC→NC

• King mackerel

  Atlantic stock — winters S.FL/Keys, runs N in spring, S in fall

  Timing: northbound Apr–Jul · southbound Oct–Dec · Driven by: temp + menhaden · Pace: arrives NC ~May, smokers off NC Oct–Nov

• Mullet bait run

  THE keystone bait — the resident snook/tarpon/jacks gorge the moment it arrives

  Timing: southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: falling temps + photoperiod · Pace: the famous fall mullet run, S down the FL east coast; peak Sep–Oct

• Bunker (menhaden) bait run

  bunker/pogies — the gamefish stack right under the schools

  Timing: northbound Mar–Jun · southbound Sep–Nov · Driven by: temp + plankton blooms · Pace: huge schools shift the coast; the #1 trigger for the fall striper/blues blitz

How Hillsboro Inlet (ocean) fishes

Open water lies to the east of Hillsboro Inlet (ocean). A wind out of the east is onshore here — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes stirred-up water inshore, while a west wind flattens the surface and tends to clean it up.

Tide is the clock: moving water pulls bait through the mouth, and the turns around slack are when most of the roster feeds hardest.

Tides here are read from NOAA station 8722862 at 26.2567, -80.0800 — see it on NOAA CO-OPS.

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Common questions about Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)

What fish can you catch at Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)?

Redfish (red drum), Speckled (spotted) seatrout, Flounder (southern/Gulf), Sheepshead, Black drum, Snook, Pompano, Spanish mackerel, Bluefish, Cobia, Tripletail, Jack crevalle and 4 more. Each has its own season, preferred tide and water-temperature window at Hillsboro Inlet (ocean).

When is the best time to fish Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)?

May has the most species in season (14 of 16) — Redfish (red drum), Speckled (spotted) seatrout, Flounder (southern/Gulf), Black drum, Snook, Pompano, Spanish mackerel, Bluefish. Seasons shift by a few weeks in a warm or late year.

What tide is best for fishing Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)?

11 of the 16 species here feed best on moving water. Moving water is what pulls bait through the mouth, so the hours either side of a tide change usually beat dead slack.

Which wind is bad for Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)?

Open water lies to the east, so an east wind is onshore — it stacks swell and chop into the mouth and pushes dirty water inshore. A west wind flattens and cleans it up.

Do migrating fish run past Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)?

Yes — Bluefish (southbound Jan, Nov–Dec · northbound Mar–Apr); Bonito (northbound Apr–Jun · southbound Sep–Oct); False albacore (southbound Aug–Nov · northbound Apr–May); Redfish (red drum) (southbound Sep–Nov); Pompano (southbound Oct–Dec · northbound Feb–May); Cobia (northbound Feb–Apr). These travel the coast with the seasons rather than living here year-round.

Where are the tides for Hillsboro Inlet (ocean) measured?

NOAA CO-OPS station 8722862, at 26.2567, -80.0800. What Inlet? scores the live tide, current, solunar and weather for that station.

Inlets near Hillsboro Inlet (ocean)

• Hillsboro Inlet, Coast Guard Light Station 0 mi
• Hillsboro Inlet Marina 0 mi
• Port Everglades Inlet, Fort Lauderdale 11 mi
• Whiskey Creek, south entrance, ICWW 14 mi
• Dumfoundling Bay 22 mi
• Bakers Haulover Inlet (inside) 25 mi
• Bakers Haulover Inlet 25 mi
• Miami Miamarina, Biscayne Bay 34 mi

Fishing a different inlet today? Every one has its own species roster and bite pattern.

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