Daytona Beach, FL

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

Ambush predators of warm, weedy water. Bass reward anglers who fish cover precisely and slow down when the sun is high.

Red Drum

Sciaenops ocellatus

The signature inshore fish of the Gulf Coast, also called redfish. Slot-size reds tail and push wakes on shallow flats, while big bull reds gather at passes and beaches in the fall.

Spotted Seatrout

Cynoscion nebulosus

A soft-mouthed, speckled inshore predator of grass flats from Texas to Florida — not a true trout at all, but a member of the drum family. Trout ambush shrimp and baitfish over grass and strike soft plastics readily.

Mahi Mahi

Coryphaena hippurus

The fastest-growing fish in the ocean and one of the most colourful. Mahi gather under weed lines and floating debris, travel in schools, and strike trolled baits and cast lures with almost no hesitation.

Snook

Centropomus undecimalis

Florida's premier inshore gamefish, built around one unmistakable black lateral line. Snook ambush bait from mangroves, docks and bridge shadows, then fight for structure the moment they are hooked.

Cobia

Rachycentron canadum

A powerful, brown, shark-shaped fish that cruises the surface around rays, buoys and wrecks and is mostly taken by sight-casting. Cobia eat jigs and live baits presented right in front of them.

King Mackerel

Scomberomorus cavalla

The kingfish: a fast, toothy offshore predator taken slow-trolling live baits around reefs, wrecks and bait schools. Kings strike with a blistering first run that empties spools.

Bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus

The classic beginner's panfish: abundant, willing and surprisingly strong on light tackle. Bluegill nest in colonies on shallow flats in spring and guard the beds aggressively.

Blue Marlin

Makaira nigricans

The apex billfish — a blue-water giant of Hawaii's Kona coast and the Atlantic canyons. Most anglers meet one trolling big lures or live skipjack over deep structure.

Tarpon

Megalops atlanticus

The silver king — a giant, chrome, leaping gamefish that defines Florida's late-spring flats and passes. Sight-fished with bait or fly, it is a fish of a lifetime.

Bonefish

Albula vulpes

The grey ghost of the flats — a mirror-silver speedster that feeds tailing in inches of water in the Florida Keys and on Oahu, and burns off line like nothing its size.

Permit

Trachinotus falcatus

The holy grail of the flats — a deep-bodied, crab-crunching phantom of the Florida Keys, and the hardest of the flats grand slam to fool.

Black Drum

Pogonias cromis

The big, drumming bottom fish of Gulf and mid-Atlantic bays — modest as 'puppy drum' for the table, and a spring giant of 40 lb-plus at the passes.

Spanish Mackerel

Scomberomorus maculatus

A spotted, surface-slashing school fish of Gulf and Atlantic beaches — the spring and fall runs fill coolers off piers, jetties and small boats.

Chain Pickerel

Esox niger

The chain-mailed ambush predator of eastern weed beds — small, fearless and always ready to smash a flashy lure from the pads.

Florida Pompano

Trachinotus carolinus

The silver prize of the Florida surf — pompano run the beaches in spring and fall, digging sand fleas from the wash and jolting light surf rods all along both coasts.

Tripletail

Lobotes surinamensis

The master of disguise — tripletail drift sideways under buoys and floating junk pretending to be debris, then crush a live shrimp floated into range. A sight-caster's favourite from Florida to Texas.

Mutton Snapper

Lutjanus analis

The wary heavyweight of the snapper family — mutton snapper haunt Keys reef edges, demand light leaders and natural baits, and reward patience with some of the best fillets in Florida.

Gray Snapper

Lutjanus griseus

Florida's everywhere snapper — gray (mangrove) snapper live under every dock and mangrove in the state, then grow bold and heavy on Gulf reefs in summer. Perfect first snapper on light tackle.

Blackfin Tuna

Thunnus atlanticus

The Atlantic's pocket tuna — blackfin school over Keys humps and Gulf ledges at dawn, out-pull their size by a mile, and eat better than any other small tuna.

Little Tunny

Euthynnus alletteratus

The 'false albacore' — a line-burning little tuna whose fall blitzes along Carolina and mid-Atlantic beaches are pure chaos: birds screaming, bait flying, and reels singing.

Redear Sunfish

Lepomis microlophus

The 'shellcracker' — a bottom-grinding sunfish that crushes snails over shell beds, grows heavier than any other panfish, and fills spring stringers from Florida to Lake Havasu.

Greater Amberjack

Seriola dumerili

The reef donkey of the Atlantic and Gulf — greater amberjack hold over deep structure and pull harder, pound for pound, than almost anything on the reef. Live baits and fast jigs draw brutal strikes, and the first run decides the fight.

Swordfish

Xiphias gladius

The gladiator of the deep — swordfish hunt squid along canyon edges by day in water more than a thousand feet deep and rise at night. Daytime deep-dropping off Florida turned this once-rare catch into a specialist trophy fishery.

Silver Sailfish Derby

Every January