South of Marco Island the road runs out and the mangroves take over — thousands of islands, rivers and oyster mouths draining the Everglades into the Gulf. It’s the last frontier of Florida inshore fishing: snook, redfish, tarpon and total solitude.
Region: Florida Gulf · FL. Coordinates 25.8500, -81.4500.
This zone reads from NOAA CO-OPS tide station 8724948 — Everglades City, Barron River, FL — for tide predictions and observed water level, with wind, gusts, air temperature and marine warnings from Open-Meteo and the National Weather Service. Station 8724948 carries no water-temperature sensor, so water temp comes from the nearest station that does: Fort Myers, FL (8725520), about 61 miles away.
Every reading is fetched when you open the page, so nothing here is a published forecast: the tide timeline covers the next 48 hours with highs, lows and moon phase, and the bite outlook scores the current tide stage, water temperature, wind and pressure for the species you pick. Open the console to watch this water on one screen, or see it in context on the coastal map.
For recreation only — not for navigation. In an emergency call 911 or hail the Coast Guard on VHF 16.
Catalog species that hold in this zone: Speckled Trout, Redfish (Red Drum), Southern Flounder, Sheepshead, Black Drum, Snook, Tarpon, Cobia.
| Season | Species present |
|---|---|
| spring | Snook, Redfish (Red Drum), Tarpon, Speckled Trout, Cobia |
| summer | Snook, Tarpon, Redfish (Red Drum), Speckled Trout |
| fall | Snook, Redfish (Red Drum), Speckled Trout, Tarpon, Southern Flounder |
| winter | Redfish (Red Drum), Speckled Trout, Snook, Sheepshead, Black Drum |
Regional targets beyond the catalog: Goliath grouper (catch-and-release brutes in the rivers) · Mangrove snapper · Jack crevalle.
What to tie on: 29 lures and baits in the lure & bait database are proven for the species that hold in Ten Thousand Islands & the Everglades, and the smart lure tool narrows them to today's conditions on this water.
Winter sends everything to the backcountry — reds, trout, snook and black drum stack in the dark-bottom bays and rivers, and Chokoloskee shines after fronts. Spring pulls snook and tarpon back toward the outside. Summer is tarpon in the rivers, snook spawning at the passes and afternoon lightning you plan around. Fall might be the best of all: fat snook feeding hard, redfish schools on the outside bars and the dry-season crowds still weeks away.
Base camps and launch areas inside this zone:
Running these waters? Pull the official NOAA chart before you go — it opens centered on this zone. Check the regulations for Ten Thousand Islands & the Everglades for current size and bag limits, and run the launch-prep checklist before you leave the ramp.
No listed charter calls Ten Thousand Islands & the Everglades home port yet — the charters & guides directory covers nearby waters, and captains who run this zone can list their business.
The what's-biting report and the angler reports on this page are sample content, clearly labeled as a demo in the app — posting and replies activate with the community account system. Live tide, water temperature, wind and warning data are real and pull from NOAA and Open-Meteo on every visit.