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663-acre Blackburn Bay section with quality-assured NOAA survey contours, Venice Inlet and GIWW structure, charted wrecks, and mapped 2024 seagrass and oyster habitat. The water tops out around 16 ft. The depth chart is built from real agency bathymetry referenced to NAVD88; directly measured coverage remains distinguished from source interpolation. The channels, holes and drop-offs come from the source data, not a distance-from-shore model. Here's the year, species by species, as the scoring engine sees it.
The outline encloses 664 acres, worked by 19.1 miles of shoreline, broken up by 16 islands. The 5.3 development index tells the story — a convoluted bank whose fishable edge far outruns the acreage. The basin spans about 4.2 mi end to end and 0.6 mi across at its widest. If the bite dies, Little Sarasota Bay is 3 mi to the north.
Spring sheepshead on Blackburn Bay hold shallow, usually 3 to 16 ft. Depth-wise the year is flat: 3 to 15 ft in summer, 5 to 16 ft once it turns cold. Put 1751932800000 oyster bars edge first on the milk run — an oyster reef near 2 ft that grades prime for spring. The feeding windows run early morning. The summer box starts with a small jig + crab piece.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 3 to 16 ft | midday & dawn | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | 1/4 oz jighead + fiddler, Sheepshead jig + shrimp piece |
| Summer | 3 to 15 ft | dawn | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Small jig + crab piece |
| Fall | 4 to 16 ft | midday | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Jighead + shrimp, Small crab jig |
| Winter | 5 to 16 ft | midday | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Heavier jig + crab (deep pilings) |
When the water first warms, snook slide up into 2 to 12 ft. Summer is a 3 to 15 ft game here, winter a 4 to 15 ft one. Start at 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge. It's a seagrass edge holding about 3 ft of water and rates prime come spring. The feeding windows run early morning and the evening. Keep a flair hawk jig (passes, night) or a big swimbait in the current rigged through the warm months.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 2 to 12 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Paddletail on 1/4 oz head, Suspending twitchbait |
| Summer | 3 to 15 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Flair hawk jig (passes, night), Big swimbait in the current |
| Fall | 2 to 12 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Big paddletail (mullet run), Topwater walker |
| Winter | 4 to 15 ft | midday | open water | Slow-rolled paddletail, Scented jerkbait crawled in canals |
In spring, spotted seatrout run shallow here, mostly 2 to 10 ft. Summer pushes them deeper, 4 to 15 ft, and winter fish settle into 4 to 16 ft. 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge is the standout, a seagrass edge at roughly 3 ft, rated prime for spring spotted seatrout. Time it for early morning. You won't need more than a popping cork + shrimp or a 1/4 oz jighead + paddletail (deep grass edge) most summer days.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 2 to 10 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Topwater walker, Suspending twitchbait |
| Summer | 4 to 15 ft | dawn | Surveyed channel edge (7 ft) | Popping cork + shrimp, 1/4 oz jighead + paddletail (deep grass edge) |
| Fall | 3 to 12 ft | dawn | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Popping cork rig, Soft plastic jerkbait |
| Winter | 4 to 16 ft | midday & dusk | Surveyed channel edge (7 ft) | Suspending twitchbait (long pauses), Scented plastic crawled on bottom |
Early season red drum (redfish) use the shallows, holding in 1 to 8 ft. Summer is a 2 to 12 ft game here, winter a 3 to 15 ft one. The chart's best answer is 1751932800000 oyster bars edge — oyster reef, 2 ft, prime for spring. Best bite is early morning and the evening. Tie on a weedless gold spoon or a paddletail swimbait and you're in the game.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 1 to 8 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Gold weedless spoon, Paddletail on 1/4 oz jighead |
| Summer | 2 to 12 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Weedless gold spoon, Paddletail swimbait |
| Fall | 2 to 16 ft | dawn & midday | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | 1/2 oz spoon (schools), Big paddletail |
| Winter | 3 to 15 ft | midday & dawn | Surveyed channel edge (7 ft) | Scented soft plastic on 1/8 oz head, Slow-rolled paddletail |
In spring, gray snapper (mangrove snapper) run shallow here, mostly 2 to 16 ft. Summer keeps them at 2 to 16 ft, and they winter in 3 to 16 ft. 1751932800000 oyster bars edge is the standout, an oyster reef at roughly 2 ft, rated prime for spring gray snapper (mangrove snapper). Time it for early morning and the evening. You won't need more than a small bucktail or a paddletail most summer days.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 2 to 16 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 oyster bars edge (2 ft) | Small paddletail, Jighead + shrimp imitation |
| Summer | 2 to 16 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Small bucktail, Paddletail |
| Fall | 2 to 16 ft | dawn & dusk | Surveyed channel edge (7 ft) | Small vertical jig, Jighead + paddletail |
| Winter | 3 to 16 ft | midday | Surveyed channel edge (7 ft) | Small jig worked slowly |
Spring gag grouper on Blackburn Bay hold shallow, usually 3 to 16 ft. Depth-wise the year is flat: 3 to 16 ft in summer, 4 to 16 ft once it turns cold. The chart's best answer is 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge — seagrass edge, 3 ft, prime for spring. Prime time lands in early morning and the evening. The summer box starts with a deep-diving plug or a heavy paddletail.
| Season | Depth | Best window | Start at | Go-to baits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | 3 to 16 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Diving plug over grass potholes, Paddletail near rubble |
| Summer | 3 to 16 ft | dawn & dusk | 1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge (3 ft) | Deep-diving plug, Heavy paddletail |
| Fall | 3 to 16 ft | dawn | open water | Deep-diving plug, Vertical jig |
| Winter | 4 to 16 ft | midday | open water | Heavy vertical jig |
28 pieces of structure are mapped here — Surveyed channel edge, around 8 ft, is the deepest of them.
Access data: Florida FWC — Boat Ramp Inventory. Confirm conditions and fees locally before you launch.
Season dates, license requirements, and size and bag limits for Florida waters are set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (saltwater) — and special regulations can apply to Blackburn Bay specifically, so confirm the current rules before you fish.
Check the official Florida fishing regulations →
Blackburn Bay is about 16 ft (5 m) deep at its deepest point. The depth chart is built from real agency bathymetry referenced to NAVD88; directly measured coverage remains distinguished from source interpolation. The contours reflect measured and quality-assessed source depths.
Anglers target sheepshead, snook, spotted seatrout, red drum (redfish), gray snapper (mangrove snapper), gag grouper on Blackburn Bay.
1751932800000 patchy seagrass edge is the top-rated area: a seagrass edge in about 3 ft of water that rates prime for gag grouper in spring. The interactive chart above rates every spot for each species and season.
For sheepshead, the summer bite is best in early morning. Each species page section below lists the seasonal windows, and the map shows a live NOW badge when you're inside one.
Fishing on Blackburn Bay is regulated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (saltwater). Check the official Florida regulations for current license requirements, season dates, and size and bag limits — special regulations can apply to this specific water.
Little Sarasota Bay 3 mi · Roberts Bay 8 mi · Big Sarasota Pass 10 mi · Southwest Sarasota Bay 12 mi · Lemon Bay 18 mi · North Sarasota Bay 21 mi · Longboat Pass 23 mi · Manatee River Estuary 24 mi · Manatee River 24 mi · Terra Ceia Bay 27 mi · Gasparilla Pass 28 mi · Lower Tampa Bay 32 mi
See how Blackburn Bay stacks up: best red drum (redfish) lakes in Florida · best spotted seatrout lakes in Florida · best sheepshead lakes in Florida · best snook lakes in Florida
Browse all Florida fishing maps or see every water on DepthScout. Bathymetry credit: NOAA BlueTopo (NAVD88; 95% measured, 5% source-interpolated). How we build these maps. Fish here with a sonar unit that logs? Send us your depth data and we'll improve this chart, credited to you. For fishing guidance only, never navigation.