Pavement hard bottom off Longboat, Lido and Siesta keys

Hard bottom in Sarasota nearshore waters

Draft - not published. This page is only shown while developing. It stays off the live site until its status is changed to published.

NearshoreUpdated October 11, 2026

Depth
30-50 ft
Access
By boat
Best months
September to May
Species
Gag grouper, Red grouper, Mangrove (gray) snapper, Sheepshead, King mackerel (kingfish), Permit

Using satellite imagery checked by field surveys, FWC and Nova Southeastern University mapped 1,696 patches of low natural hard bottom ('pavement') off Longboat, Lido and Siesta keys: about 80 square kilometres, roughly 13 percent of the 620 mapped there, with nearly all the rest sand. Most of it lies 2.5 to 11 nautical miles out, in about 30 to 50 feet, with patches out to about 15. The largest single patch, about 5.6 square kilometres, is near 27.34 N, 82.79 W, 8.2 nautical miles southwest of Longboat Pass. FWC's 1989 bottom mapping also shows hard-bottom patches within about a mile of the Casey Key beach and several live-bottom polygons 2 to 10 nautical miles off Venice. Official data don't name individual ledges.

How to fish it

Use the map as a search map, not a list of spots. Run the pavement edges with the sounder looking for relief and bait, then drift with bottom rigs or jigs until you find fish, mark it and anchor. Red grouper of 1 to 6 years use nearshore bottom like this (FWC), along with small gag, snapper and sheepshead.

Watch out for: The map comes from satellite imagery, is more than ten years old and covers only part of the area, so no polygon doesn't mean no rock. It's not for navigation, and the relief is usually low. Anchor carefully to avoid damaging live bottom.
Rules here: The pavement spans state waters (inside 9 nautical miles) and federal waters beyond, so check which side you're on. Reef fish gear rules and the State Reef Fish Angler designation apply. The rules to check in Sarasota nearshore waters

On the map

Sarasota nearshore waters, where it is. It has no official position, so it isn't marked.

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Position

There's no official position for it, so it isn't on the map.

Not for navigation: check it against a current chart before you rely on it.

Check the rules before you keep a fish. Size limits, bag limits and seasons change, sometimes at short notice. Our "Can you keep it today?" lists give them as of the day we last checked; these are the official pages.