Apollo Beach and Big Bend

Bay flats beside a power-plant outflow in Tampa Bay inshore waters

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InshoreUpdated October 11, 2026

Access
By boat
Best months
March to May, September to November
Species
Snook, Redfish (red drum), Spotted seatrout, Sheepshead

The east-shore cove at Tampa Electric's Big Bend power station, just north of Apollo Beach, with the flats of The Kitchen and Whiskey Stump Key beyond it to the north. The plant's warm discharge canal draws manatees every winter, and several protections overlap there: a federal manatee sanctuary closed to all boats through the winter, a refuge around it that's idle speed in winter, state no-entry and speed zones, and a Coast Guard security zone that closes off the plant entrance and cooling canal. Anglers fish the surrounding flats and oyster bars, not the canal.

How to fish it

Plan your route around the sanctuary, refuge and security zone, then fish the open-bay flats, oyster bars and creeks toward Apollo Beach and The Kitchen, minding the posted manatee zones.

Watch out for: Shallow flats and oyster bars, no-entry zones, and lots of manatees in winter.
Rules here: Entering the Big Bend security zone without Coast Guard permission is prohibited (33 CFR 165.703). The TECO Big Bend Manatee Sanctuary is closed to all waterborne activity in the cold months and the refuge around it is idle speed then (50 CFR 17.108), and the state adds a no-entry zone in the discharge canal and speed zones around it (68C-22.013). Follow the posted signs for the dates and exact boundaries. The rules to check in Tampa Bay inshore waters

Wind and waves

Now and the next 48 hours at Apollo Beach and Big Bend

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On the map

Apollo Beach and Big Bend and the places around it

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Position

  • N27° 47.453' W082° 24.369'27.790890, -82.406150

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

Places nearby

The closest named places, as the crow flies

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.