What is the closest listed Venice reef?

M-15 Reef, with about 8 ft of relief.

Can I spear snook or redfish?

No. Florida prohibits spearing both.

Do reef fish need SRFS?

Yes. SRFS is required for Florida reef fish harvest.

Is M-9 beginner-friendly?

No. It is a higher-relief offshore reef-ball site.

Venice (FL) spearfishing forecast — United States

Venice (FL) · United States

8.6

wave 0.2 m

visibility8m

Dive today — wave, wind and visibility.

Sources: IPMA · buoys · Copernicus · Sentinel-2 — high confidence · data 08:04

Sources & confidence

Sources: IPMA · NDBC & IH buoys · Copernicus Marine · Sentinel-2
Method: spearo sea-state engine: 6-model consensus + satellite clarity (ZSD) + buoy-bias checks
Freshness: Re-read every hour, per coast

Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →

The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.

How we score the water

Our own model

Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.

Swell & wave memory: Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
Wind & gusts: Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
Tide phase: Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
Water temperature: Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
Currents & outflow: Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
Rain runoff & air clarity: Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
Coast shape & exposure: How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.

Safety gates

Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
Night hours — where night spearfishing is banned by law the window is forced red; where it is legal (Australia outside NSW, New Zealand, South Africa) it is capped at yellow, never green.

It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.

A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.

Where to get in, where to hunt

Entry points with coordinates

Seabed relief — promising ground

This verdict — in your pocket. Open the app for the week's window.

Google Play — QR code — point your camera

0 m

Surface

Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.

spearo.app

NWS no dataupdated 08:04

Venice (FL) — solo, off the rocks

BEST WINDOW

best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist · calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal

wave 0.2 mwind 9 km/hvisibility ~8 mwindow 06:00–21:00

today, best window 06:00–09:00

fish · Visibility 8 m · Water 31.3°C

confidence high · verdict for the selected day

Before entering, check the camera and the surge

Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.

Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.

Selected day

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.

Wednesday · today2026-09-09

07:12–19:40 · new moon

▼ 04:00▲ 10:00▼ 17:00▲ 23:00 · 0.7 m

Hours (06→20)

Day's trends

Tide-0.04 m

Wave0.14 m

Wind7 km/h

Water31 °C

fish activity: moonrise 05:34 · moderate · moon overhead 12:10 · high · moonset 18:50 · moderate · moon underfoot 00:00 · high

Conditions window06:00–09:00

best weather window · solo, stay careful, run the checklist fish

Hs 0.18 m · calmperiod 4.9 swind 9→16surge 0.1viz 8 m

0.18 mcalm · up to ~0.36 · 234° at an angle

4.9 sswell moderate

9→16gusts 16 km/h

0.1weak surge

0.06m/s

8 mrecent swell

31.3°C5 mm + hood

▲10:00tide rising

Atmosphere13 kmlandmarks visible

moderatemoonrise

calm conditions: swell, wind and visibility all normal
flood — water rising

confidence hightwilight

Open the seafloor map with entry points

Coming soon

Get the go / no-go verdict for Venice (FL) by email

Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Venice (FL), we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.

Just your email — nothing else needed.

Optional: city, channel, phone

City

What to send

Good windows / green daysStorm warningsMorning digestCrab season (santola)

Where to send it

WhatsAppTelegram

Phone

26 countries · all spots

Pick your coast

Every covered town has its own live forecast, cameras and entry points. Choose where you're diving.

Portugal

Portugal map →

North

Centre

Lisbon & West

Cascais

Feedback

Help us make it better

What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.

Open the seafloor map

BayrontoVenice (FL)

borderline

Ultra · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

M-10 ReefVenice (FL)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

M-15 ReefVenice (FL)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

County deployment very close inshore, with about 2.5 m of relief in 12 m. Grouper and snapper; a short run from Venice, which makes it the windy-day pick.

Google Maps

M-9 Site Reefex #3Venice (FL)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

High-relief reef balls in 17 m off Venice — the best vertical structure around. Grouper and snapper; WARNING: spotted seatrout and snook may never be speared in Florida.

Google Maps

Palm Island Ferry ReefVenice (FL)

borderline

Pro · subscribers

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

The full spot briefing is part of the subscription: entry, bottom, hazards, tide window.

Open in the app

Sarasota Sportsman Reef M-17Venice (FL)

borderline

exposed head-on to the swell today

window: —

Mid-shelf reef in 17 m, with snapper and grouper over mixed material. The surrounding limestone floor is flat, so every fish in the area piles onto the structure.

Google Maps

SOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.

Look at the water
right now.

Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».

connecting to the stream…

● LIVE↗

Intracoastal at Pop's Sunset Grill — Nokomis / VeniceYouTube live — Intracoastal at Pop's Sunset Grill — Nokomis / Venice. Embedded live stream; if the ID rotates it opens the source page. Read the water before you go.camera: youtube ↗

What's in season,
what the law says.

In season now

sheepshead
Archosargus probatocephalus · 2–15 m · legal
Year-round across the façade. AL 12″ (30 cm) and 8/person, MS 14″ (36 cm) and 15, Louisiana neither a size nor a bag limit, TX 15″ (38 cm) and 5/day. Sheepshead is nongame in Texas, so gig, spear and speargun are lawful there.
cobia (ling)
Rachycentron canadum · 3–30 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
In TEXAS cobia may NOT be taken by spear at all: it is on the game-fish list and 'game fish may be taken only by pole and line'; gig, spear and speargun are for nongame fish only. AL, MS and LA: year-round in state waters, min 36″ (91 cm), 1/person (MS 2), max 2/vessel.
gray (mangrove) snapper
Lutjanus griseus · 5–35 m · legal
The most reliable rig and jetty snapper from Alabama to Texas. Year-round in AL, MS and LA: min 12″ (30 cm), 10/person (in LA inside the 10-snapper aggregate). Texas lists no limit — unlisted species carry no bag or length limit there.
red grouper
Epinephelus morio · 15–50 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
In Louisiana the rule is depth-keyed: year-round in state waters, but closed Feb 1–Mar 31 seaward of the 20-fathom (120 ft, ~37 m) line. Min 20″ (51 cm) in AL and MS, bag 2/person; in LA inside the 4-grouper aggregate. Texas lists no red grouper limit.
black drum
Pogonias cromis · 0–15 m · ⚠️ closed season/limit
A shallow, dependable jetty and marsh-edge target. Year-round in LA and TX; LA slot 16–27″ (41–69 cm), 5/day with max 1 over 27″; TX 14–30″ (36–76 cm), 5/day with max 1 over 52″. MS lists no limit. Nongame in Texas, so lawful to spear there — unlike its red drum cousin.
hogfish
Lachnolaimus maximus · 10–40 m · legal
This card is LOUISIANA-anchored, not façade-wide: only LA carries an explicit hogfish line — year-round in state waters, min 14″ (36 cm), 5/person/day. No AL or MS hogfish line was found; do not read it as a Gulf-wide allowance. Florida does carry a Gulf line: min 14″ fork length, 5/person/day, year-round — so the sixteen Florida cities on this façade read Florida's rule, not Louisiana's.
lionfish
Pterois volitans / P. miles · 1–60 m · invasive — target
Invasive: no season, size or bag limit. But the basis here is negative space — lionfish is not a listed species in MS Title 22 Part 3, and Texas states plainly there are no limits except as listed. No AL or LA lionfish line was found. Florida's licence exemption DOES apply to the sixteen Florida cities on this façade: no licence is needed when taking lionfish with a pole spear, Hawaiian sling, hand-held net or a lionfish-specific device.

Regulated — check your state

red snapper📋 season by state
Not merely 'typically May–Oct': TEXAS state waters are open ALL YEAR at 4 fish/day, min 15″ (38 cm). LA open from May 1 until further notice, 4/day, 16″. AL and MS set the season annually, 2/person, 16″ (41 cm). Red snapper is nongame in Texas, so spear and speargun are lawful gear. Florida sets its own Gulf state-waters season each year, separate from the federal one: min 16″ (41 cm), 2/person, and the free State Reef Fish Angler designation is required.
flounder📋 season by state
Three DIFFERENT autumn closures inside one façade — there is no single season: AL closed all November, LA Oct 15–Nov 30, TX Nov 1–Dec 14 (bag 0), MS year-round. Min AL 14″ (36 cm), MS 12″ (30 cm), LA none, TX 15″ (38 cm). Flounder is nongame in Texas, so gigging and spearing are the normal legal method there.
greater amberjack📋 season by state
The defining rig and wreck fish of the northern Gulf. Louisiana opens Sep 1 and closes Oct 14. AL/MS follow the federal season; Texas has no state closure. Min 34″ (86 cm), Texas 38″ (97 cm) — and it is nongame there, so fully spearable. Bag 1/person in all four states. Florida runs its own FWC Gulf season: min 34″ fork length, 1/person — check the current year's opening.
gray triggerfish📋 season by state
Texas is the genuine outlier: 20 a day against one a day in AL, MS and LA. Min AL/MS 15″ (38 cm), TX 16″ (41 cm); in LA it sits inside the 20-reef-fish aggregate. Louisiana closed Jan 1–end of February and Jun 1–Jul 31.
gag grouper📋 season by state
The practical spear season on the Louisiana shelf-edge banks is Sep 1–Dec 31 (to 23:59). AL and MS open; Texas has no state closure. Min 24″ (61 cm) in all four states, bag 2/person (in LA inside the 4-grouper aggregate). In Florida the Gulf gag season is set by FWC (in recent years Sep 1–Nov 10), min 24″, 2/person inside the 4-grouper aggregate — check the current year.

Law

✓Saltwater licence (+endorsement) per state: FL $17/$47, AL res $30, MS ~$13/$30, LA res $32, TX licence + saltwater endorsement.
✓Texas: spear only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.
✓Red snapper: state-set season. Federal reef waters: spear + allowed outside the stressed area, descending device required.

⛔ 🚫 FLORIDA's full no-spear list (FWC, FAC 68B-20.005): snook, bonefish, tarpon, goliath and Nassau grouper, red drum, spotted seatrout, weakfish, pompano, African pompano, permit, tripletail, spiny lobster, blue crab and stone crab, all billfish, sharks, manta ray and spotted eagle ray, sturgeon — plus any species whose harvest is prohibited by law.
⛔ 🚫 Florida also bans spearing in fresh water, within 100 yards (91 m) of a public swimming beach, a commercial or public fishing pier or any part of a bridge from which public fishing is allowed, and within 100 ft (30 m) of the above-water part of a jetty; ornamental reef fish may not be speared. Federal Gulf waters follow the federal list instead.
⛔ 🚫 Goliath/Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, mammals and many sharks — take prohibited.
⛔ ⚠️ Texas & Alabama: gamefish (red drum/seatrout) pole-and-line only, NOT by spear. : banned in FL/TX, allowed in federal waters outside the stressed area.

US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.

Safety protocol

Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.

Spearfishing in Venice (FL): spots, seasons and rules

Updated 2026-07-09 · By Oleksandr, spearfisher

Spearfishing in Venice, Florida is boat-based reef diving over a warm Gulf shelf. M-15 is the close inshore relief, Sarasota Sportsman Reef M-17 is the mid-shelf snapper stop, and M-9 Reefex #3 offers higher reef-ball relief. Hogfish, sheepshead, snapper, legal grouper, cobia and flounder can be part of the plan when open. The legal filter is strict: follow FWC spearing rules and confirm seasons before running offshore.

TL;DR

Venice is a shark-tooth-coast reef plan: M-15 close, M-17 mid-shelf, M-9 higher relief.

Light east wind and low Gulf chop clean the shelf; west and southwest energy from 215-300 degrees muddies it.

Florida requires a saltwater license and SRFS designation for reef fish.

Do not spear snook, red drum, seatrout, tarpon, bonefish, sharks, rays, goliath grouper, lobster or stone crab.

Best spearfishing spots in Venice, FL

The three sites step up by commitment. Start with M-15 for a short-run check, move to M-17 for mid-shelf structure, and save M-9 for settled days. A pretty beach does not guarantee good bottom visibility offshore.

Spot	Type	Depth	Level	Access	Notes
M-15 Reef	Close inshore artificial reef	About 8 ft of relief	Intermediate	Boat access off Venice	A short-run visibility test with modest relief and strict legal target selection.
Sarasota Sportsman Reef M-17	Mid-shelf artificial reef	Moderate shelf depth	Intermediate boat dive	Boat access offshore	A snapper-minded reef; confirm season, size and SRFS status.
M-9 Site Reefex #3	High-relief reef balls	Higher relief structure	Advanced boat dive	Longer offshore run	Better relief and more commitment. Use a disciplined ascent and boat-watch plan.

Venice (FL) spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras

Windows, hours and the day's trends.

Get the go / no-go verdict for Venice (FL) by email

Pick your coast

Portugal

North

Centre

Lisbon & West

Help us make it better

A marine instrument, go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.The call is on the rock.

Where to get in off the rocks.

Look at the water right now.

What's in season, what the law says.

TL;DR

Best spearfishing spots in Venice, FL

When is Venice visibility best?

Setúbal · Arrábida

Alentejo

Algarve

Madeira

Azores

Spain

Galicia

Cantabrian coast

Andalusia (Atlantic)

Andalusia (Med)

Murcia

Levante

Catalonia

Balearics

Canaries

🇮🇹Italy

Liguria

Tuscany

Lazio

Campania

Calabria

Apulia

Sicily

Sardinia

Central Adriatic

Abruzzo

Emilia-Romagna

Northern Adriatic

🇬🇷Greece

Attica · Saronic

Peloponnese

Crete

Cyclades

Dodecanese

NE Aegean

Sporades · Evia

Ionian

Halkidiki & Thermaikos

Thrace · Kavala

🇫🇷France

Hauts-de-France

Normandy

North Brittany

West Brittany

South Brittany

Pays de la Loire

Charente-Maritime

Aquitaine (Arcachon)

French Basque Country

Occitania

Provence — Côte d'Azur

Corsica

🇹🇷Turkey

Marmara

North Aegean

İzmir

South Aegean

West Mediterranean (Turkey)

Central Mediterranean (Turkey)

Hatay (Gulf of İskenderun)

West Black Sea

Central Black Sea

East Black Sea

Windows, hours
and the day's trends.

A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.

The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.

Where to get in
off the rocks.

Look at the water
right now.

What's in season,
what the law says.