Find the grass.
Fish the edge.
Turn on Habitat and the flats stop being blank water. Seagrass beds and oyster bars show up where Florida's surveys mapped them, so you can work an edge instead of hunting for one.
Habitat is a free map layer in Cobia, the fishing app. It draws seagrass beds and oyster bars from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's survey data, over the depth chart if you like, so the grass edges and the bars on a flat are on the map before you get there. It covers Florida's inshore water today.
Key facts
- What it draws
- Seagrass beds and oyster bars, each with its own shading and outline.
- Data
- Survey data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
- Where
- Florida. Elsewhere the switch reads Coming soon to this area.
- Works with
- Depth Contours, Structure and Strike Zones, all on the same map.
- Your own spots
- Mark a grass flat, an oyster bar or a mangrove edge as a spot and keep it to yourself.
- Price
- Free on iPhone and Android.
The edge is where the fish are
Grass holds the shrimp, crabs and small bait, and the fish that eat them patrol the edge of it and lie in the sand holes inside it. Bars break the current and leave a pocket behind them. Strike Zones reads those same edges, so turn both on and the grass line glows.
- 1.Pothole nearby
- 2.7 structure types converging
- 3.Incoming Peak tide pushing bait across structure
Sample. The factors are written the way the app writes them, from a real zone on a Jupiter grass flat.
- Seagrass
- Sand hole in the grass
- Oyster bar
- Strike Zone
Grass on the right depth
A grass bed in two feet of water fishes different from one on the lip of a channel. Turn on Depth Contours with Habitat and you can see which beds sit on a drop, which ones run into deeper water and where a bar pinches the current.
- Both layers in one sheet. The pills at the bottom of the map show what's on.
- Strike Zones reads both. Grass edges, sand holes, oyster lines and depth changes are all structure it scores.
Mark the hole you found
When you find the pothole that holds fish, drop a spot on it. Pick what it is, from grass flat and oyster bar to mangrove edge, and decide who sees it. Private means nothing about it is published.
The switch in Florida, and on water the survey doesn't cover.
Mapped by the state, not guessed
The beds and bars come from FWC's surveys, so the layer covers Florida's inshore water. Outside it the switch says Coming soon to this area rather than drawing grass that isn't there. Grass and shell move slowly, so treat it as a strong start and trust your eyes on the water.
Knowing where the grass is also tells you where not to run. Prop scars take years to heal, and an oyster bar is a living reef.
Questions about habitat
What does the Habitat layer show?
Seagrass beds and oyster bars, each drawn as its own shape over the water, so you can see where a bed starts and stops and where the bars lie.
Where does the habitat data come from?
From the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's seagrass and oyster survey data.
Which states have habitat coverage?
Florida today. On water outside the survey, the Habitat switch reads Coming soon to this area.
How current is it?
It's survey data, not a live scan. Seagrass and oyster beds change slowly, so it stays useful for a long time, but beds do grow and shrink between surveys.
Is the Habitat layer free?
Yes. Habitat is free in Cobia on iPhone and Android, like every other map layer.
Find the edge
before you pole it.
Download Cobia, open the Map tab and switch on Habitat.
