Waterlands

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Red drumPeak season

Bay · Alabama

Perdido Bay

30.38°N · 87.43°W · Bay · Perdido Bay Area

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Best score today · 6 AM · Florida pompano

78/100Great
Now
673 PM CST
Best window
3-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing0.3 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Nov 9 · 4 PM

Time4P
Score80Great
Tide0.2 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood2.0 kn · toward ENE
Wind6 kn NNWgusts 18 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.8 ft · 2 s
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water75°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Red drum

Retention open
Daily limit
1 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Slot 18 to 27 in, total length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Must stay whole until landed ashore. For-hire captain and crew may not keep a bag limit. Hook and line or cast net only. No spearing, gigging, bowfishing, snatch hooking, or multiple hooks with natural bait. Open year-round.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Red Drum (Redfish), read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Atlantic croaker Retention open
  • Black drum Retention open (5 per day)
  • Bluefish Retention open (10 per day)
  • Bonefish Catch & release (No retention)
  • Cobia Retention open (1 per day)
  • Crevalle jack Retention open
  • Florida pompano Retention open (6 per day)
  • Gag grouper Closed (No retention)
  • Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
  • Gray triggerfish Retention open (1 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Closed (No retention)
  • King mackerel Retention open (3 per day)
  • Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
  • Permit Retention open (2 per day)
  • Red grouper Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
  • Red snapper Closed (No retention)
  • Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
  • Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
  • Snook Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
  • Summer flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
  • Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak

Red drum season by week of the year. Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Red drum in Alabama →

Spot profile

Perdido Bay

Depth
6-9 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonRed drum

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Perdido Bay

Perdido Bay is a bay in Perdido Bay Area, Alabama. Depth is 6-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are red drum, gag grouper and Spanish mackerel. It is peak season now for red drum, gag grouper, Spanish mackerel and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for king mackerel, sheepshead, black drum and gray snapper. Red drum peak from September through November. Gag grouper peak from October through December. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
Gag grouper
Gag hold on ledges, rock piles and wrecks, from 15 to 40 feet in the fall on Florida's Gulf coast out to 250 feet the rest of the year. Troll deep-diving plugs to find productive rocks, then anchor and drop or freeline live pinfish or pigfish on a strong circle hook. Keep the drag tight and turn the fish in the first few seconds or it will reach the rocks.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Chagrin Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    69
    Top: Gag grouperPeak season
    • Gag grouper 69
    • Red drum 67
    • Spanish mackerel 66

    7 kt ESEL 7:05 PM · 0.1 ftH 7:54 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Manuel Point

    Cape · 2.4 mi

    69
    Top: Gag grouperPeak season
    • Gag grouper 69
    • Red drum 65
    • Spanish mackerel 65

    8 kt ESEL 7:00 PM · 0.1 ftH 6:38 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Old River

    Bay · 6.6 mi

    69
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 69
    • Spanish mackerel 68
    • Gag grouper 67

    8 kt ESEL 5:01 PM · 0.1 ftH 6:38 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Point Ono

    Cape · 5.4 mi

    67
    Top: Gag grouperPeak season
    • Gag grouper 67
    • Red drum 64
    • Spanish mackerel 64

    8 kt ESEL 5:01 PM · 0.1 ftH 6:38 AM · 0.6 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with FWC before you keep a fish.