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 · 5 PM · Red drum

76/100Great
Now
675 AM CDT
Best window
2-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.5 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

Time5ANOW
Score67Great
Tide0.5 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.6 kn · toward ENE
Wind1 kn NWgusts 4 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.6 ft · 5 s
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherClear8% cloud
Water87°FObserved

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 Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
  • Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
  • Gray triggerfish Retention open (1 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
  • 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 Retention open (2 per day (10 snapper combined))
  • Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
  • Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
  • Snook Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
  • Summer flounder Retention open (5 per day)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
  • Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 10 more weeks at peak

Red drum season by week of the year. Peak season for Red drum · 10 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 gray snapper, Atlantic croaker and red drum. It is peak season now for gray snapper, Atlantic croaker and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder, black drum and crevalle jack. Gray snapper peak from June through September. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Red drum peak from September 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.
Gray snapper
Mangrove snapper hold tight to mangrove roots, bridge pilings, jetties and reef ledges, from a few feet deep inshore to 150 feet offshore. Chum to pull them out of cover, then freeline or lightly weight a live shrimp or pilchard on fluorocarbon leader, since they shy away from heavy line in clear water. The bite improves at dusk and after dark.
Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Old River

    Bay · 6.6 mi

    69
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 69
    • Gray snapper 68
    • Red drum 65

    1 kt NWH 9:18 AM · 0.8 ftL 10:29 PM · 0.1 ft

  • Manuel Point

    Cape · 2.4 mi

    63
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 63
    • Gray snapper 63
    • Red drum 60

    1 kt NWH 10:45 AM · 0.7 ftL 10:11 PM · 0.1 ft

  • Point Ono

    Cape · 5.4 mi

    63
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 63
    • Gray snapper 63
    • Red drum 60

    1 kt NWH 9:18 AM · 0.8 ftL 10:29 PM · 0.1 ft

  • Chagrin Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    62
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 62
    • Gray snapper 62
    • Red drum 59

    1 kt NWH 9:55 AM · 1.0 ftL 10:11 PM · 0.1 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.