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Best score today · 11 AM · Florida pompano

69/100Great

Now: 355 AM EDT
Best window: 9 AM-2 PMEbb tide
Tide now: Flooding1.6 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Sat · 70

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

DRAG OR TAP AN HOUR

Time5ANOW

Score35Fair

Tide1.6 ft ▲Flooding

CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward NNW

Wind8 kn SSEgusts 12 · easing

Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 3 s

Air temp82°Warm

WeatherMostly cloudy59% chance of rain

Water86°FObserved

WED · SEP 23

THU · SEP 24

2A

3A

4A

NOW

6A

7A

8A

9A

10A

11A

12P

1P

2P

3P

4P

5P

6P

7P

8P

9P

10P

11P

12A

1A

35

34

32

31

35

29

27

0.2

○0.1

0.2

○0.1

0.2

0.1

○0.0

0.1

0.2

○0.1

○0.0

○0.1

0.3

0.4

96

106

117

128

127

115

104

94

74

64

63

74

84

94

105

106

95

83

72

62

51

1.2

1.1

1.0

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

55%

56%

58%

59%

57%

55%

53%

54%

55%

57%

59%

62%

63%

61%

57%

51%

45%

41%

37%

33%

87°

86°

87°

Hour

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Monroe County state waters (Florida Keys)

IN EFFECT NOW

Florida pompano

Retention open

Daily limit: 6 per day
Possession: Not published
Size: Minimum 11 in, fork length
Season: No closed season on file
Annual quota: Not published
Other: Special rules apply in Biscayne National Park. Hook and line, cast net, and beach or haul seine only. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Open year-round in state and federal waters.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Permit, Florida pompano and African pompano, 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
Gag grouper Closed (No retention)
Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
Gray triggerfish Retention open (10 per day)
Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
King mackerel Retention open (3 per day)
Mahi-mahi Retention open (5 per day)
Permit Retention open (1 per day)
Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
Red grouper Retention open (3 per day (3 Atlantic grouper and tilefish combined))
Red snapper Check regulations
Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
Snook Catch & release (No retention)
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)

Always check with FWC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Florida pompano is best here

Out of season for Florida pompano · shoulder season starts in 2 weeks

Peak
Shoulder
Off
This week

Florida pompano in Florida →

Spot profile

Eastern Dry Rocks

Depth: About 80 ft
Structure: Ledge · Outer · Exposed
Season: Off seasonFlorida pompano

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 464 m grid. Depths are feet below mean sea level, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Eastern Dry Rocks

Eastern Dry Rocks is a bar in Bayside and Gulfside from Craig Key to West End of Seven Mile Bridge, Florida. Depth is about 80 ft. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 18 species here; the best right now are gray snapper, red grouper and common snook. It is peak season now for common snook and crevalle jack, and shoulder season for gray snapper, red grouper, permit and Atlantic tarpon. Gray snapper peak from May through August. Red grouper peak from April through June. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through November.

Tackle & technique

Florida pompano: Pompano feed on sand fleas and coquina clams in the trough between the beach and the first sandbar, and around the sandy edges of passes, inlets and bridges. Surf anglers fish a two-hook pompano rig with sand fleas, clams or shrimp, while boat and bridge anglers bounce small jigs along the bottom. The runs follow water temperature, heading north in spring and south in fall as the water cools.
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.
Red grouper: Red grouper live on low limestone ledges and potholed live bottom across the West Florida Shelf, mostly in 60 to 250 feet. Drift to find hard bottom, then anchor and fish live pinfish, grunts or squid on the bottom with stout conventional tackle. Reel hard right after the bite, because they dive into holes, and use a descending device on fish released from deep water.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →

Sand Key Channel
Channel · 4.6 mi
71
Top: Atlantic tarponShoulder season
- Atlantic tarpon 71
- Common snook 70
- Crevalle jack 66
3 kt SSEH 7:44 AM · 2.0 ftL 2:18 PM · 0.5 ft
Main Ship Channel
Channel · 4.9 mi
70
Top: Atlantic tarponShoulder season
- Atlantic tarpon 70
- Common snook 69
- Crevalle jack 67
8 kt SSEH 8:14 AM · 2.1 ftL 2:44 PM · 0.6 ft
Middle Ground
Bar · 4.0 mi
67
Top: Common snookPeak season
- Common snook 67
- Atlantic tarpon 64
- Crevalle jack 61
3 kt SSEH 7:44 AM · 2.0 ftL 2:18 PM · 0.5 ft
Sand Key
Bar · 2.4 mi
63
Top: Atlantic tarponShoulder season
- Atlantic tarpon 63
- Common snook 61
- Crevalle jack 60
3 kt SSEH 7:44 AM · 2.0 ftL 2:18 PM · 0.5 ft