Waterlands

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Black drumRetention open

Bay · Florida

Biscayne Bay

25.58°N · 80.23°W · Bay · Biscayne Bay

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Best score today · 7 AM · Black drum

75/100Great
Now
524 PM EST
Best window
6-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.3 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Nov 10 · 7 AM

Time7A
Score66Great
Tide1.6 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.7 knmodeled · toward SW
Wind5 kn Ngusts 9 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.4 ft · 4 s
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy28% cloud
Water81°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Atlantic state waters (Nassau through Miami-Dade counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Black drum

Retention open
Daily limit
5 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Slot 14 to 24 in, total length. One fish over 24 inches allowed, counted in the bag limit.
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Special rules apply in Biscayne National Park. Hook and line, cast net, seine, spear or gig. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Open year-round.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Black Drum, read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Atlantic croaker Retention open (50 per day)
  • Bluefish Retention open (3 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 (10 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Retention open (1 per day)
  • King mackerel Retention open (2 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 Retention open (1 per day)
  • Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open (50 per day)
  • Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
  • Summer flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
  • Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)

Source: FWC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black drum is best here

Shoulder season for Black drum · 12 more weeks at shoulder

Black drum season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Black drum · 12 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Black drum in Florida →

Spot profile

Biscayne Bay

Depth
About 10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonBlack drum

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 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 Biscayne Bay

Biscayne Bay is a bay in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Depth is about 10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are common snook, Florida pompano and crevalle jack. It is peak season now for common snook, crevalle jack, red drum and king mackerel, and shoulder season for Florida pompano, Atlantic tarpon, Spanish mackerel and black drum. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through November. Florida pompano peak from December through March. Crevalle jack peak from April through May and from September through November.

Tackle & technique

Black drum
Black drum root along the bottom around oyster reefs, bridge and pier pilings, channel edges and shallow mud flats. TPWD notes they rarely take artificials, so fish peeled shrimp, crab, clams or sand fleas on a bottom rig and let the fish load the rod before setting the hook. Big spawning schools gather near passes and bay mouths in late winter and spring, and in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay the large fish show up on the shoals from April into June.
Common snook
Snook ambush bait around mangrove shorelines, bridge and dock lights, jetties and the mouths of passes and inlets, generally in 2 to 15 feet of water. Fish moving water, especially the outgoing tide, with a live pilchard, pinfish or shrimp, or a jerkbait or soft plastic swum past the structure. In summer they spawn along beaches and inlets, and in winter they crowd into rivers, canals and deep backcountry creeks where the water stays warmer.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Featherbed Bank

    Bar · 3.7 mi

    71
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 71
    • King mackerel 71
    • Crevalle jack 69

    7 kt EH 5:16 PM · 1.8 ftL 12:16 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Black Ledge

    Bar · 1.2 mi

    69
    Top: King mackerelPeak season
    • King mackerel 69
    • Florida pompano 67
    • Common snook 65

    7 kt EH 4:39 PM · 2.6 ftL 11:20 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Deering Bay Channel

    Channel · 4.7 mi

    68
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 68
    • Crevalle jack 64
    • Red drum 61

    7 kt EH 4:39 PM · 2.6 ftL 11:20 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Safety Valve

    Gut · 4.3 mi

    67
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 67
    • Crevalle jack 63
    • Red drum 62

    7 kt EH 4:21 PM · 2.3 ftL 11:06 PM · 0.4 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.