Waterlands

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Black drumRetention open

Channel · Florida

Buck Key Channel

26.51°N · 82.18°W · Channel · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound

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Best score today · 10 PM · Black drum

86/100Epic
Now
668 PM EDT
Best window
8 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.6 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: today · 86

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 PM · now

Time8PNOW
Score66Great
Tide0.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.7 kn · toward ENE
Wind8 kn SEgusts 12 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.9 ft · 4 s
Air temp82°Warm
WeatherOvercast69% chance of rain
Water84°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier 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
  • 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 drum Retention open (1 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 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 today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black drum is best here

Shoulder season for Black drum · 18 more weeks at shoulder

Black drum season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Black drum · 18 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Black drum in Florida →

Spot profile

Buck Key Channel

Depth
2-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · 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 Buck Key Channel

Buck Key Channel is a channel in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper. It is peak season now for common snook, Atlantic croaker, gray snapper and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, permit, crevalle jack and southern flounder. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Gray snapper peak from June through September.

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.
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

View all on map →
  • Wulfert Channel

    Channel · 1.3 mi

    82
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 82
    • Atlantic croaker 79
    • Gray snapper 78

    8 kt SEH 11:25 PM · 2.2 ftL 4:20 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Coral Creek Inlet

    Bay · 3.5 mi

    82
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 82
    • Atlantic croaker 74
    • Red drum 72

    8 kt SEH 11:25 PM · 2.2 ftL 4:20 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Chadwick Bayou

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    77
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 77
    • Common snook 76
    • Atlantic croaker 74

    8 kt SEH 1:06 AM · 1.8 ftL 6:05 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Long Point

    Cape · 3.8 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Atlantic croaker 62
    • Gray snapper 61

    8 kt SEH 1:27 AM · 1.8 ftL 6:41 AM · 1.3 ft

Open in the tide map

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.