UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
Crevalle jackRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Atlantic croaker73
- Common snook66
- Red drum58
- Florida pompano57
- Gray snapper57
- Atlantic tarpon53
- Black drum49
- Southern flounder49
- Permit48
- Spanish mackerel48
- Crevalle jack45
- Red snapper43
- Gag grouper42
- Spotted seatrout42
- Gray triggerfish41
- Red grouper40
- Cobia39
- King mackerel38
- Sheepshead35
- Greater amberjack34
Best score today · 3 AM · Crevalle jack
- Now
- 4512 AM EDT
- Best window
- 12-5 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- High2.4 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Estero Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 12 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
13Tide: High slackCurrent: WeakWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 3 kt ESEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
65Water temp: 84°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 0.7 ftSeason & habitat · Crevalle jack
Species seasonality
62Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Crevalle jack
Retention open- Daily limit
- Not published
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Not published
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Two fish or 100 pounds per person per day, whichever is more. Crevalle jack is an unregulated species with this default limit. Hook and line, spears, gigs, haul seines and cast nets.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: "Unregulated" Species, 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)
- 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)
Source: FWC · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Crevalle jack is best here
Shoulder season for Crevalle jack · 5 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Estero Bay
- Depth
- 4-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCrevalle jack
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 Estero Bay
Estero Bay is a bay in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 4-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, common snook and red drum. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, common snook, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Florida pompano, Atlantic tarpon, black drum and southern flounder. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November.
Tackle & technique
- Crevalle jack
- Jacks roam in schools through inlets, passes, bays, river mouths and along beaches, pushing bait to the surface, and big fish also hold on nearshore reefs and wrecks. Watch for birds and surface blowups, then cast a popper, a spoon or a bucktail into the school and retrieve fast. Bring heavy spinning tackle, because a jack over 15 pounds runs hard and fights for a long time.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Big Carlos Pass77
Channel · 1.2 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 77
- Common snook 72
- Florida pompano 63
4 kt SEL 5:27 AM · 1.3 ftH 11:30 AM · 2.7 ft
- Starvation Flats76
Flat · 1.8 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 76
- Common snook 74
- Atlantic tarpon 69
4 kt SEH 1:07 AM · 2.1 ftL 6:15 AM · 1.6 ft
- New Pass76
Channel · 2.2 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 76
- Common snook 69
- Florida pompano 59
3 kt ESEL 5:31 AM · 1.4 ftH 11:26 AM · 2.7 ft
- Ostego Bay73
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 73
- Common snook 68
- Florida pompano 62
4 kt SEL 5:27 AM · 1.3 ftH 11:30 AM · 2.7 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.