Waterlands

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Florida pompanoRetention open

Bar · Florida

Johnson Shoals

26.66°N · 82.26°W · Bar · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound

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Best score today · 9 AM · Florida pompano

78/100Great
Now
718 AM EDT
Best window
8-10 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.5 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: Thu · 80

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score71Great
Tide1.5 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood1.1 kn · toward ENE
Wind3 kn ESEgusts 5 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy62% cloud
Water84°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

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 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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Florida pompano is best here

Shoulder season for Florida pompano · 1 more week at shoulder

Florida pompano season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Florida pompano · 1 more week at shoulder.
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  • Shoulder
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Florida pompano in Florida →

Spot profile

Johnson Shoals

Depth
10-15 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Outer · ExposedShoal · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonFlorida pompano

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 Johnson Shoals

Johnson Shoals is a bar in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 10-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, outer water and exposed.

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

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.
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.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Primo Bay

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    81
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 81
    • Gray snapper 77
    • Red drum 76

    3 kt ESEH 11:02 AM · 1.9 ftL 5:53 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Murdock Bayou

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    79
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 79
    • Red drum 79
    • Gray snapper 73

    3 kt ESEH 10:51 AM · 2.2 ftL 6:06 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Platt Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    79
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 79
    • Gray snapper 73
    • Red drum 72

    3 kt ESEH 10:51 AM · 2.2 ftL 6:06 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Primo Point

    Cape · 1.8 mi

    77
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 77
    • Gray snapper 73
    • Red drum 72

    3 kt ESEH 11:02 AM · 1.9 ftL 5:53 PM · 0.4 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.