Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerRetention open

Bar · Florida

Patricio Shoal

26.69°N · 82.21°W · Bar · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound

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Best score today · 9 AM · Common snook

79/100Great
Now
652 AM EDT
Best window
8-11 AMFlood tide
Tide now
High1.3 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 · 82

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 AM · now

Time2ANOW
Score65Great
Tide1.3 ftHigh
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind4 kn ESEgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy48% cloud
Water84°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Atlantic croaker

Retention open
Daily limit
Not published
Possession
Not published
Size
Not published
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
100 pounds per person per day. No minimum size. Open year-round.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Spot and Atlantic croaker, read Sep 13

Other species here

  • 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
  • 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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic croaker is best here

Peak season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at peak

Atlantic croaker season by week of the year. Peak season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Atlantic croaker in Florida →

Spot profile

Patricio Shoal

Depth
2-7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonAtlantic croaker

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 Patricio Shoal

Patricio Shoal is a bar in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 2-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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

View all on map →
  • Pelican Bay

    Bay · 1.9 mi

    71
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 71
    • Atlantic croaker 63
    • Red drum 63

    4 kt ESEL 4:22 AM · 1.1 ftH 11:02 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Old Tom Bayou

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    70
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 70
    • Common snook 59
    • Red drum 59

    4 kt ESEL 5:12 AM · 1.1 ftH 11:42 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Punta Blanca

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    67
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 67
    • Red drum 59
    • Atlantic croaker 58

    4 kt ESEL 4:22 AM · 1.1 ftH 11:02 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Jug Creek Shoal

    Bar · 1.7 mi

    65
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 65
    • Common snook 59
    • Florida pompano 59

    4 kt ESEL 5:12 AM · 1.1 ftH 11:42 AM · 1.9 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.