Waterlands

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Common snookRetention open

Channel · Florida

Shell Pass

26.70°N · 82.15°W · Channel · Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound

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Best score today · 7 PM · Common snook

83/100Great
Now
761 PM EST
Best window
5-10 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing0.5 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Nov 13 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score74Great
Tide0.7 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.8 kn · toward W
Wind9 kn Egusts 18 · steady
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water77°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Snook

Retention open
Daily limit
1 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Slot 28 to 33 in, total length
Season
Oct 1 to Nov 30, 2026
Annual quota
Not published
Changes
Catch & release from Dec 1
Other
Snook permit and saltwater fishing license required. Must stay whole until landed ashore. For-hire captain and crew may not keep a bag limit. Hook and line only. Closed December 1 through the end of February and May 1 through September 30. Open March 1 through April 30 and October 1 through November 30. Regional rules apply in inland, state and adjacent federal waters.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Snook, 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
  • 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 (1 per day)
  • Greater amberjack Closed (No retention)
  • 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 Closed (No retention)
  • Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
  • Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
  • Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
  • Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
  • Spot Retention open
  • 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 Common snook is best here

Shoulder season for Common snook · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Common snook season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Common snook · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Common snook in Florida →

Spot profile

Shell Pass

Depth
4-9 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Pass · Inner · Semi-exposedPass · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonCommon snook

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 Shell Pass

Shell Pass is a channel in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound, Florida. Depth is 4-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads pass, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Big Jim Creek

    Bay · 1.9 mi

    77
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 77
    • Spotted seatrout 75
    • Spanish mackerel 70

    10 kt EL 3:30 PM · 0.2 ftH 10:25 PM · 1.4 ft

  • Jug Creek

    Bay · 0.2 mi

    76
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 76
    • Spotted seatrout 74
    • Spanish mackerel 71

    10 kt EL 2:52 PM · 0.3 ftH 10:55 PM · 1.3 ft

  • 76
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 76
    • Red drum 69
    • Spotted seatrout 69

    10 kt EL 2:52 PM · 0.3 ftH 10:55 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Back Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    75
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 75
    • Red drum 73
    • Common snook 72

    10 kt EL 2:52 PM · 0.3 ftH 10:55 PM · 1.3 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.