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Red drumRetention openBay · Florida
Saint Vincent Sound
29.70°N · 85.12°W · Bay · Coastal Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola out 20 NM
Species here · tap to switch
- Best of all69
- Red drum69
- Spanish mackerel69
- King mackerel67
- Florida pompano65
- Black drum56
- Gray triggerfish55
- Red grouper55
- Sheepshead54
- Gray snapper52
- Wahoo48
- Atlantic croaker35
- Atlantic tarpon35
- Cobia35
- Crevalle jack35
- Mahi-mahi35
- Yellowfin tuna35
- Permit30
- Sailfish30
- Spotted seatrout30
- Gag grouper20
- Greater amberjack20
- Red snapper20
- Southern flounder20
Best score today · 7 AM · Florida pompano
- Now
- 6910 AM EST
- Best window
- 7 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Saint Vincent Sound 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
Sunday, Nov 15 · 6 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
90Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
86Wind: 9 kt ESEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
95Water temp: 72°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Florida pompano
Species seasonality
100Season: PeakHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Red drum
Retention open- Daily limit
- 1 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Slot 18 to 27 in, total length
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Must stay whole until landed ashore. For-hire captain and crew may not keep a bag limit. Hook and line or cast net only. No spearing, gigging, bowfishing, snatch hooking, or multiple hooks with natural bait. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Red Drum (Redfish), 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 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)
- Snook Retention open (1 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 Red drum is best here
Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Saint Vincent Sound
- Depth
- 4-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonRed 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 Saint Vincent Sound
Saint Vincent Sound is a bay in Coastal Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is 4-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, outer water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 23 species here; the best right now are red drum, Spanish mackerel and king mackerel. It is peak season now for red drum, Spanish mackerel, Florida pompano and spotted seatrout, and shoulder season for king mackerel, black drum, gray triggerfish and red grouper. Red drum peak from September through November. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. King mackerel peak in May and in October.
Tackle & technique
- Red drum
- Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
- 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.
- King mackerel
- Kings roam from beaches and pier ends out to reefs, wrecks and ledges in 40 to 200 feet, usually feeding in the upper half of the water column. Slow-troll live menhaden, blue runners or cigar minnows on a light wire stinger rig, or pull spoons and ribbonfish past bait schools. Look for clean green water above 68 F with bait and birds on it.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Paradise Point75
Cape · 1.8 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 75
- Spanish mackerel 69
- King mackerel 68
12 kt ENEL 4:36 PM · 0.2 ftH 11:43 PM · 1.3 ft
- Saint Vincent Point75
Cape · 3.2 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 75
- Spanish mackerel 70
- King mackerel 68
12 kt ENEL 4:36 PM · 0.2 ftH 11:43 PM · 1.3 ft
- Sheepshead Bayou74
Bay · 2.5 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 74
- Red drum 69
- Spanish mackerel 68
12 kt ENEL 4:36 PM · 0.2 ftH 11:43 PM · 1.3 ft
- Big Bayou67
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Spanish mackerel 66
- King mackerel 65
11 kt ENEL 5:32 PM · 0.3 ftH 1:58 AM · 1.4 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.