Waterlands

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Yellowfin tunaShoulder season

Bay · Florida

Sheepshead Bayou

29.68°N · 85.09°W · Bay · Coastal Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola out 20 NM

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Best score today · 6 PM · Yellowfin tuna

74/100Great
Now
421 PM EDT
Best window
3-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
High1.6 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: Sun · 82

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 1 PM · now

Time1PNOW
Score42Fair
Tide1.6 ftHigh
Current0.6 knmodeled · toward W
Wind8 kn ENEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp86°Hot
WeatherClear39% chance of rain
Water87°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Yellowfin tuna is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with FWC before you keep a fish.

Species rules 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 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 Retention open (1 per day)
  • 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 today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Yellowfin tuna is best here

Shoulder season for Yellowfin tuna · 5 more weeks at shoulder

Yellowfin tuna season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Yellowfin tuna · 5 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Yellowfin tuna in Florida →

Spot profile

Sheepshead Bayou

Depth
Under 1 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Estuary · Inner · ProtectedEstuary · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonYellowfin tuna

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 Sheepshead Bayou

Sheepshead Bayou is a bay in Coastal Waters from Mexico Beach to Apalachicola out 20 NM, Florida. Depth is under 1 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads estuary, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 23 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, Florida pompano and red drum. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Florida pompano, crevalle jack, permit and southern flounder. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Florida pompano peak from March through May and from October through November. Red drum peak from September through November.

Tackle & technique

Yellowfin tuna
Yellowfin feed in blue water along canyon edges, the shelf break, current edges, deepwater platforms and FADs, usually from the surface to about 300 feet. Troll ballyhoo, spreader bars and cedar plugs early in the day, then chunk butterfish or sardines, fish live hardtails, or drop jigs to marks. Around Gulf platforms and in the canyons the night bite on chunks and jigs is often better than the day.
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.
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 →
  • Paradise Point

    Cape · 0.7 mi

    67
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 67
    • Florida pompano 63
    • Red drum 55

    8 kt ENEL 9:01 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:34 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Saint Vincent Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    67
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 67
    • Florida pompano 63
    • Red drum 55

    8 kt ENEL 9:01 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:34 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Saint Vincent Sound

    Bay · 2.5 mi

    65
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 65
    • Atlantic croaker 59
    • Florida pompano 57

    8 kt ENEH 3:04 PM · 1.6 ftL 10:55 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Big Bayou

    Bay · 2.6 mi

    65
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 65
    • Atlantic croaker 59
    • Florida pompano 57

    7 kt ENEH 3:04 PM · 1.6 ftL 10:55 PM · 0.5 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.