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Red drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 8 AM · Red drum
- Now
- 5811 PM CDT
- Best window
- 11 PM-12 AMMoving water
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.4 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Choctawhatchee Bay 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 · rolling from now
Conditions · 11 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
42Tide: EbbingCurrent: WeakWind & pressure
ECMWF
57Wind: 1 kt NWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
Open-Meteo Marine
71Water temp: 87°F, warmLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.7 ftSeason & habitat · Red drum
Species seasonality
88Season: PeakHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
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 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 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)
Source: FWC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Red drum is best here
Peak season for Red drum · 9 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Choctawhatchee Bay
- Depth
- About 20 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · 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 Choctawhatchee Bay
Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in Eastern Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida. Depth is about 20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, red drum and gray snapper. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder, black drum and permit. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. Red drum peak from September through November. Gray snapper peak from June through September.
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.
- 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.
- Gray snapper
- Mangrove snapper hold tight to mangrove roots, bridge pilings, jetties and reef ledges, from a few feet deep inshore to 150 feet offshore. Chum to pull them out of cover, then freeline or lightly weight a live shrimp or pilchard on fluorocarbon leader, since they shy away from heavy line in clear water. The bite improves at dusk and after dark.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Jones Bayou71
Bay · 5.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 71
- Atlantic croaker 69
- Atlantic tarpon 66
3 kt NWH 7:49 AM · 0.8 ftL 6:25 PM · 0.2 ft
- Horseshoe Bayou61
Bay · 3.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 61
- Atlantic croaker 59
- Southern flounder 55
1 kt NWL 12:11 AM · 0.4 ftH 10:37 AM · 0.9 ft
- Grassy Cove58
Bay · 3.2 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 58
- Atlantic croaker 57
- Gray snapper 57
1 kt NWL 12:11 AM · 0.4 ftH 10:37 AM · 0.9 ft
- Stake Point51
Cape · 3.2 mi
Top: Gray snapperPeak season- Gray snapper 51
- Atlantic croaker 50
- Red drum 50
3 kt NWH 11:22 AM · 0.8 ftL 12:22 AM · 0.5 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.