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Red drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 5 PM · Red drum
- Now
- 758 PM CDT
- Best window
- 8-10 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Horseshoe Bayou 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
Friday, Oct 2 · 5 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
99Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
89Wind: 6 kt SSEPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
87Water temp: 85°F, warmLight: DuskSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Red drum
Species seasonality
95Season: PeakHabitat: Usable 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 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
Horseshoe Bayou
- Depth
- 1-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Estuary · Inner · ProtectedEstuary · 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 Horseshoe Bayou
Horseshoe Bayou is a bay in Eastern Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida. Depth is 1-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads estuary, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are red drum, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper. It is peak season now for red drum, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper, and shoulder season for southern flounder, crevalle jack, Atlantic tarpon and gag grouper. Red drum peak from September through November. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September. 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
- Hogtown Bayou74
Bay · 4.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 74
- Atlantic croaker 70
- Gray snapper 65
4 kt SWL 11:17 PM · 0.4 ftH 10:25 AM · 0.9 ft
- Choctawhatchee Bay73
Bay · 3.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 73
- Atlantic croaker 72
- Gray snapper 71
4 kt SWL 12:11 AM · 0.4 ftH 10:37 AM · 0.9 ft
- Grassy Cove72
Bay · 6.0 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 72
- Atlantic croaker 71
- Gray snapper 70
4 kt SWL 12:11 AM · 0.4 ftH 10:37 AM · 0.9 ft
- Live Oak Point67
Cape · 5.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 67
- Atlantic croaker 65
- Gray snapper 65
4 kt SWL 11:17 PM · 0.4 ftH 10:25 AM · 0.9 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.