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Black drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 5 PM · Black drum
- Now
- 542 PM CDT
- Best window
- 4-9 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Motes Point 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
Monday, Oct 5 · 7 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
99Wind: 3 kt SPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
50Water temp: 85°F, warmLight: DuskSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Black drum
Species seasonality
62Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Black drum
Retention open- Daily limit
- 5 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Slot 14 to 24 in, total length. One fish over 24 inches allowed, counted in the bag limit.
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Special rules apply in Biscayne National Park. Hook and line, cast net, seine, spear or gig. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Black Drum, read Sep 13
Other species here
- Atlantic croaker Retention open
- 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)
Source: FWC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Black drum is best here
Shoulder season for Black drum · 18 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Motes Point
- Depth
- 1-3 ftNearest water
- Structure
- Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonBlack 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 Motes Point
Motes Point is a cape in Eastern Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida. Depth in the nearest water is 1-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are red drum, permit and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for red drum, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper, and shoulder season for permit, Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder and black drum. Red drum peak from September through November. Permit peak from April through June. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Black drum
- Black drum root along the bottom around oyster reefs, bridge and pier pilings, channel edges and shallow mud flats. TPWD notes they rarely take artificials, so fish peeled shrimp, crab, clams or sand fleas on a bottom rig and let the fish load the rod before setting the hook. Big spawning schools gather near passes and bay mouths in late winter and spring, and in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay the large fish show up on the shoals from April into June.
- 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.
- Permit
- Permit cruise flat edges and channels in 2 to 6 feet of water in the Keys and Biscayne Bay, and school over wrecks and reefs in 30 to 120 feet, especially during the spring spawn. A live or artificial crab is the standard bait, cast ahead of a tailing fish on the flats or dropped to a school on a wreck. They spook easily in shallow water, so good light and a long, quiet cast are needed.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Alaqua Bayou64
Bay · 2.3 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 64
- Red drum 63
- Gray snapper 58
1 kt ESEL 12:08 AM · 0.5 ftH 11:16 AM · 0.9 ft
- LaGrange Bayou64
Bay · 2.5 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 64
- Red drum 63
- Gray snapper 58
1 kt ESEL 12:08 AM · 0.5 ftH 11:16 AM · 0.9 ft
- Mallet Bayou64
Bay · 2.6 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 64
- Red drum 64
- Permit 61
1 kt ESEL 12:08 AM · 0.5 ftH 11:16 AM · 0.9 ft
- Wheeler Point59
Cape · 2.4 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 59
- Gray snapper 58
- Red drum 56
1 kt ESEL 12:08 AM · 0.5 ftH 11:16 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.