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Red drumRetention openBay · Florida
Little Catfish Basin
30.52°N · 87.00°W · Bay · Pensacola Bay Area including Santa Rosa Sound
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 3 PM · Red drum
- Now
- 792 PM CST
- Best window
- 2-5 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Little Catfish Basin 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 · 5 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
80Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
64Wind: 5 kt SSEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
98Water temp: 73°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Spotted seatrout
Species seasonality
98Season: 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 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
Little Catfish Basin
- Depth
- Up to 3 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · 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 Little Catfish Basin
Little Catfish Basin is a bay in Pensacola Bay Area including Santa Rosa Sound, Florida. Depth is up to 3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are red drum, spotted seatrout and Spanish mackerel. It is peak season now for red drum, spotted seatrout, Spanish mackerel and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for black drum, king mackerel, sheepshead and gray triggerfish. Red drum peak from September through November. Spotted seatrout peak from March through May and from October through November. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November.
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.
- Spotted seatrout
- Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Catfish Basin79
Bay · 0.5 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 79
- Spotted seatrout 76
- Spanish mackerel 68
8 kt ESEL 4:55 PM · 0.3 ftH 6:48 AM · 1.6 ft
- Doghole Basin75
Bay · 0.3 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 75
- Spanish mackerel 72
- Spotted seatrout 72
8 kt ESEL 4:55 PM · 0.3 ftH 6:48 AM · 1.6 ft
- Blackwater Bay75
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 75
- Spanish mackerel 72
- Spotted seatrout 72
8 kt ESEL 4:55 PM · 0.3 ftH 6:48 AM · 1.6 ft
- Escribano Point71
Cape · 1.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 71
- Spanish mackerel 68
- Spotted seatrout 68
8 kt ESEL 4:55 PM · 0.3 ftH 6:48 AM · 1.6 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.