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Red drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Spanish mackerel
- Now
- 599 PM CST
- Best window
- 9 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding0.7 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Bunkers Cove 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, Nov 16 · 6 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.8 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 6 kt SSWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
91Water temp: 74°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Spanish mackerel
Species seasonality
87Season: PeakHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: 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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Red drum is best here
Peak season for Red drum · 3 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Bunkers Cove
- Depth
- 10-30 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
- 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 Bunkers Cove
Bunkers Cove is a bay in St. Andrews Bay Waterways, Florida. Depth is 10-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are red drum, Florida pompano and Spanish mackerel. It is peak season now for red drum, Florida pompano, Spanish mackerel and spotted seatrout, and shoulder season for black drum, gray snapper, king mackerel and sheepshead. Red drum peak from September through November. Florida pompano 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Massalina Bayou66
Bay · 1.0 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 66
- Spotted seatrout 62
- Florida pompano 57
8 kt ESEH 6:29 AM · 1.1 ftL 1:11 PM · 0.7 ft
- Lake Van Vac62
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 62
- Florida pompano 60
- Spanish mackerel 58
8 kt ESEH 6:29 AM · 1.1 ftL 1:11 PM · 0.7 ft
- Town Point58
Cape · 0.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 58
- Florida pompano 56
- Spanish mackerel 54
8 kt ESEH 6:29 AM · 1.1 ftL 1:11 PM · 0.7 ft
- Bunkers Point55
Cape · 0.4 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 55
- Florida pompano 54
- Spanish mackerel 51
8 kt ESEH 6:29 AM · 1.1 ftL 1:11 PM · 0.7 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.