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Red drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all69
- Red drum69
- Common snook64
- Atlantic croaker62
- Atlantic tarpon62
- Gray snapper59
- Permit58
- Southern flounder58
- Black drum55
- Spotted seatrout52
- Red snapper49
- Gag grouper48
- Gray triggerfish46
- Red grouper46
- Spanish mackerel46
- Crevalle jack45
- Florida pompano44
- King mackerel41
- Greater amberjack40
- Cobia39
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 10 PM · Red drum
- Now
- 695 AM EDT
- Best window
- 9 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.4 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Cabbage Patch 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, Sep 28 · 2 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
92Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.6 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
89Wind: 4 kt ENEPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
77Water temp: 86°F, warmLight: NightSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 0.8 ftSeason & habitat · Red drum
Species seasonality
100Season: PeakHabitat: Prime 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 yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Red drum is best here
Peak season for Red drum · 10 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Cabbage Patch Point
- Depth
- 1-4 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · 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 Cabbage Patch Point
Cabbage Patch Point is a cape in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 1-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are red drum, common snook and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for red drum, common snook, Atlantic croaker and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, permit, southern flounder and black drum. Red drum peak from September through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from July 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.
- Common snook
- Snook ambush bait around mangrove shorelines, bridge and dock lights, jetties and the mouths of passes and inlets, generally in 2 to 15 feet of water. Fish moving water, especially the outgoing tide, with a live pilchard, pinfish or shrimp, or a jerkbait or soft plastic swum past the structure. In summer they spawn along beaches and inlets, and in winter they crowd into rivers, canals and deep backcountry creeks where the water stays warmer.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Big Island Gap69
Channel · 1.1 mi
Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season- Atlantic croaker 69
- Common snook 69
- Red drum 68
3 kt EH 9:37 AM · 2.8 ftL 7:06 PM · 0.6 ft
- Cedar Point68
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 68
- Common snook 63
- Atlantic tarpon 62
3 kt EH 9:37 AM · 2.8 ftL 7:06 PM · 0.6 ft
- Old Tampa Bay67
Bay · 2.8 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 67
- Atlantic croaker 65
- Gray snapper 61
2 kt NEH 9:35 AM · 2.5 ftL 6:31 PM · 0.6 ft
- South Gandy Channel67
Channel · 4.2 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 67
- Atlantic croaker 65
- Atlantic tarpon 64
3 kt NEH 9:03 AM · 2.5 ftL 6:14 PM · 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.