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Best score today · 8 PM · Sheepshead

82/100Great

Now: 354 PM EDT
Best window: 7-10 PMFlood tide
Tide now: Ebbing0.7 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Tue · 86

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 PM · now

DRAG OR TAP AN HOUR

Time4PNOW

Score35Fair

Tide0.7 ft ▼Ebbing

CurrentEbb0.5 kn · toward NNW

Wind2 kn WNWgusts 11 · steady

Sea stateLight chop0.5 ft · 6 s

Air temp85°Hot

WeatherPartly cloudy88% chance of rain

Water86°FObserved

TUE · SEP 22

WED · SEP 23

1P

2P

3P

NOW

5P

6P

7P

8P

9P

10P

11P

12A

1A

2A

3A

4A

5A

6A

7A

8A

9A

10A

11A

12P

35

1.1

1.2

1.0

0.5

○0.1

0.8

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.3

○0.0

○0.1

0.3

○0.0

○0.2

0.7

1.1

1.0

0.6

○0.1

○0.0

0.4

92

91

100

112

122

121

123

115

105

84

74

63

64

74

85

105

115

125

124

0.5

44%

57%

72%

88%

98%

100%

97%

86%

62%

31%

86°

87°

Hour

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Sheepshead

Retention open

Daily limit: 8 per day
Possession: Not published
Size: Minimum 12 in, total length
Season: No closed season on file
Annual quota: Not published
Other: State rules extend into federal waters. 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. A 50-fish vessel limit applies in March and April.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Sheepshead, 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 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))
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)

Always check with FWC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: FWC · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Sheepshead is best here

Out of season for Sheepshead · shoulder season starts in 2 weeks

Peak
Shoulder
Off
This week

Sheepshead in Florida →

Spot profile

Clearwater Harbor

Depth: 3-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure: Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
Season: Off seasonSheepshead

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 Clearwater Harbor

Clearwater Harbor is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 3-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are common snook, gray snapper and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for common snook, gray snapper, Atlantic croaker and red drum, and shoulder season for Spanish mackerel, southern flounder, black drum and crevalle jack. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Gray snapper peak from June through September. Atlantic croaker peak from July through September.

Tackle & technique

Sheepshead: Sheepshead graze barnacles and crabs off pilings, jetty rocks, bridge supports, oyster bars and nearshore reefs, from a few feet deep out to about 50 feet. Drop a fiddler crab, sand flea or piece of shrimp on a small, strong hook straight down next to the structure with just enough weight to hold bottom. The bite is a light tap, so keep the line tight and set the hook fast.
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.
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

View all on map →

Clearwater Pass
Channel · 1.2 mi
65
Top: Common snookPeak season
- Common snook 65
- Atlantic croaker 60
- Red drum 59
2 kt WNWH 11:03 PM · 2.4 ftL 4:01 AM · 1.6 ft
Mandalay Channel
Channel · 1.0 mi
62
Top: Common snookPeak season
- Common snook 62
- Atlantic croaker 60
- Red drum 59
2 kt WNWH 11:03 PM · 2.4 ftL 4:01 AM · 1.6 ft
Pope Channel
Channel · 1.3 mi
62
Top: Common snookPeak season
- Common snook 62
- Atlantic croaker 60
- Red drum 59
2 kt WNWH 11:03 PM · 2.4 ftL 4:01 AM · 1.6 ft
Clearwater Bay
Bay · 0.5 mi
61
Top: Common snookPeak season
- Common snook 61
- Red drum 58
- Atlantic croaker 57
2 kt WNWH 11:03 PM · 2.4 ftL 4:01 AM · 1.6 ft