UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
Florida pompanoRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all74
- Florida pompano74
- Spanish mackerel73
- Black drum66
- Common snook66
- Spotted seatrout66
- Red drum65
- King mackerel61
- Sheepshead58
- Gray snapper57
- Gray triggerfish57
- Red grouper57
- Atlantic croaker35
- Atlantic tarpon35
- Cobia35
- Crevalle jack35
- Permit35
- Gag grouper20
- Greater amberjack20
- Red snapper20
- Southern flounder20
Best score today · 8 AM · Florida pompano
- Now
- 746 AM EST
- Best window
- 7-10 AMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Flooding1.7 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Key ROyale Bar 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 · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
70Tide: FloodingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 5 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
83Water temp: 76°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.1 ftSeason & habitat · Florida pompano
Species seasonality
95Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Florida pompano
Retention open- Daily limit
- 6 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Minimum 11 in, fork length
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Special rules apply in Biscayne National Park. Hook and line, cast net, and beach or haul seine only. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Open year-round in state and federal waters.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Permit, Florida pompano and African pompano, 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
- 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 drum Retention open (1 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 Florida pompano is best here
Peak season for Florida pompano · 3 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Key ROyale Bar
- Depth
- 1-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonFlorida pompano
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 Key ROyale Bar
Key ROyale Bar is a bar in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 1-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Florida pompano, Spanish mackerel and black drum. It is peak season now for Florida pompano, Spanish mackerel, spotted seatrout and red drum, and shoulder season for black drum, common snook, king mackerel and sheepshead. Florida pompano peak from March through May and from October through November. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. Black drum peak from February through April.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Passage Key Inlet81
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season- Spanish mackerel 81
- Florida pompano 77
- Common snook 76
5 kt EH 8:12 AM · 1.9 ftL 2:19 PM · 0.6 ft
- Bimini Bay76
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 76
- Spanish mackerel 76
- Red drum 74
5 kt EH 8:12 AM · 1.9 ftL 2:19 PM · 0.6 ft
- The Bulkhead74
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 74
- Spanish mackerel 73
- Black drum 66
5 kt EH 8:12 AM · 1.9 ftL 2:19 PM · 0.6 ft
- Jones Bayou72
Bay · 1.8 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 72
- Spotted seatrout 71
- Florida pompano 68
5 kt EH 7:55 AM · 1.9 ftL 1:06 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.