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Florida pompanoRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook57
- Gray snapper52
- Atlantic croaker51
- Red drum51
- Spanish mackerel51
- Atlantic tarpon50
- Florida pompano48
- Black drum47
- Gag grouper45
- Permit44
- Southern flounder44
- Crevalle jack43
- Gray triggerfish42
- Red grouper42
- Red snapper42
- King mackerel40
- Greater amberjack37
- Spotted seatrout36
- Cobia35
- Sheepshead31
Best score today · 9 AM · Florida pompano
- Now
- 487 PM EDT
- Best window
- 9 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Low0.4 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Long Shoal 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 · 7 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
14Tide: Low slackCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 3 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
61Water temp: 87°F, warmLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.1 ftSeason & habitat · Florida pompano
Species seasonality
73Season: ShoulderHabitat: 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 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))
- 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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Florida pompano is best here
Shoulder season for Florida pompano · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Long Shoal
- Depth
- 4-9 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder 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 Long Shoal
Long Shoal is a bar in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 4-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.
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, Atlantic tarpon, Florida pompano and black drum. 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
- 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.
- 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
- Hillsborough Channel62
Channel · 1.8 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 62
- Atlantic croaker 60
- Atlantic tarpon 58
3 kt EH 1:18 AM · 2.4 ftL 6:55 AM · 1.1 ft
- Hillsborough Bay61
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 61
- Atlantic croaker 56
- Gray snapper 56
3 kt EH 2:13 AM · 2.2 ftL 6:30 AM · 1.7 ft
- Catfish Point60
Cape · 1.8 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 60
- Common snook 57
- Atlantic tarpon 56
3 kt EH 1:18 AM · 2.4 ftL 6:55 AM · 1.1 ft
- Long Bar57
Bar · 1.5 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 57
- Gray snapper 52
- Atlantic croaker 51
3 kt EH 1:18 AM · 2.4 ftL 6:55 AM · 1.1 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.