Waterlands

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Black drumRetention open

Channel · Florida

Mullet Key Channel

27.61°N · 82.70°W · Channel · Tampa Bay waters

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Best score today · 9 AM · Black drum

78/100Great
Now
6310 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.1 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 · 84

24-hour conditions

Thursday, Oct 1 · 6 PM

Time6P
Score66Great
Tide0.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.8 kn · toward ENE
Wind8 kn ESEgusts 21 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 2 s
Air temp84°Hot
WeatherPartly cloudy65% chance of rain
Water85°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Black drum

Retention open
Daily limit
5 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Slot 14 to 24 in, total length. One fish over 24 inches allowed, counted in the bag limit.
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
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.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Black Drum, read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Atlantic croaker Retention open
  • 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))
  • 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)
Always check with FWC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: FWC · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black drum is best here

Shoulder season for Black drum · 18 more weeks at shoulder

Black drum season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Black drum · 18 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Black drum in Florida →

Spot profile

Mullet Key Channel

Depth
30-50 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Outer · ExposedChannel · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonBlack 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 Mullet Key Channel

Mullet Key Channel is a channel in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 30-50 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, outer water and exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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

View all on map →
  • Soldier Hole

    Bay · 2.4 mi

    76
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 76
    • Gray snapper 73
    • Red drum 72

    3 kt EH 11:48 PM · 1.3 ftL 4:08 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Mullet Key Bayou

    Bay · 2.4 mi

    76
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 76
    • Common snook 73
    • Atlantic croaker 69

    6 kt ENEH 11:48 PM · 1.3 ftL 4:08 AM · 1.0 ft

  • De Soto Point

    Cape · 2.5 mi

    72
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 72
    • Gray snapper 69
    • Red drum 67

    3 kt EH 11:48 PM · 1.3 ftL 4:08 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Mullet Key Shoal

    Bar · 1.0 mi

    71
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 71
    • Gray snapper 69
    • Red drum 67

    3 kt EH 11:48 PM · 1.3 ftL 4:08 AM · 1.0 ft

Open in the tide map

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.