Waterlands

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Black drumRetention open

Cape · Florida

Pendola Point

27.90°N · 82.43°W · Cape · Tampa Bay waters

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 9 PM · Black drum

74/100Great
Now
5610 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.4 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: Mon · 75

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 10 PM · now

Time10PNOW
Score56Good
Tide1.4 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.3 kn · toward N
Wind3 kn ENEgusts 7 · steady
Sea stateCalm0.1 ft · 3 s
Air temp75°Warm
WeatherClear31% chance of rain
Water86°FObserved

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

Pendola Point

Depth
4-50 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · drop-off
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 Pendola Point

Pendola Point is a cape in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth in the nearest water is 4-50 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are gray snapper, common snook and red drum. It is peak season now for gray snapper, common snook, red drum and Atlantic croaker, and shoulder season for gag grouper, red snapper, Atlantic tarpon and red grouper. Gray snapper peak from June through September. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October. Red drum peak from September through November.

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Sparkman Channel

    Channel · 2.3 mi

    76
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 76
    • Common snook 74
    • Gray snapper 74

    3 kt ENEH 1:16 AM · 2.3 ftL 5:05 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Seaplane Basin

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Common snook 73
    • Gray snapper 73

    3 kt ENEH 1:50 AM · 2.2 ftL 4:58 AM · 2.2 ft

  • East Bay

    Bay · 1.4 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Gray snapper 73
    • Red drum 73

    3 kt ENEH 1:19 AM · 2.2 ftL 5:08 AM · 2.1 ft

  • Black Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    69
    Top: Common snookPeak season
    • Common snook 69
    • Gray snapper 68
    • Red drum 68

    3 kt ENEH 12:54 AM · 2.3 ftL 5:12 AM · 2.0 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.