Waterlands

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Red drumRetention open

Cape · Florida

Pendola Point

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

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Best score today · 9 AM · Red drum

74/100Great
Now
626 PM EDT
Best window
7 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.8 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 PM · now

Time6PNOW
Score62Good
Tide0.8 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind9 kn Egusts 20 · easing
Sea stateLight chop0.5 ft · 2 s
Air temp79°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy84% chance of rain
Water87°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)

IN EFFECT NOW

Red drum

Retention open
Daily limit
1 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Slot 18 to 27 in, total length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Must stay whole until landed ashore. For-hire captain and crew may not keep a bag limit. Hook and line or cast net only. No spearing, gigging, bowfishing, snatch hooking, or multiple hooks with natural bait. Open year-round.

From FWC Recreational Regulations: Red Drum (Redfish), 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 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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 10 more weeks at peak

Red drum season by week of the year. Peak season for Red drum · 10 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Red drum in Florida

Spot profile

Pendola Point

Depth
4-50 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · drop-off
Season
Peak seasonRed 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, red drum and common snook. It is peak season now for gray snapper, red drum, common snook and Atlantic croaker, and shoulder season for gag grouper, red grouper, gray triggerfish and red snapper. Gray snapper peak from June through September. Red drum peak from September through November. Common snook peak from April through May and from September through October.

Tackle & technique

Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
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

  • Sparkman Channel

    Channel · 2.3 mi

    67
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 67
    • Atlantic croaker 65
    • Common snook 65

    9 kt EH 6:29 AM · 2.8 ftL 4:33 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Seaplane Basin

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    66
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 66
    • Common snook 64
    • Atlantic croaker 62

    9 kt EH 7:03 AM · 2.7 ftL 4:56 PM · 0.6 ft

  • East Bay

    Bay · 1.4 mi

    66
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 66
    • Atlantic croaker 62
    • Gray snapper 62

    9 kt EH 6:32 AM · 2.7 ftL 4:36 PM · 0.6 ft

  • Black Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    61
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 61
    • Common snook 59
    • Gray snapper 57

    9 kt EH 6:34 AM · 2.8 ftL 4:30 PM · 0.6 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.