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Black drumRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Common snook65
- Atlantic croaker62
- Atlantic tarpon61
- Red drum61
- Gray snapper59
- Southern flounder55
- Black drum54
- Permit54
- Spanish mackerel54
- Gag grouper53
- Crevalle jack52
- Gray triggerfish50
- Red grouper50
- Red snapper50
- Spotted seatrout48
- Cobia46
- Florida pompano46
- King mackerel46
- Greater amberjack44
- Sheepshead35
Best score today · 9 AM · Black drum
- Now
- 547 PM EDT
- Best window
- 10 PM-12 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Riviera Bay 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
73Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.2 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
98Wind: 3 kt EPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
56Water temp: 90°F, hotLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.1 ftSeason & habitat · Black drum
Species seasonality
60Season: ShoulderHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
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)
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
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Riviera Bay
- Depth
- 4-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- 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 Riviera Bay
Riviera Bay is a bay in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 4-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
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, red drum and gray snapper, and shoulder season for Atlantic tarpon, southern flounder, black drum and permit. 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
- Christmas Pass69
Channel · 1.7 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 69
- Red drum 66
- Atlantic croaker 65
3 kt EL 7:43 PM · 0.5 ftH 2:16 AM · 2.2 ft
- South Gandy Channel66
Channel · 1.8 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 66
- Atlantic croaker 65
- Atlantic tarpon 64
3 kt EL 7:43 PM · 0.5 ftH 2:16 AM · 2.2 ft
- Papys Point66
Cape · 2.3 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 66
- Atlantic tarpon 62
- Common snook 61
3 kt EL 7:43 PM · 0.5 ftH 2:16 AM · 2.2 ft
- Bayou Grande65
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Common snookPeak season- Common snook 65
- Atlantic croaker 62
- Red drum 61
3 kt EL 7:43 PM · 0.5 ftH 2:16 AM · 2.2 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.