UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
PermitRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all
- Spanish mackerel65
- Black drum60
- Red drum58
- Spotted seatrout58
- Common snook56
- Florida pompano56
- King mackerel54
- Gray triggerfish53
- Red grouper52
- Sheepshead52
- Gray snapper51
- Atlantic croaker35
- Atlantic tarpon35
- Cobia35
- Crevalle jack35
- Permit35
- Gag grouper20
- Greater amberjack20
- Red snapper20
- Southern flounder20
Best score today · 9 AM · Permit
- Now
- 3512 PM EST
- Best window
- 4-11 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.4 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when The Bulkhead 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 · 12 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
71Tide: EbbingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
84Wind: 0 kt SSWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
78Water temp: 78°F, primeLight: Bright sunSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.3 ftSeason & habitat · Permit
Species seasonality
20Off season · capped at 35Season: Off seasonHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Permit
Retention open- Daily limit
- 2 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Slot 11 to 22 in, fork length. One fish over 22 inches allowed per person, counted in the bag limit.
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- No more than 2 permit over 22 inches per vessel. Hook and line only in state waters. No multiple hooks with natural bait. No snatching. Outside the Special Permit Zone. Open year-round.
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
- Florida pompano Retention open (6 per day)
- Gag grouper Closed (No retention)
- Gray snapper Retention open (5 per day (10 snapper combined))
- Gray triggerfish Retention open (1 per day)
- Greater amberjack Closed (No retention)
- King mackerel Retention open (3 per day)
- Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
- Red drum Retention open (1 per day)
- Red grouper Retention open (2 per day (4 Gulf grouper combined))
- Red snapper Closed (No retention)
- Sailfish Retention open (1 per day (1 billfish combined))
- Sheepshead Retention open (8 per day)
- Snook Retention open (1 per day)
- Southern flounder Closed (No retention)
- Spanish mackerel Retention open (15 per day)
- Spot Retention open
- Spotted seatrout Retention open (3 per day)
- Summer flounder Closed (No retention)
- Tarpon Catch & release (No retention)
- Wahoo Retention open (2 per day)
Source: FWC · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Permit is best here
Out of season for Permit · shoulder season starts in 17 weeks
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
The Bulkhead
- Depth
- 7-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
- Season
- Off seasonPermit
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 The Bulkhead
The Bulkhead is a bar in Tampa Bay waters, Florida. Depth is 7-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 20 species here; the best right now are Spanish mackerel, black drum and red drum. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, red drum, spotted seatrout and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for black drum, common snook, king mackerel and gray triggerfish. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. Black drum peak from February through April. Red drum peak from September through November.
Tackle & technique
- Permit
- Permit cruise flat edges and channels in 2 to 6 feet of water in the Keys and Biscayne Bay, and school over wrecks and reefs in 30 to 120 feet, especially during the spring spawn. A live or artificial crab is the standard bait, cast ahead of a tailing fish on the flats or dropped to a school on a wreck. They spook easily in shallow water, so good light and a long, quiet cast are needed.
- Spanish mackerel
- Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Passage Key Inlet70
Bay · 2.1 mi
Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season- Spanish mackerel 70
- Common snook 65
- Red drum 65
0 kt SSWL 2:53 PM · 0.9 ftH 9:14 PM · 2.2 ft
- Bimini Bay66
Bay · 1.5 mi
Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season- Spanish mackerel 66
- Red drum 64
- Spotted seatrout 63
0 kt SSWL 2:53 PM · 0.9 ftH 9:14 PM · 2.2 ft
- Key ROyale Bar65
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season- Spanish mackerel 65
- Black drum 60
- Red drum 58
0 kt SSWL 2:53 PM · 0.9 ftH 9:14 PM · 2.2 ft
- Mead Point59
Cape · 1.8 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 59
- Spanish mackerel 58
- Red drum 57
0 kt SSWL 4:40 PM · 0.7 ftH 10:12 PM · 2.0 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.