UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
PermitRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 AM · Permit
- Now
- 3011 AM CST
- Best window
- 2-6 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing0.4 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Hand Cove 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
Friday, Nov 6 · 6 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
74Tide: EbbingCurrent: WeakWind & pressure
ECMWF
96Wind: 3 kt NWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
Open-Meteo Marine
87Water temp: 75°F, coolLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.5 ftSeason & habitat · Permit
Species seasonality
32Off season · capped at 35Season: Off seasonHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In range
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
Hand Cove
- Depth
- 6-20 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
- 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 Hand Cove
Hand Cove is a bay in Western Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida. Depth is 6-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 19 species here; the best right now are Spanish mackerel, Florida pompano and red drum. It is peak season now for Spanish mackerel, Florida pompano, red drum and spotted seatrout, and shoulder season for sheepshead, king mackerel, black drum and gray triggerfish. Spanish mackerel peak from April through May and from October through November. Florida pompano peak from March through May and from October through November. 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.
- Florida pompano
- Pompano feed on sand fleas and coquina clams in the trough between the beach and the first sandbar, and around the sandy edges of passes, inlets and bridges. Surf anglers fish a two-hook pompano rig with sand fleas, clams or shrimp, while boat and bridge anglers bounce small jigs along the bottom. The runs follow water temperature, heading north in spring and south in fall as the water cools.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Poquito Bayou65
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 65
- Florida pompano 59
- Spanish mackerel 59
8 kt EL 6:31 PM · 0.1 ftH 8:58 AM · 0.4 ft
- Garmier Bayou65
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 65
- Florida pompano 59
- Spanish mackerel 59
8 kt EL 6:31 PM · 0.1 ftH 8:58 AM · 0.4 ft
- Dons Bayou65
Bay · 1.2 mi
Top: Red drumPeak season- Red drum 65
- Florida pompano 59
- Spanish mackerel 59
8 kt EL 6:31 PM · 0.1 ftH 8:58 AM · 0.4 ft
- Paradise Point59
Cape · 0.3 mi
Top: Florida pompanoPeak season- Florida pompano 59
- Spanish mackerel 59
- Red drum 58
8 kt EL 6:31 PM · 0.1 ftH 8:58 AM · 0.4 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.