UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
Atlantic croakerRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 AM · Atlantic croaker
- Now
- 3511 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
Thursday, Nov 12 · 6 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 4 kt NNEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
Open-Meteo Marine
84Water temp: 73°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Atlantic croaker
Species seasonality
37Off season · capped at 35Season: Off seasonHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Gulf state waters (Escambia through Collier counties)
Atlantic croaker
Retention open- Daily limit
- Not published
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Not published
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- 100 pounds per person per day. No minimum size. Open year-round.
From FWC Recreational Regulations: Spot and Atlantic croaker, read Sep 13
Other species here
- 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)
- 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 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 Atlantic croaker is best here
Out of season for Atlantic croaker · shoulder season starts in 22 weeks
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Hand Cove
- Depth
- 6-20 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
- Season
- Off seasonAtlantic croaker
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
- 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.
- 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.