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Mobile Bay Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Mobile Bay: Alabama's big estuary, fed by the Mobile Delta and home to the jubilee that ADCNR says occurs in only two places in the world.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 9:33 PM
Air / High
72 / 72 F
Wind
NW 8 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8735180, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Mobile Bay lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 8 mph, steady pressure near 1018 hPa and a high of 72. Tides: high 10:36 AM and 9:33 PM, low 5:15 AM and 1:38 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 78 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled troutExcellent

Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

Tomorrow: Similar at 72 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Alabama requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Alabama licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing redfish (red drum) here? Check the size and bag limits with ADCNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Alabama, read off the agency, are on the Alabama seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8735180 (Dauphin Island). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW5:15 AM0.8 ft
HIGH10:36 AM0.9 ft
LOW1:38 PM0.9 ft
HIGH9:33 PM1.2 ft
Sat
LOW6:31 AM0.6 ft
HIGH9:33 PM1.4 ft

Mobile tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp72 F
High / Low72 / 64 F
WindNW 8-10 mph
Pressure1018.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:59 / 18:12
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~78 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Mobile Bay this week

The best day on Mobile Bay this week looks like Monday Oct 26, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Monday, Oct 26 β€” good at 4/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:28 AM-11:28 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM
Minor period
3:50 AM-4:50 AM
Sun
06:59 to 18:12
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 17 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Mobile Bay: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: late-summer and fall bull run; inshore all year

Red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus), called redfish across the South, is a bronze inshore drum with a black spot near the tail, fished on grass flats, oyster bars, marsh creeks and beaches from the Chesapeake around Florida to Texas. Spring and early summer put redfish on grass flats, shorelines and oyster bars; on the Gulf, fish below spawning age stay inside the bays (TPWD). Sight-cast to tailing and cruising fish or drift live shrimp under a popping cork.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Shallow bays spring and summer; deeper water in winter

Speckled trout is the anglers' name for the spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus), a spotted member of the drum family that lives in shallow bays and estuaries from the Chesapeake to Texas. Spring brings seatrout back over shallow seagrass, and the spawning season (April to September in Louisiana and South Carolina) keeps them feeding. Popping corks with live shrimp, free-shrimping on the drift and casting to working birds are the main tools.

When to come: the Mobile Bay calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Redfish (red drum)
Speckled trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 78 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~78 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Mobile Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 10 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 17 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Alabama requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Alabama saltwater fishing license (ADCNR exempts residents and nonresidents under 16 and residents 65 and over). ADCNR limits read today: spotted seatrout 15-22 inches, 6 a day with one over 22 allowed; red drum 16-26 inches, 3 a day; flounder 14-inch minimum, 5 a day, closed in November; sheepshead 12-inch fork length, 8 a day.

Access

ADCNR's coastal ramp list includes Chocalotta on the Causeway (4 ramps, 50 parking spots), D'Olive Bay in Daphne, Viewpoint, Bay Watch, Mullet Point and Pier Street in Fairhope, Dog River Park and McNally Park in Mobile, and Billygoat Hole on Dauphin Island. Pier Street is not maintained by the state.

About this water

The estuary at the mouth of the Mobile Delta, Mobile and Baldwin counties, Alabama.

Fishing Mobile Bay: the full guide

Where the delta meets the bay

ADCNR describes the Mobile Delta, just north of the bay, as about 20,323 acres of water within more than 200,000 acres of swamps, bottomlands and marsh, 30 miles long and 12 miles wide, formed by the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers. Because it empties into Mobile Bay, the agency says, it is a productive estuary holding both freshwater and saltwater fish.

Redfish, trout and flounder

In fall, according to ADCNR, anglers often limit on redfish, speckled trout and flounder off the mouths of the lower Tensaw, Blakeley, Apalachee and Mobile rivers. Redfish take crankbaits, grubs and live shrimp; trout take jigs, grubs and shrimp; flounder come on bottom rigs with bull minnows or grubs. The agency adds that saltwater limits are the same in inland waters as out to three miles offshore.

Bass and bream up the delta

ADCNR rates delta largemouth fishing good year-round, in the grass beds of the lower delta and the timbered rivers of the upper delta. Bream are caught all year, concentrating in late spring around cover in the shallow bays near the Causeway, and bank anglers fish the many bridges and road-accessible spots along the Highway 90-98 Causeway.

The jubilee

A jubilee happens when bottom-dwelling animals are forced to the shoreline by a layer of low-oxygen water, says ADCNR; flounder, shrimp, crabs and catfish may all line up in the shallows, most often on the Eastern Shore. Alabama Cooperative Extension says jubilees occur only in summer, usually before sunrise, and most often between Great Point Clear and just north of Daphne. ADCNR's Marine Resources director has called it an event that occurs in only two places in the world, Mobile Bay and Tokyo Bay. Creel limits and licence rules still apply during a jubilee.

Common questions

What is a jubilee?

An event in which low-oxygen water drives flounder, shrimp, crabs and other bottom dwellers into the shallows, mostly on the Eastern Shore in summer; ADCNR's Marine Resources director says it occurs only in Mobile Bay and Tokyo Bay.

Do limits apply during a jubilee?

Yes. ADCNR says daily creel limits stay in effect and a saltwater licence is required for finfish such as flounder.

Can I catch bass and redfish on the same trip?

ADCNR's delta page describes largemouth in the delta's grass and timber and fall runs of redfish, speckled trout and flounder at the river mouths, so both are available in the delta area.

Is fishing good at Mobile Bay right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Dauphin Island18 miGulf Shores25 miPensacola47 miEscambia River47 miBiloxi53 miPascagoula River53 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8735180 β€” Dauphin Island
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 8 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 30.5000, -88.0000 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 7, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 7, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.