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Clearwater Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Pier 60, the pass, and a grass-flat bay: Tampa Bay's beach-town sibling runs its own complete inshore fishery.

3/5
Fair. Fish early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.
Next tide
High 5:32 AM
Air / High
89 / 92 F
Wind
WSW 9 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8726724, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 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 early or late.Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Clearwater locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. Today brings cloud cover, wind WSW around 9 mph, steady pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 92. Tides: high 4:15 AM, low 1:00 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 85 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Redfish (red drum)Excellent

Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled troutGood

First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

Tomorrow: Similar at 90 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8726724 (Clearwater Beach). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
HIGH4:15 AM3.1 ft
LOW1:00 PM0.4 ft
Sat
HIGH5:32 AM3.0 ft
LOW2:24 PM0.3 ft

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp89 F
High / Low92 / 78 F
WindWSW 9-11 mph
Pressure1013.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain96% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset07:11 / 19:48
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~85 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 92/78 F, wind 10 mph, rain 20%

Fair or better. A 10 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

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

Redfish (red drum) illustration

Redfish (red drum)

Best: Sep-Nov bull run

The copper-flanked king of the flats and surf: tailing in inches of water, schooling by the hundred in fall. Dawn topwater over grass flats and shorelines, then follow them to deeper guts and channel edges with gold spoons and paddletails. Look for wakes and nervous bait.

Speckled trout illustration

Speckled trout

Best: spring and fall

The Gulf coast's everyday obsession: soft mouths, violent topwater strikes and a fishery that lives by tide and bait. First light topwater over grass and shell, then deeper: free-lined live shrimp or croaker over 4-8 ft structure. The bite dies with the sun; night lights fish well.

When to come: the Clearwater 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 85 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~85 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 Clearwater today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 90 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 15 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 91 F, wind to 17 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

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

Regulations

Florida saltwater license. Snook: seasonal closures and one-fish slot when open: check current FWC. Grouper rules federal vs state by distance.

Access

Pier 60 (fee), Dunedin Causeway kayak launches, Clearwater and Belleair ramps, Honeymoon Island State Park.

About this water

Gulf beach city on St. Joseph Sound, Pinellas County, FL. The working edge of the Tampa Bay inshore complex.

Fishing Clearwater: the full guide

Pier 60 and the beachfront

Clearwater's Pier 60 is the sunset postcard with a rod rack: Spanish mackerel runs spring and fall, pompano and whiting in the surf line, snook cruising the bar at first light in summer. The beach itself fishes best at dawn before the towels arrive: silver spoons for ladyfish-and-Spanish melees whenever bait balls push the trough.

The pass system

Clearwater Pass and Hurricane Pass move the water that feeds everything: snook stack the pass rocks and dock lights June-August, gag grouper prowl the channel edges in fall, and the outgoing tide's bait flush turns the beach corners into ambush lines. Boat traffic peaks midday: fish the tides at the edges of the day.

St. Joseph Sound flats

North of town, the sound's grass flats (Caladesi, Honeymoon Island's lee) run classic west-Florida inshore: trout over potholes, redfish schools tailing the mangrove edges on high water, flounder on the sand cuts. Kayak launches at Dunedin Causeway open it all without a boat ramp line.

A year on the Clearwater coast

Winter: sheepshead on every structure, trout in the deep holes, silver kings absent. Spring: Spanish and kingfish runs outside, snook waking up. Summer: snook season proper (check open windows), tarpon rolling the beach at dawn for the committed. Fall: redfish schools, gags in the passes, bait everywhere. The fishery rewards tide-app literacy more than range.

Common questions

When is snook season around Clearwater?

FWC opens harvest windows (typically spring and fall: verify current dates): the rest is catch-and-release. Summer's closed-season fish stack the passes and lights: the best action is release action.

Is Pier 60 worth fishing among the tourists?

Dawn and the last two hours of light, yes: Spanish runs and pompano schools pass within casting range while the crowd photographs sunsets. Midday is for people-watching, not fish.

Is fishing good at Clearwater 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 early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows.

Nearby waters

Tampa Bay19 miSarasota48 miHomosassa56 miVenice65 miClearwater Lake76 miLake Harris81 mi
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