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Clearwater Fishing Report

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

Pier 60, the Seminole Street launch and the city docks of Clearwater, Pinellas County, with a NOAA tide station on Clearwater Beach.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 10:31 PM
Air / High
80 / 80 F
Wind
NE 10 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8726724, 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.

Clearwater lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 80. Tides: high 10:31 AM and 10:31 PM, low 4:20 AM and 4:32 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 10:07 AM-12:07 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 AM: 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.

Tomorrow: Similar at 81 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

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

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

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

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

Fri
LOW4:20 AM0.8 ft
HIGH10:31 AM2.8 ft
LOW4:32 PM1.0 ft
HIGH10:31 PM2.9 ft
Sat
LOW5:01 AM0.4 ft
HIGH11:19 AM2.8 ft
LOW5:03 PM1.1 ft
HIGH10:53 PM3.1 ft

Clearwater tide chart: the week and the month →

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp80 F
High / Low80 / 59 F
WindNE 10-13 mph
Pressure1016.7 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain3% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:36 / 18:54
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 Clearwater this week

Today is the pick of the week on Clearwater, at 3 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 — Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
10:07 AM-12:07 PM and 10:34 PM-12:34 AM
Minor period
4:28 AM-5:28 AM
Sun
07:36 to 18:54
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 16 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

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: 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.

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)
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 Clearwater today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 79 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 13 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Redfish (red drum) led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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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 for anglers 16 and older unless exempt. FWC 2026: snook 28–33 inches, 1 a day, snook permit, open March–April and September–November; redfish 18–27 inches, 1 a day.

Access

Pier 60 (fishing passes for a fee), Seminole Street Boat Launch (eight lanes, 24 hours), Magnolia Drive and Turner Street public docks; charters at Clearwater Beach Marina.

About this water

Gulf coast city on Clearwater Harbor and Clearwater Beach, Pinellas County, Florida. NOAA tide predictions: Clearwater Beach, station 8726724.

Fishing Clearwater: the full guide

Pier 60

The City of Clearwater's Pier 60 Park on Clearwater Beach has a snack shop, covered pavilions, telescopes, rod rentals and bait and tackle, and sells daily, weekly and yearly fishing passes. The park is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the city says the beach is open 24 hours.

City docks and ramp

The city's Seminole Street Boat Launch at 201 Seminole St. has eight launch lanes and is open around the clock. Magnolia Drive Public Dock faces the Intracoastal with benches and rod holders, but cast netting and fish cleaning are not allowed there; Turner Street Public Dock is open for fishing from sunrise to sunset. Fishing charters run from Clearwater Beach Marina.

Snook and redfish rules

FWC's 2026 rules let anglers keep one snook a day on the Gulf coast within a 28- to 33-inch slot. In the Gulf regions from the Panhandle to Sarasota Bay, harvest is open in March and April and from September through November, and keeping a snook needs a snook permit on top of the saltwater license. Redfish must measure 18 to 27 inches, one per angler.

Common questions

When can I keep a snook near Clearwater?

FWC's 2026 rules open snook harvest in March–April and September–November on this stretch of coast, one fish from 28 to 33 inches, with a snook permit.

Where can I launch a boat in Clearwater?

The city's Seminole Street Boat Launch has eight lanes and is open 24 hours a day.

Is there a tide station at Clearwater Beach?

Yes. NOAA publishes tide predictions for Clearwater Beach, station 8726724.

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 the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Tampa Bay19 miSarasota48 miHomosassa55 miVenice65 miLake Harris83 miLake Tohopekaliga90 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8726724 — Clearwater Beach
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 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 27.9780, -82.8310 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 5, 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 5, 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.