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Fishing maps/Choctawhatchee Bay

Florida Panhandle coastal fishing maps

Choctawhatchee Bay fishing maps and surveyed sections

Lower Choctawhatchee Bay is live with quality-assured NOAA depth contours, a 2023 FWC fish-survey roster, confidence-tagged fishing spots, seasonal forage guidance and verified public access. The two middle-bay sections and Upper Choctawhatchee Bay stay off the public map until their depth evidence clears the same fixed release gate.

1 live section8 surveyed target species4 attached public access sites

Built for bay scale

Why Choctawhatchee Bay is split into sections

One bay-wide page would mix Destin and East Pass, western and eastern middle-bay habitat, and the river-influenced upper bay. The four release footprints follow official FDEP assessment units and are evaluated independently against NOAA shoreline and bathymetry evidence.

Quality-assured and searchable

Choose a Choctawhatchee Bay fishing-map section

NOAA survey contours100% assessed · 51% measured

Lower Choctawhatchee Bay

11,670-acre lower Choctawhatchee Bay section with quality-assured NOAA BlueTopo and Hurricane Michael topobathymetric contours, Destin and East Pass structure, mapped seagrass, charted wrecks and artificial reefs.

Recorded max
46 ft
Species
Red Drum (Redfish), Spotted Seatrout, Southern Flounder, Sheepshead, Gulf Flounder
Public access
4 attached sites
Open depth map and fishing spots →

Source-backed, not crowd-guessed

What is included on every live page

  • Depth: NOAA BlueTopo plus measured 2019–2020 Hurricane Michael topobathymetric-lidar returns; measured and assessed-interpolated cells remain distinct.
  • Fish: recreational target species captured in the mapped zone of Florida FWC's 2023 Fisheries-Independent Monitoring survey.
  • Spots: analysis anchored to NOAA charted wrecks, official artificial reefs and FWC mapped seagrass; recommendations require directly measured bathymetry.
  • Seasonality: Panhandle-specific Gulf menhaden, bay anchovy and mullet movement windows, presented as typical search ranges rather than daily predictions.
  • Access: Florida FWC Boat Ramp Inventory records spatially matched to each official water-only section outline.

NOAA BlueTopo·NOAA Hurricane Michael topobathy·FWC 2023 FIM report·FDEP assessment units·FWC statewide seagrass·NOAA northwest Florida menhaden study·FWC Panhandle forage inventory

Not published prematurely

Sections still on survey-quality hold

These official sections have boundaries, FWC species rosters, habitat, access and generated depth review artifacts, but they are excluded from search, the public manifest and the sitemap until their measured coverage clears the same release standard.

  • Middle Choctawhatchee Bay — West: 31.62% directly measured coverage is below the fixed 40% partial-measured release gate.
  • Middle Choctawhatchee Bay — East: 20.91% directly measured coverage is below the fixed 40% partial-measured release gate.
  • Upper Choctawhatchee Bay: 6.24% directly measured and 95.28% assessed coverage do not pass the fixed partial-measured release gate.
  • Old Pass Lagoon: Exact NOAA boundary, CUSP shoreline and BlueTopo coverage pass, but maximum surveyed depth is 16.9 feet; no useful-depth waiver.

Choctawhatchee Bay map questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is Choctawhatchee Bay divided into separate fishing-map pages?

Choctawhatchee Bay spans distinct pass, middle-bay and river-influenced waters. DepthScout follows four official Florida Department of Environmental Protection assessment units so shoreline, bathymetry, fish-survey zones, habitat and access can be validated independently at useful fishing-map scale.

Which Choctawhatchee Bay fishing-map section is available now?

Lower Choctawhatchee Bay is live. It passes the fixed partial-measured standard with 51.05% directly measured coverage, 100% assessed coverage, no unsupported cells and 1.23-meter P95 vertical uncertainty. The two middle sections and Upper Choctawhatchee Bay remain on quality hold.

Which fish species are supported for Lower Choctawhatchee Bay?

Florida FWC's 2023 Choctawhatchee Bay Fisheries-Independent Monitoring table documents sheepshead, spotted seatrout, red drum, gray snapper, gag grouper, Gulf flounder, southern flounder and permit in the mapped western survey zone. Survey occurrence is evidence of presence, not a catch-rate prediction.

What data supports Lower Choctawhatchee Bay fishing spots?

Depth combines NOAA BlueTopo with bathymetric returns from NOAA's 2019–2020 Hurricane Michael topobathymetric lidar. Spot candidates use authoritative charted wrecks and artificial reefs plus mapped seagrass, but recommendations are retained only where the bathymetry cell is directly measured.

What seasonal forage is documented for Choctawhatchee Bay?

A separate Florida Panhandle calendar uses NOAA and FWC evidence for Gulf menhaden nursery movement, warm-season bay anchovy activity and fall-to-winter mullet movement. These are broad habitat-search windows; tide, salinity, weather and visible bait still determine the useful daily pattern.