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Fishing maps/St. Joseph Sound

West-Central Florida coastal fishing maps

St. Joseph Sound fishing maps and surveyed sections

North and South St. Joseph Sound are ready with quality-assured NOAA survey contours, exact-polygon FWC fish records, confidence-tagged fishing spots, seasonal forage guidance and verified unrestricted public access. Every map keeps measured, assessed-interpolated and unsupported water distinct.

2 live sections8 documented target species8 attached public access sites

Built for sound scale

Why St. Joseph Sound is split in two

North and South are official FDEP assessment waters inside the larger Clearwater Harbor- St. Joseph Sound management system. Preserving them separates the Anclote-side northern flats from southern grass, bayou and Dunedin Causeway water without inventing a survey-only footprint or mixing different access networks on one map.

Quality-assured and searchable

Choose a St. Joseph Sound fishing-map section

NOAA survey contours100% assessed · 65% measured

North St. Joseph Sound

6,456-acre North St. Joseph Sound section with quality-assured NOAA and 2022 USACE survey contours, exact-polygon FWC fish evidence, mapped seagrass and oyster habitat, charted wrecks, and verified unrestricted public access.

Recorded max
15 ft
Species
Red Drum (Redfish), Spotted Seatrout, Sheepshead, Gulf Flounder, Gray Snapper (Mangrove Snapper)
Public access
3 attached sites
Open depth map and fishing spots →
NOAA survey contours100% assessed · 76% measured

South St. Joseph Sound

9,880-acre South St. Joseph Sound section with quality-assured NOAA and 2022 USACE survey contours, exact-polygon FWC fish evidence, mapped seagrass and oyster habitat, and verified unrestricted public access.

Recorded max
19 ft
Species
Spotted Seatrout, Sheepshead, Snook, Gulf Flounder, Gray Snapper (Mangrove Snapper)
Public access
5 attached sites
Open depth map and fishing spots →

Source-backed, not crowd-guessed

What is included on every live page

  • Depth: current NOAA BlueTopo plus measured 2022 USACE post-Ian topobathymetric returns with survey class and uncertainty retained.
  • Fish: recreational target occurrence from FWC stratified-random records clipped to each exact water-only child.
  • Spots: official charted wreck, seagrass and oyster evidence; recommendation-eligible features require directly measured bathymetry.
  • Seasonality: central Florida Gulf whitebait, shrimp and mullet movement windows shown as source-backed search ranges, not bite guarantees.
  • Access: FWC Boat Ramp Inventory records matched to the named sound; permit-only access is excluded.

NOAA BlueTopo·2022 USACE post-Ian topobathy·FWC stratified-random records·FDEP assessment units·Pinellas County management plan·SWFWMD seagrass

Both sections passed independently

North and South St. Joseph Sound are live

Both official sections pass the unchanged shoreline, measured-depth, assessed-coverage, unsupported-water and vertical-uncertainty gates. Anclote Anchorage and Clearwater Harbor remain separate official waters and are not silently folded into either child.

St. Joseph Sound map questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is St. Joseph Sound divided into North and South fishing-map pages?

DepthScout follows official Florida Department of Environmental Protection assessment units 8045G and 8045D. The split keeps the Anclote-side northern flats and the Dunedin-side southern grass, channel and access system at useful scale while shoreline, depth, fish and fishing-feature evidence are tested independently.

Are both St. Joseph Sound sections live?

Yes. North St. Joseph Sound is 65.23% directly measured, 100% assessed and 0% unsupported with 1.09 m P95 uncertainty. South St. Joseph Sound is 76.24% measured, 99.89% assessed and 0.11% unsupported with 1.05 m P95 uncertainty. Both clear the unchanged release gates.

Which fish species were observed in St. Joseph Sound?

Exact-polygon FWC Fisheries-Independent Monitoring records support gag grouper, spotted seatrout, gray snapper, Gulf flounder and sheepshead in both sections; North also has permit and red drum records, while South has common snook. Counts document occurrence inside each child and are not catch-rate or abundance predictions.

What survey data supports St. Joseph Sound fishing spots?

Depth combines current NOAA BlueTopo measured and assessed cells with measured 2022 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers post-Hurricane Ian topobathymetric lidar. Spot evidence comes from official NOAA charted wreck, SWFWMD seagrass and FWC oyster records, and recommendations require directly measured depth.

What seasonal forage guidance is included?

The central Florida Gulf forage calendar uses independent NOAA, FWC and UF/IFAS sources for warm-season whitebait, pink-shrimp nursery movement and the fall-to-winter mullet run. The calendar narrows where to search; it does not promise a school or bite on a specific day.