Redfish and Bull Red Tracker
Redfish, or red drum, are reported in salt water from the Mid-Atlantic around Florida to Texas. The biggest ones are the fish anglers call bull reds. This page reads every saltwater report we collect in that range and shows which states are reporting redfish now, how strongly, how many of those reports mention bull reds, and the water temperature on the newest report.
Right now, state by state
11 of 11 states we track are reporting redfish in the last 14 days. Each state takes the strongest report we collected; the water temperature is the buoy, tide station or stream gauge reading on that state’s newest redfish report. Tap a state for all of its reports.
| State | Status | Where | Reports | Bull reds | Water temp | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic coast, north to south | ||||||
| Delaware | Active | Delaware Bay | 3 | 0 | 58°F | Oct 18 |
| Maryland | Active | Chesapeake Bay | 6 | 1 | 62°F | Oct 18 |
| Virginia | Active | Eastern Shore (Chincoteague), Chesapeake mouth | 4 | 2 | 75°F | Oct 14 |
| North Carolina | Hot | Pamlico Sound & Cape Lookout, Outer Banks | 37 | 0 | 62°F | Oct 22 |
| South Carolina | Active | Charleston Harbor | 13 | 2 | 69°F | Oct 23 |
| Georgia | Active | Georgia Atlantic Coast | 8 | 4 | 71°F | Oct 22 |
| Florida | Active | Gulf Coast, Tampa Bay & Sarasota, Florida Keys (flats & offshore), Panhandle (Destin, Pensacola) | 76 | 18 | 76°F | Oct 23 |
| Gulf coast, east to west | ||||||
| Alabama | Active | Mobile Bay & Gulf | 12 | 1 | 71°F | Oct 22 |
| Mississippi | Hot | Mississippi Sound | 18 | 8 | 71°F | Oct 22 |
| Louisiana | Active | Gulf Coast & Delta | 8 | 3 | 74°F | Oct 22 |
| Texas | Hot | Gulf Coast (Galveston-Corpus), Lower Laguna Madre & South Padre | 39 | 9 | 77°F | Oct 22 |
“No redfish reports” means nobody we collect from mentioned redfish in that state this fortnight. It does not mean the fish are not there. It means we have nothing to show you, and we would rather say so than guess. "Bull reds" counts the reports in that state that mention bull reds by name.
When redfish show up in our reports
In our records, reports tagging redfish ran from April 2026 (15 reports) to October 2026, and made up the largest share of our reports in July 2026. Our records begin April 3, 2026, so anything reported before then is not counted.
The number over each bar is how many reports tagged redfish with a condition that month. Bar height is that count as a share of every report we collected from these states that month, so a month we simply collected more in does not look busier. Striped bars are months before our records begin: no record, not zero. October 2026 is the month so far.
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Guides
Before you go
Seasons, size limits and bag limits for redfish differ by state and change. Check the official rules for the state you are fishing on our regulations by state page, which links straight to each state agency.
More run trackers
- Striped Bass Migration TrackerThe coastal striper run from Maine to Florida, with a weekly heatmap and every past week on record.
- False Albacore TrackerAlbies, also called little tunny, state by state on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
- Shad Run TrackerAmerican and hickory shad in coastal rivers on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
How this is built
Every fishing report we collect is scanned for redfish. A report that tags the fish with a condition (“hot”, “slow”) scores on that condition; a report that only mentions the fish in passing counts as presence, weakly. The strongest report in a state sets that state’s status.
We do not model the run or predict where the fish will be next week. This is a picture of what anglers, shops, charters and state agencies actually reported, which is a smaller claim and one we can stand behind.
Live status last read October 23, 2026.
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