Cat Island ReefGulfport
dangerousexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Sheltered S of Cat Island; redfish.
Google MapsGulfport spearfishing forecast — wind, swell, visibility, tides & live cameras
2.5
wave 1.2 m head-on
visibility1m
Today — sit it out — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources: IPMA · NDBC · Copernicus — high confidence · data 17:43
Sources & confidence
- Sources
- IPMA · NDBC buoys · Copernicus Marine
- Method
- Model consensus, read per window
- Freshness
- Re-read every hour, per coast
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
How we score the water
Our own model
Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.
- Swell & wave memory
- Height, period and direction of the swell, plus the wake of recent storms — an old storm still stirs the water, and the engine remembers.
- Wind & gusts
- Speed and gusts, hour by hour — wind speed and an onshore push chop the surface and cut visibility.
- Tide phase
- Timing and range of the tide, calibrated per coast — big spring tides pull the verdict toward caution.
- Water temperature
- Sea-surface temperature — sharply cold water vetoes a green verdict.
- Currents & outflow
- Direction and drift of the current — it pushes you, and it drags turbid coastal water across where you dive.
- Rain runoff & air clarity
- Rain muddies the water inshore through land runoff, while fog and haze cut visibility at the surface.
- Coast shape & exposure
- How the coast faces the swell — a sheltered cove keeps the water clean; an exposed, head-on point takes a penalty.
Safety gates
- Thunderstorm forecast — an instant red, no exceptions.
- An official warning (MeteoAlarm / IPMA) — yellow, or red for the higher ranks.
- Missing input data — a would-be green is capped to yellow rather than overstated.
- Strong disagreement between forecast models — a green day is pulled back to yellow.
- Night hours — forced red; the window is closed after dark.
It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.
A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.
Where to get in, where to hunt
Entry points with coordinates
Seabed relief — promising ground
Surface
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
spearo.app
calmupdated 17:43
Gulfport — solo, off the rocks
don't go · wave 1.2 m + hitting the shore
wave 1.2 m head-onwind 36, gusts 48 km/hvisibility ~1 m
today, best window 15:00–18:00
fish · Visibility 1 m · Water 31.9°C
confidence low · verdict for the selected day
Whole week — tap a day. is driving swell right now.
Solo risk: carry a float · tell someone your plan and exit time · doubt = don't go. A model-based planner; the call is made on site.
Selected day
Windows, hours
and the day's trends.
The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.
Wednesday · today2026-07-22
06:08–19:56 · first quarter
▲ 05:00▼ 12:00▲ 14:00▼ 15:00▲ 18:00▼ 23:00 · 0.3 m
Hours (06→20)
15
18
Day's trends
Tide0.37 m
Wave1.28 m
Wind25 km/h
Water32 °C
fish activity: moonset 00:26 · moderate · moon underfoot 07:30 · high · moonrise 14:32 · moderate · moon overhead 19:50 · high
Conditions window15:00–18:00
don't go fish
Hs 1.20 mperiod 5.9 s head-onwind 36→48surge 0.2viz 1 m
1.20 mup to ~2.40 · 144° head-on
5.9 sswell moderate
36→48gusts 48 km/h
0.2weak surge
0.14m/s
1 mrecent swell
31.9°C5 mm + hood
▲18:00tide turn near
Atmosphere15 kmovercast
moderatemoonrise
- wave 1.2 m + hitting the shore
- steep wind-wave — choppy surface, careful on entry
- first hours of the flood — fish moving in
confidence lowday
The water column
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
What it is
A marine instrument,
go / no-go for solo hunting.
spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.
Now live: 1152 spots across 189 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsThe seabed
Relief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
On the rock
The forecast is the plan.
The call is on the rock.
The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.
Entry points
Where to get in
off the rocks.
Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.
Open the seafloor map
FH-4Gulfport
dangerousexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
S of West Ship I. (>1 mi off GUIS); snapper.
Google MapsFH-8Gulfport
dangerousexposed head-on to the swell today
- window
- tide
- shelter
- hazard
- access
Closest to Gulfport (turbid Sound).
Google MapsSOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.
Surfacing
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Live cameras, map & reference
Cameras · live
Look at the water
right now.
Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».
Reference
What's in season,
what the law says.
In season now
- red snapperRed snapper: state-set season (typically May–Oct), 2–4/day, 15–16″.
- sheepshead
- flounder
- cobia (ling)Texas: spear NONGAME only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.
Law
- ✓Saltwater licence (+endorsement) per state: FL $17/$47, AL res $30, MS ~$13/$30, LA res $32, TX licence + saltwater endorsement.
- ✓Texas: spear only (sheepshead/flounder); gamefish (red drum/seatrout/cobia) pole-and-line only.
- ✓Red snapper: state-set season. Federal reef waters: spear + allowed outside the stressed area, descending device required.
- ⛔ 🚫 Goliath/Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, mammals and many sharks — take prohibited.
- ⛔ ⚠️ Texas & Alabama: gamefish (red drum/seatrout) pole-and-line only, NOT by spear. : banned in FL/TX, allowed in federal waters outside the stressed area.
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
Safety protocol
- Sets: watch the wave trains ≥15 min before entering; Hmax ≈ 2×Hs, the wash can run 50 m past the foam line. A lull >10 min with period >12 s = a big set «overdue», do NOT enter; enter right after a full set passes and re-check at minute 30.
- Exit FIRST: find your exit AND a backup before entering. On a rocky/boulder shore a 0.5 m rise in swell can make the exit impossible — getting pinned/unable to climb out is the main killer.
- Headland rip: prominent points often have a permanent topographic rip regardless of the model — locate it, enter/exit on the windward side, never swim against it.
- Cold: wetsuit per the SST chip; the first shiver = a metabolic surge and a drop in breath-hold → get out at the first steady shiver. Cap the session at 45–60 min below 15 °C.
- Solo discipline: buoy up; tell someone the spot and exit time; conservative breath-hold (never push it in cold/murky/surfy water); visibility <3 m — don't enter.
- Afternoon wind: on many coasts the wind builds from midday — plan to be out of the water by midday; the chop builds — get out.
- UV 11:00–15:00 (UVI ≥6): sunscreen and cover up on the surface interval.
- Solo is a fundamental risk (hypoxic blackout with no buddy). Any doubt = No-go.
Spearfishing in Gulfport: spots, seasons and rules
Spearfishing Gulfport is less about finding structure and more about escaping dirty Mississippi Sound water. FH-8 is close but can be turbid. Cat Island Reef is sheltered south of Cat Island, while FH-4 sits south of West Ship Island and is the better clean-water bet, provided you stay more than 1 mile off Gulf Islands National Seashore islands where spearing is banned. The local physics are south-facing and sheltered, with bad swell from 140 to 220 degrees. Mississippi's rule set is more direct than Alabama's: spear or gig is legal for saltwater finfish, but seasons, size limits and red snapper closures still control the final harvest.
TL;DR
- Gulfport spearfishing is a Mississippi Sound visibility problem first: inshore reefs are convenient but often turbid, while offshore FH reefs usually clean up better.
- FH-8 is closest, Cat Island Reef is sheltered, and FH-4 south of West Ship Island is the cleaner offshore idea.
- Keep at least 1 mile off Ship, Horn and Petit Bois for spearing. That Gulf Islands National Seashore buffer is a no-spearing zone.
- Mississippi allows spear or gig for saltwater finfish, with state seasons, red snapper rules and normal protected Gulf species still applying.
Best spearfishing spots around Gulfport
The practical Gulfport plan moves from convenient but dirty water toward the reefs south of the barrier islands. Use the Gulfport Lighthouse and Yacht Harbor cam for color, then compare it with NOAA station PNLM6 before running offshore.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FH-8 | Inshore artificial reef | Mississippi Sound structure | Intermediate, visibility dependent | Closest listed reef to Gulfport | This is the easy run but also the most likely to be brown. Treat it as a quick visibility test rather than the automatic best dive. |
| Cat Island Reef | Sheltered reef south of Cat Island | Sound-side reef structure | Intermediate boat dive | Boat run toward Cat Island | The reef is more protected, and redfish are present. Confirm species limits and method rules before taking any fish. |
| FH-4 | Offshore FH reef | South of West Ship Island | Experienced boat crew | Run beyond the Sound, staying outside the 1 mile island buffer | This is the cleaner-water Gulfport option. It is listed as more than 1 mile off the protected island area, which is the key legal distance. |
When does Gulfport water visibility improve?
Gulfport water visibility improves when the Sound has had time to settle and south swell has backed down. The bad sector runs roughly southeast through southwest, and the worst direction is due south. Even then, the inshore Sound can stay green or brown while offshore FH reefs improve. If the harbor cam shows stirred water, FH-8 is unlikely to be worth a full spearfishing plan.
Why do barrier islands matter so much?
The barrier islands create both the opportunity and the legal line. They shelter Mississippi Sound, which helps with boat handling but traps turbidity. The cleaner water often lies south of the islands, yet Ship, Horn and Petit Bois carry a 1 mile no-spearing buffer. For Gulfport, good navigation is part of the hunting method: reef coordinates, island distance and return weather all matter.
Which fish fit the Mississippi plan?
The Gulf species list includes red snapper, sheepshead, flounder and cobia. Red snapper is season-controlled and often the most paperwork-heavy target. Sheepshead and flounder are more conservative finfish choices when legal size and season line up. Do not take goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, Gulf sturgeon, sawfish, sea turtles, marine mammals or protected sharks. If Gulfport is your first Mississippi dive, keep the target list short.
What Mississippi rules should you check?
Mississippi allows spear or gig for saltwater finfish, but that does not cancel license, size, possession or seasonal rules. Red snapper can close by season or quota. Offshore reef trips may also bring federal reef-fish release rules into play. The clearest Gulfport legal habit is simple: license first, island buffer second, current MDMR species limits third, then choose the reef.
FAQ
Is spearfishing Gulfport legal?
Yes for saltwater finfish when Mississippi rules, seasons and limits are met. The 1 mile island buffer remains a no-spearing line.
Where is Gulfport water visibility usually better?
Offshore FH reefs south of the barrier islands usually beat the inshore Sound after a settled spell.
Can you spearfish near Ship Island?
Keep more than 1 mile off Ship, Horn and Petit Bois. Spearing inside that buffer is banned.
Which Gulfport reef is closest?
FH-8 is the closest listed reef, but it can be turbid because it sits in Mississippi Sound.
What NOAA station helps with Gulfport conditions?
NOAA NDBC station PNLM6 is the listed buoy reference, paired with a harbor camera check for local water color.
Sources
Nearby towns
Coming soon
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