Data and methodology
The Gulf Coast Bite score is an explainable planning number from 15 to 97. Daily solunar periods are a separate astronomical timing aid based on the moon’s position for the selected location. Neither predicts a guaranteed catch or replaces an official safety forecast.
The score rates the best three hours of daylight at the selected water from four things a working guide checks first. The parts add up to 82 points on a base of 15, so the score runs from 15 to 97. It is a conditions score, not a catch prediction.
How fast the water is moving during the window. At Pensacola and Dauphin Island that is NOAA’s current prediction for the pass. The other waters have no current station, so the rate of change of the predicted tide height stands in, and the score bars say which was used.
Forecast wind for those hours, weighted by direction. A north wind that flattens the bays costs little. A south wind that builds them costs a lot.
Water temperature against the fish that should be here this month, from the same species calendar as the Target card. Water that is plainly wrong for them also holds the whole score down.
Averaged across the window. First light scores best and last light nearly as well, with a little credit for cloud cover.
The site scores every three-hour window between first light and sunset in half-hour steps and reports the best one, so the score and the best window come from the same calculation. Today’s score only looks at the hours still ahead. After sunset the page says today’s window has passed and points to tomorrow.
Tide. Where NOAA publishes current predictions, the average predicted current speed in the window is compared with that station’s own strong-tide speed. Elsewhere the average rate of tide-height change is used, with full credit at 0.18 feet per hour. Height change is a stand-in for current, not a measurement of it. A dead tide keeps a quarter of the tide points because passes and structure still fish.
Wind. Each water has an exposure rating for all sixteen compass directions. Forecast speed is scaled by that exposure. Full points hold to an effective 6 mph and fall to zero at 23.
Water. Each species has a comfortable temperature range set where the local fishery actually happens. The three fish most in season at that water are weighted by how strongly they are in season. When the water suits them poorly, the other three parts are scaled down as well, to as little as 40 percent.
Light. The hour after sunrise scores highest and the hour before sunset nearly as high. Midday scores least, and less again once the water reaches 84°F. Cloudy or partly cloudy hours add a little.
Limits. Hazards hold the score at a ceiling instead of shading it, and the reason is printed under the score bars. Thunderstorms in the window hold it at 35, or 50 when the chance is under 40 percent. When storms are forecast later in the day, the window must end two hours before the first storm hour and the day is held at 78. Storms too early for any window to clear hold the day at 50. A daily forecast that only mentions a chance of storms holds it at 62, and a daily forecast of rain at 50 percent or more holds it at 60. A hard wind on open water holds the window at 45, wind the bays cannot take at 30, and a hard wind all day at 40. An active NWS marine alert for the water holds the day at 40. A Gulf running six feet or more holds the Gulf-front waters at 72. When the score is held at 35 or below, or the wind is more than the bays can take, the page shows no recommended window.
Reading the number: a day with everything right reads in the 90s, a good day in the 80s, a calm day on a dead tide about 80, and storms or wind hold a day in the 30s to 50s.
Major periods are two-hour windows centered on the moon’s upper transit (overhead) and lower transit (underfoot). Minor periods are one-hour windows centered on local moonrise and moonset. Gulf Coast Bite calculates these events from the selected water’s latitude and longitude for the selected Central Time calendar day.
The astronomical calculation accounts for the moon’s changing orbit, local sidereal time, and standard atmospheric refraction near the horizon. Terrain, buildings, weather, and the practical horizon can make an observed moonrise or moonset differ by several minutes.
Separate from the bite score: Solunar periods do not add or subtract bite-score points. Use them as a timing reference alongside live tide movement, wind, water, light and marine-safety information—not as a catch guarantee.
The dashboard retrieves a fresh report on page load and when a location is selected for the first time. The current production bundle also refreshes active conditions every 30 minutes, refreshes a stale report when the browser tab becomes visible again, and provides a manual refresh button. If a live request fails, the interface keeps the last successful report when possible or labels sample data clearly.
Gulf Coast Bite is owned by Gulf Coast Bite, LLC. The score presentation, local field guidance, and site content are maintained for anglers planning trips between Pensacola and Mobile Bay. Send corrections or data questions to hello@gulfcoastbite.com.
Weather, waves, tide predictions, station observations, access conditions, and fishing rules can be incomplete, delayed, or wrong. Verify official marine warnings and current regulations before leaving. The score is not a navigation or life-safety product.