Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Black sea bassPeak season

Cape · Connecticut

Horton Point

41.25°N · 72.85°W · Cape · Long Island Sound East of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY to the Mouth of the Connecticut River

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 12 AM · Black sea bass

74/100Great
Now
494 PM EDT
Best window
5-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.0 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

Notify me when Horton Point scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 PM · now

Time4PNOW
Score49Good
Tide1.0 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind12 kn NEgusts 21 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.7 ft · 5 s
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water69°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Black sea bass is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with CT DEEP before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black sea bass is best here

Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak

Black sea bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Black sea bass in Connecticut

Spot profile

Horton Point

Depth
2-10 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonBlack sea bass

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Horton Point

Horton Point is a cape in Long Island Sound East of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY to the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Depth in the nearest water is 2-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are little tunny, striped bass and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Little tunny peak from September through October. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.

Tackle & technique

Black sea bass
Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.
Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Farm River Gut

    Gut · 0.1 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Black sea bass 54
    • Striped bass 53

    12 kt NEH 9:47 PM · 6.1 ftL 3:54 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Paynes Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    55
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 55
    • Striped bass 55
    • Bluefish 53

    12 kt NEH 9:47 PM · 6.1 ftL 3:54 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Stanley Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    55
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 55
    • Little tunny 54
    • Bluefish 52

    12 kt NEH 9:47 PM · 6.1 ftL 3:54 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Granite Bay

    Bay · 0.3 mi

    54
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 54
    • Bluefish 52
    • Striped bass 52

    12 kt NEH 9:47 PM · 6.1 ftL 3:54 AM · 0.6 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with CT DEEP before you keep a fish.