Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Bar · Connecticut

Goshen Ledge

41.29°N · 72.11°W · Bar · Long Island Sound East of the Mouth of the Connecticut River

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Best score today · 6 PM · Black sea bass

81/100Great
Now
805 PM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score80Great
Tide2.1 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward ENE
Wind7 kn SSWgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.2 ft · 4 s
Air temp76°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy60% cloud
Water70°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

Goshen Ledge

Depth
15-25 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · 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 Goshen Ledge

Goshen Ledge is a bar in Long Island Sound East of the Mouth of the Connecticut River. Depth is 15-25 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

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

  • Little Goshen Reef

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    82
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 82
    • Black sea bass 76
    • Striped bass 75

    7 kt SSWL 10:37 PM · 0.6 ftH 4:14 AM · 2.2 ft

  • Seaside Point

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    82
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 82
    • Little tunny 77
    • Scup 73

    8 kt SL 10:37 PM · 0.6 ftH 4:14 AM · 2.2 ft

  • Bartlett Reef

    Bar · 1.6 mi

    82
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 82
    • Black sea bass 76
    • Striped bass 75

    8 kt SL 10:37 PM · 0.6 ftH 4:14 AM · 2.2 ft

  • Sarah Ledge

    Bar · 0.8 mi

    80
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 80
    • Little tunny 77
    • Striped bass 77

    7 kt SSWL 9:33 PM · 0.6 ftH 3:14 AM · 2.0 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.