Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Bar · Maryland

Sixfoot Knoll

39.14°N · 76.38°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD

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Best score today · 1 AM · Atlantic croaker

68/100Great
Now
4911 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.8 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Mon · 79

24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Sep 23 · 9 AM

Time9A
Score54Good
Tide0.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward S
Wind12 kn NNEgusts 23 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherOvercast89% cloud
Water74°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic croaker is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.

Always check with Maryland DNR ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: Maryland DNR · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic croaker is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder

Atlantic croaker season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Atlantic croaker in Maryland →

Spot profile

Sixfoot Knoll

Depth
10-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonAtlantic croaker

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 Sixfoot Knoll

Sixfoot Knoll is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD, Maryland. Depth is 10-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and bluefish. It is peak season now for scup, spot, little tunny and Spanish mackerel, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, weakfish and Atlantic croaker. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
Scup
Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.
Spot
Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Craighill Angle

    Channel · 1.6 mi

    68
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 68
    • Scup 66
    • Sheepshead 63

    12 kt ENEH 4:26 AM · 1.6 ftL 11:13 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Brewerton Channel Eastern Extension

    Channel · 1.2 mi

    60
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 60
    • Spot 60
    • Red drum 57

    12 kt ENEH 5:07 AM · 1.7 ftL 11:55 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Ninefoot Knoll

    Bar · 0.9 mi

    59
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 59
    • Bluefish 58
    • Little tunny 58

    12 kt ENEH 4:57 AM · 1.7 ftL 11:47 AM · 0.8 ft

  • Sevenfoot Knoll

    Bar · 1.6 mi

    55
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 55
    • Bluefish 54
    • Spanish mackerel 54

    12 kt ENEH 5:07 AM · 1.7 ftL 11:55 AM · 0.8 ft

Open in the tide map

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 Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.