Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bay · North Carolina

Deep Bay

35.89°N · 75.90°W · Bay · Alligator River

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Summer flounder

78/100Great
Now
6312 AM EDT
Best window
1-8 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.4 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Nov 10 · 7 AM

Time7A
Score60Good
Tide0.1 ft ▲Flooding
Wind10 kn NEgusts 20 · steady
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast97% cloud
Water66°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Summer flounder is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NCDMF before you keep a fish.

Source: NCDMF · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Summer flounder is best here

Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Summer flounder season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Summer flounder in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Deep Bay

Depth
1-2 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonSummer flounder

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 Deep Bay

Deep Bay is a bay in Alligator River, North Carolina. Depth is 1-2 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are weakfish, spot and Atlantic croaker. It is peak season now for weakfish, red drum, spotted seatrout and little tunny, and shoulder season for spot, Atlantic croaker, black drum and sheepshead. Weakfish peak from October through November. Spot peak from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October.

Tackle & technique

Summer flounder
Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
Weakfish
Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
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

  • Hooker Gut

    Gut · 2.2 mi

    78
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 78
    • Atlantic croaker 76
    • Spot 73

    8 kt NNEH 1:14 AM · 0.4 ftL 9:15 AM · 0.2 ft

  • Broad Creek

    Bay · 2.2 mi

    75
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 75
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Southern flounder 73

    4 kt NNEH 1:14 AM · 0.4 ftL 9:15 AM · 0.2 ft

  • Deer Creek

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    74
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 74
    • Weakfish 74
    • Southern flounder 73

    4 kt NNEH 1:14 AM · 0.4 ftL 9:15 AM · 0.2 ft

  • Northeast Prong

    Bay · 2.3 mi

    74
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 74
    • Atlantic croaker 72
    • Spot 72

    8 kt NNEH 1:14 AM · 0.4 ftL 9:15 AM · 0.2 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 NCDMF before you keep a fish.