Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bay · North Carolina

Stumpy Cove

36.26°N · 75.82°W · Bay · Currituck Sound

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Best score today · 7 PM · Weakfish

82/100Great
Now
424 PM EDT
Best window
5-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.4 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 PM · now

Time4PNOW
Score42Fair
Tide3.4 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.1 knmodeled · toward N
Wind7 kn SEgusts 16 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.0 ft · 7 s
Air temp82°Hot
WeatherClear9% cloud
Water80°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder

Weakfish season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Weakfish in North Carolina

Spot profile

Stumpy Cove

Depth
1-2 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonWeakfish

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 Stumpy Cove

Stumpy Cove is a bay in Currituck Sound, North Carolina. Depth is 1-2 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 24 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, spot and red drum. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, spot, red drum and Atlantic tarpon, and shoulder season for Florida pompano, black drum, Spanish mackerel and gray triggerfish. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October. Spot peak from September through October. Red drum peak from August through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • Indian Gap

    Gut · 0.3 mi

    76
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 76
    • Spot 74
    • Red drum 67

    7 kt SEL 10:00 PM · 1.2 ftH 4:02 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Ballast Bay

    Bay · 0.2 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Spot 73
    • Red drum 67

    7 kt SEL 10:00 PM · 1.2 ftH 4:02 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Myrtle Bay

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Spot 73
    • Red drum 67

    7 kt SEL 10:00 PM · 1.2 ftH 4:02 AM · 2.8 ft

  • 73
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Spot 73
    • Red drum 67

    7 kt SEL 10:00 PM · 1.2 ftH 4:02 AM · 2.8 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.