Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bay · North Carolina

Calico Bay

34.73°N · 76.71°W · Bay · Neuse and Bay Rivers

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Summer flounder

80/100Great
Now
6911 AM EST
Best window
4-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.3 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Nov 9 · 6 AM

Time6A
Score70Great
Tide3.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.9 kn · toward NE
Wind7 kn Wgusts 13 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.6 ft · 7 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherClear12% cloud
Water67°FModel

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

Calico Bay

Depth
1-4 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 Calico Bay

Calico Bay is a bay in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 1-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are little tunny, weakfish and red drum. It is peak season now for little tunny, weakfish, red drum and black sea bass, and shoulder season for spot, summer flounder, Atlantic croaker and sheepshead. Little tunny peak from October through November. Weakfish peak from October through November. Red drum peak from August through November.

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Willis Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    79
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 79
    • Black sea bass 71
    • Bluefish 71

    7 kt NEH 1:53 PM · 3.7 ftL 8:18 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Crab Point Thorofare

    Channel · 0.5 mi

    78
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 78
    • Black sea bass 76
    • Red drum 74

    7 kt NEH 1:53 PM · 3.7 ftL 8:18 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Crab Point Bay

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    74
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 74
    • Spotted seatrout 71
    • Black sea bass 70

    7 kt NEH 1:53 PM · 3.7 ftL 8:18 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Calico Creek

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    74
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 74
    • Spotted seatrout 71
    • Black sea bass 70

    7 kt NEH 1:53 PM · 3.7 ftL 8:18 PM · 0.5 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.