Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bar · North Carolina

Catfish Point

34.61°N · 76.54°W · Bar · Neuse and Bay Rivers

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Summer flounder

76/100Great
Now
507 AM EST
Best window
11 AM-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Low0.9 ft

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 AM · now

Time7ANOW
Score50Good
Tide0.9 ftLow
CurrentEbb0.7 kn · toward W
Wind14 kn NEgusts 19 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.5 ft · 5 s
Air temp66°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water65°FObserved

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

Catfish Point

Depth
4-9 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · 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 Catfish Point

Catfish Point is a bar in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 4-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are little tunny, Florida pompano and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, Florida pompano, bluefish and black sea bass, and shoulder season for striped bass, summer flounder, black drum and Atlantic croaker. Little tunny peak from October through November. Florida pompano peak from March through April and from October through November. Bluefish peak from March through April and from November through December.

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.
Florida pompano
Pompano feed on sand fleas and coquina clams in the trough between the beach and the first sandbar, and around the sandy edges of passes, inlets and bridges. Surf anglers fish a two-hook pompano rig with sand fleas, clams or shrimp, while boat and bridge anglers bounce small jigs along the bottom. The runs follow water temperature, heading north in spring and south in fall as the water cools.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Barden Inlet

    Channel · 1.8 mi

    67
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 67
    • Weakfish 65
    • Black sea bass 63

    9 kt NEH 1:05 PM · 4.4 ftL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Cape Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    62
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 62
    • Bluefish 60
    • Black sea bass 57

    14 kt NEH 1:02 PM · 4.1 ftL 7:34 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Wreck Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Black sea bass 54
    • Bluefish 54

    14 kt NEH 1:05 PM · 4.4 ftL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Lookout Bight

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    56
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 56
    • Florida pompano 55
    • Weakfish 55

    14 kt NEH 1:05 PM · 4.4 ftL 7:42 PM · 0.8 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.