Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Cape · North Carolina

Horse Point

34.66°N · 76.57°W · Cape · Neuse and Bay Rivers

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Summer flounder

84/100Great
Now
523 PM EST
Best window
5-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.9 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Nov 5 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score66Great
Tide1.6 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.0 kn · toward W
Wind5 kn ESEgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.8 ft · 7 s
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water66°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

Horse Point

Depth
1-5 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 Horse Point

Horse Point is a cape in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 1-5 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Cabs Creek

    Gut · 1.5 mi

    72
    Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season
    • Atlantic croaker 72
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 65

    9 kt EL 9:23 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:28 AM · 2.0 ft

  • Johnsons Bay

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    69
    Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season
    • Atlantic croaker 69
    • Florida pompano 69
    • Spot 69

    9 kt EL 10:30 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:55 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Bald Hill Bay

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    69
    Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season
    • Atlantic croaker 69
    • Florida pompano 69
    • Spot 69

    9 kt EL 10:30 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:55 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Back Sound

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    69
    Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season
    • Atlantic croaker 69
    • Florida pompano 69
    • Spot 69

    9 kt EL 10:30 PM · 0.4 ftH 3:55 AM · 1.6 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.