Waterlands

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Gag grouperPeak season

Bay · North Carolina

Lookout Bight

34.62°N · 76.53°W · Bay · Neuse and Bay Rivers

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Gag grouper

76/100Great
Now
676 PM EST
Best window
6-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.3 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Nov 4 · 7 AM

Time7A
Score67Great
Tide1.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.9 kn · toward W
Wind9 kn Egusts 12 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.6 ft · 7 s
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy34% cloud
Water65°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Gag grouper 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 Gag grouper is best here

Peak season for Gag grouper · 8 more weeks at peak

Gag grouper season by week of the year. Peak season for Gag grouper · 8 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Gag grouper in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Lookout Bight

Depth
5-15 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Peak seasonGag grouper

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 Lookout Bight

Lookout Bight is a bay in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 5-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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 bluefish, and shoulder season for summer flounder, Atlantic croaker, spot and striped bass. Little tunny peak from October through November. Weakfish peak from October through November. Red drum peak from August through November.

Tackle & technique

Gag grouper
Gag hold on ledges, rock piles and wrecks, from 15 to 40 feet in the fall on Florida's Gulf coast out to 250 feet the rest of the year. Troll deep-diving plugs to find productive rocks, then anchor and drop or freeline live pinfish or pigfish on a strong circle hook. Keep the drag tight and turn the fish in the first few seconds or it will reach the rocks.
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

  • Wreck Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    80
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 80
    • Bluefish 73
    • Black sea bass 71

    9 kt EL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:43 AM · 4.1 ft

  • Catfish Point

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    80
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 80
    • Bluefish 75
    • Black sea bass 71

    9 kt EL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:43 AM · 4.1 ft

  • Barden Inlet

    Channel · 1.5 mi

    80
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 80
    • Bluefish 77
    • Weakfish 77

    10 kt ENEL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:43 AM · 4.1 ft

  • Blinds Hammock Bay

    Bay · 2.0 mi

    75
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 75
    • Red drum 74
    • Weakfish 74

    10 kt ENEL 7:42 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:43 AM · 4.1 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.