Waterlands

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BluefishPeak season

Bay · North Carolina

Lookout Bight

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

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Bluefish

75/100Great
Now
705 PM EST
Best window
5-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Sunday, Nov 8 · 11 AM

Time11A
Score75Great
Tide1.3 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.4 kn · toward W
Wind9 kn NEgusts 13 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.9 ft · 9 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy72% cloud
Water67°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Bluefish 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 Bluefish is best here

Peak season for Bluefish · 8 more weeks at peak

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

Bluefish in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Lookout Bight

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

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 black sea bass, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, spot, summer flounder 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

Bluefish
Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.
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

    78
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 78
    • Black sea bass 71
    • Bluefish 70

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

  • Catfish Point

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    78
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 78
    • Bluefish 72
    • Black sea bass 71

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

  • Barden Inlet

    Channel · 1.5 mi

    78
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 78
    • Black sea bass 76
    • Weakfish 75

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

  • Blinds Hammock Bay

    Bay · 2.0 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Red drum 72
    • Weakfish 72

    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.