Waterlands

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Florida pompanoPeak season

Bay · North Carolina

Lookout Bight

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

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Best score today · 6 PM · Florida pompano

75/100Great
Now
554 PM EST
Best window
4-7 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.9 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Nov 14 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score75Great
Tide3.4 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.8 kn · toward ESE
Wind7 kn NNEgusts 11 · steady
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast98% cloud
Water67°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Florida pompano 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 Florida pompano is best here

Peak season for Florida pompano · 4 more weeks at peak

Florida pompano season by week of the year. Peak season for Florida pompano · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Florida pompano in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Lookout Bight

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

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, black sea bass and red drum. It is peak season now for little tunny, black sea bass, red drum and weakfish, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, spot, summer flounder and sheepshead. Little tunny peak from October through November. Black sea bass peak from March through April and from October through November. Red drum peak from August through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
Black sea bass
Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Barden Inlet

    Channel · 1.5 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Black sea bass 73
    • Weakfish 72

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

  • Wreck Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Black sea bass 68
    • Bluefish 67

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

  • Catfish Point

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Bluefish 69
    • Black sea bass 68

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

  • Blinds Hammock Bay

    Bay · 2.0 mi

    70
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 70
    • Red drum 69
    • Weakfish 68

    9 kt EL 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.