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Spotted seatroutPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
- Best of all80
- Spotted seatrout80
- Weakfish79
- Little tunny77
- Red drum77
- Southern flounder75
- Atlantic croaker74
- Spot74
- Bluefish73
- Black sea bass72
- Florida pompano71
- Black drum69
- Gag grouper69
- Summer flounder69
- Sheepshead68
- Striped bass65
- Red snapper62
- Crevalle jack57
- King mackerel57
- Greater amberjack54
- Atlantic tarpon35
- Cobia35
- Gray snapper35
- Gray triggerfish35
- Red grouper35
- Spanish mackerel35
Best score today · 7 AM · Spotted seatrout
- Now
- 807 AM EST
- Best window
- 7-9 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding0.5 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Mason Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions
Sunday, Nov 15 · 4 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
84Wind: 10 kt NPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
90Water temp: 66°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Bluefish
Species seasonality
90Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Spotted seatrout 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 Spotted seatrout is best here
Peak season for Spotted seatrout · 3 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Mason Bay
- Depth
- 2-7 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonSpotted seatrout
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 Mason Bay
Mason Bay is a bay in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 2-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are spotted seatrout, weakfish and little tunny. It is peak season now for spotted seatrout, weakfish, little tunny and red drum, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, spot, black drum and summer flounder. Spotted seatrout peak from September through November. Weakfish peak from October through November. Little tunny peak from October through November.
Tackle & technique
- Spotted seatrout
- Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.
- 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.
- 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
- Mason Point80
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 80
- Spotted seatrout 75
- Bluefish 73
5 kt NNEH 10:06 AM · 0.5 ftL 3:03 PM · 0.4 ft
- Swan Point80
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 80
- Spotted seatrout 75
- Bluefish 73
5 kt NNEH 10:06 AM · 0.5 ftL 3:03 PM · 0.4 ft
- Chapel Creek Point80
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 80
- Spotted seatrout 75
- Bluefish 73
5 kt NNEH 10:06 AM · 0.5 ftL 3:03 PM · 0.4 ft
- Swindell Bay80
Bay · 0.9 mi
Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season- Spotted seatrout 80
- Weakfish 79
- Little tunny 77
5 kt NNEH 10:06 AM · 0.5 ftL 3:03 PM · 0.4 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.
