Waterlands

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WeakfishPeak season

Gut · North Carolina

Sanders Creek

34.63°N · 77.18°W · Gut · Neuse and Bay Rivers

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Best score today · 6 PM · Black sea bass

78/100Great
Now
744 AM EST
Best window
3-8 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

Sunday, Nov 15 · 4 PM

Time4P
Score79Great
Tide1.0 ft ▼Ebbing
Wind5 kn SEgusts 16 · steady
Air temp70°Warm
WeatherOvercast93% cloud
Water68°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Weakfish 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 Weakfish is best here

Peak season for Weakfish · 4 more weeks at peak

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

Weakfish in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Sanders Creek

Depth
Up to 3 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Estuary · Inner · ProtectedEstuary · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonWeakfish

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 Sanders Creek

Sanders Creek is a gut in Neuse and Bay Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is up to 3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads estuary, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are weakfish, Atlantic croaker and black sea bass. It is peak season now for weakfish, black sea bass, red drum and spotted seatrout, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, spot, black drum and summer flounder. Weakfish peak from October through November. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October. Black sea bass peak from March through April and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
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

  • Browns Inlet

    Channel · 3.5 mi

    74
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 74
    • Black sea bass 73
    • Atlantic croaker 72

    8 kt NNEL 7:08 AM · 0.4 ftH 1:40 PM · 3.5 ft

  • Bear Inlet

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    73
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 73
    • Bluefish 71
    • Little tunny 71

    8 kt NNEL 7:06 AM · 0.4 ftH 1:37 PM · 2.6 ft

  • Cow Channel

    Channel · 2.5 mi

    72
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 72
    • Black sea bass 68
    • Atlantic croaker 67

    6 kt NNEL 7:06 AM · 0.4 ftH 1:37 PM · 2.6 ft

  • Browns Sound

    Bay · 3.4 mi

    71
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 71
    • Atlantic croaker 68
    • Bluefish 68

    8 kt NNEL 7:08 AM · 0.4 ftH 1:40 PM · 3.5 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.