Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Red drumPeak season

Cape · North Carolina

Lupton Point

35.43°N · 76.53°W · Cape · Pamlico and Pungo Rivers

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 5 PM · Red drum

80/100Great
Now
582 PM EST
Best window
3-7 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.3 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Lupton Point scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions

Thursday, Nov 12 · 3 PM

Time3P
Score66Great
Tide0.5 ft ▲Flooding
Wind4 kn SSWgusts 11 · steady
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherClear1% cloud
Water67°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Red drum 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 Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 4 more weeks at peak

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

Red drum in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Lupton Point

Depth
1-7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonRed drum

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 Lupton Point

Lupton Point is a cape in Pamlico and Pungo Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 1-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.
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

  • Pasture Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Weakfish 61
    • Black sea bass 60

    8 kt NEH 8:47 PM · 0.7 ftL 2:55 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Green Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Black sea bass 61
    • Weakfish 61

    8 kt NEH 8:47 PM · 0.7 ftL 2:55 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Persimmon Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Weakfish 61
    • Black sea bass 60

    8 kt NEH 8:47 PM · 0.7 ftL 2:55 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Parmalee Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    65
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 65
    • Weakfish 60
    • Black sea bass 59

    8 kt NEH 8:47 PM · 0.7 ftL 2:55 AM · 0.3 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.