Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bay · North Carolina

Poster Creek

35.54°N · 76.47°W · Bay · Pamlico and Pungo Rivers

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Best score today · 9 AM · Cobia

78/100Great
Now
5410 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.5 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 10 PM · now

Time10PNOW
Score54Good
Tide0.5 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.0 knmodeled · toward E
Wind8 kn NNEgusts 15 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.7 ft · 3 s
Air temp73°Warm
WeatherOvercast93% cloud
Water83°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Cobia in North Carolina

Spot profile

Poster Creek

Depth
1-5 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Estuary · Inner · ProtectedEstuary · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonCobia

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 Poster Creek

Poster Creek is a bay in Pamlico and Pungo Rivers, North Carolina. Depth is 1-5 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads estuary, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 24 species here; the best right now are Atlantic croaker, southern flounder and red drum. It is peak season now for Atlantic croaker, southern flounder, red drum and spot, and shoulder season for weakfish, black drum, red snapper and Florida pompano. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October. Southern flounder peak from September through November. Red drum peak from August through November.

Tackle & technique

Cobia
Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
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.
Southern flounder
Flounder lie half buried on soft bottom along marsh edges, creek mouths, dock pilings and the sandy sides of passes, usually in 1 to 15 feet of water. Drag a mud minnow or finger mullet on a Carolina rig, or bump a soft plastic slowly along the bottom, and give the fish a few seconds before setting the hook. In fall the adults stack up at passes and jetties on their way offshore, and many anglers gig them at night in knee-deep water.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Back Landing Bay

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    77
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 77
    • Atlantic tarpon 76
    • Spot 74

    8 kt NNEH 1:18 AM · 0.6 ftL 7:10 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Sophie Island Creek

    Bay · 2.0 mi

    77
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 77
    • Southern flounder 75
    • Red drum 74

    8 kt NNEH 1:18 AM · 0.6 ftL 7:10 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Crabtree Bay

    Bay · 2.4 mi

    77
    Top: Atlantic croakerPeak season
    • Atlantic croaker 77
    • Atlantic tarpon 76
    • Spot 74

    8 kt NNEH 1:18 AM · 0.6 ftL 7:10 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Eborn Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    72
    Top: Atlantic tarponPeak season
    • Atlantic tarpon 72
    • Atlantic croaker 71
    • Spot 69

    8 kt NNEH 1:18 AM · 0.6 ftL 7:10 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.