Waterlands

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WeakfishPeak season

Bay · North Carolina

Cunning Harbor Bay

35.34°N · 76.21°W · Bay · Pamlico Sound

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Best score today · 6 AM · Weakfish

81/100Great
Now
715 PM EST
Best window
5-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.7 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Nov 5 · 4 PM

Time4P
Score80Great
Tide0.4 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.7 knmodeled · toward NNE
Wind6 kn SEgusts 13 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.7 ft · 6 s
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherPartly cloudy25% cloud
Water66°FBias corrected

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.

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

Cunning Harbor Bay

Depth
1-7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Cunning Harbor Bay

Cunning Harbor Bay is a bay in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Depth is 1-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are spot, Atlantic croaker and red drum. It is peak season now for red drum, spotted seatrout, weakfish and Florida pompano, and shoulder season for spot, Atlantic croaker, black drum and summer flounder. Spot peak from September through October. Atlantic croaker peak from August through October. Red drum peak from August 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.
Spot
Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Buck Creek

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    76
    Top: Spotted seatroutPeak season
    • Spotted seatrout 76
    • Atlantic croaker 75
    • Red drum 75

    5 kt ENEH 5:23 PM · 0.7 ftL 11:42 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Laurel Creek

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    74
    Top: SpotShoulder season
    • Spot 74
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Red drum 73

    5 kt ENEH 5:23 PM · 0.7 ftL 11:42 PM · 0.4 ft

  • West Bluff Bay

    Bay · 2.2 mi

    74
    Top: SpotShoulder season
    • Spot 74
    • Atlantic croaker 73
    • Red drum 71

    5 kt ENEH 5:23 PM · 0.7 ftL 11:42 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Juniper Bay

    Bay · 3.3 mi

    74
    Top: Atlantic croakerShoulder season
    • Atlantic croaker 74
    • Spot 74
    • Spotted seatrout 74

    5 kt ENEH 5:23 PM · 0.7 ftL 11:42 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.