Waterlands

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Red drumPeak season

Cape · North Carolina

Gibbs Point

35.36°N · 75.51°W · Cape · Pamlico Sound

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Best score today · 4 PM · Red drum

81/100Great
Now
788 PM EST
Best window
8 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing0.5 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 PM · now

Time8PNOW
Score78Great
Tide0.5 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.5 knmodeled · toward ENE
Wind11 kn SEgusts 13 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.7 ft · 6 s
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherClear18% cloud
Water68°FObserved

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Red drum is best here

Peak season for Red drum · 3 more weeks at peak

Red drum season by week of the year. Peak season for Red drum · 3 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Red drum in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Gibbs Point

Depth
2-4 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 Gibbs Point

Gibbs Point is a cape in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Depth is 2-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 25 species here; the best right now are red drum, little tunny and striped bass. It is peak season now for red drum, little tunny, bluefish and black sea bass, and shoulder season for striped bass, black drum, summer flounder and Atlantic croaker. Red drum peak from August through November. Little tunny peak 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.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Phipps Cove

    Bay · 5.0 mi

    79
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 79
    • Weakfish 72
    • Bluefish 70

    11 kt SEL 1:40 AM · 0.1 ftH 7:03 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Mill Creek

    Bay · 0.3 mi

    77
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 77
    • Weakfish 71
    • Bluefish 70

    11 kt SEL 1:40 AM · 0.1 ftH 7:03 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Otter Pond Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    76
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 76
    • Little tunny 69
    • Striped bass 69

    11 kt SEL 1:40 AM · 0.1 ftH 7:03 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Canadian Hole

    Bay · 5.1 mi

    76
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 76
    • Weakfish 69
    • Bluefish 68

    11 kt SEL 9:44 PM · 0.3 ftH 4:04 AM · 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.