Waterlands

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WeakfishPeak season

Bay · North Carolina

Sandy Bay

35.23°N · 75.68°W · Bay · Pamlico Sound

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Best score today · 6 PM · Weakfish

78/100Great
Now
7312 PM EST
Best window
6-8 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

Sunday, Nov 8 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score64Good
Tide0.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentFlood1.1 kn · toward NW
Wind8 kn Ngusts 14 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.1 ft · 9 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy84% cloud
Water73°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.

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

Sandy Bay

Depth
3-6 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 Sandy Bay

Sandy Bay is a bay in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Depth is 3-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, 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 red drum, and shoulder season for spot, summer flounder, Atlantic croaker and sheepshead. 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

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.
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.
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

  • Old Rollinson Channel

    Channel · 2.0 mi

    79
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 79
    • Black sea bass 77
    • Red drum 74

    9 kt NEH 2:32 PM · 0.8 ftL 9:34 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Durant Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    78
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 78
    • Black sea bass 71
    • Bluefish 70

    9 kt NEH 2:32 PM · 0.8 ftL 9:34 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Egg Shoal

    Bar · 2.9 mi

    78
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 78
    • Little tunny 77
    • Spotted seatrout 75

    9 kt NEH 2:32 PM · 0.8 ftL 9:34 PM · 0.5 ft

  • Duncan Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    77
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 77
    • Black sea bass 70
    • Bluefish 69

    9 kt NEH 1:24 PM · 3.6 ftL 7:56 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.