Waterlands

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Striped bassShoulder season

Bay · North Carolina

Terrapin Creek Bay

35.70°N · 75.50°W · Bay · Pamlico Sound

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Best score today · 6 AM · Striped bass

81/100Great
Now
5911 AM EST
Best window
5-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score59Good
Tide0.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind7 kn NEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.8 ft · 5 s
Air temp68°Mild
WeatherOvercast96% cloud
Water63°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Striped bass 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 Striped bass is best here

Shoulder season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Striped bass season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Striped bass in North Carolina →

Spot profile

Terrapin Creek Bay

Depth
2-3 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonStriped bass

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 Terrapin Creek Bay

Terrapin Creek Bay is a bay in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Depth is 2-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Dulls Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    75
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 75
    • Black sea bass 69
    • Bluefish 67

    7 kt NEH 2:06 PM · 1.1 ftL 9:03 PM · 0.1 ft

  • Goose Island Point

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    75
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 75
    • Red drum 73
    • Spotted seatrout 72

    7 kt NEH 2:06 PM · 1.1 ftL 9:03 PM · 0.1 ft

  • The Trench

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    73
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 73
    • Spotted seatrout 72
    • Weakfish 72

    7 kt NEH 2:06 PM · 1.1 ftL 9:03 PM · 0.1 ft

  • Pea Island Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    72
    Top: WeakfishPeak season
    • Weakfish 72
    • Little tunny 71
    • Black sea bass 69

    7 kt NEH 2:06 PM · 1.1 ftL 9:03 PM · 0.1 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.