Waterlands

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Spotted seatroutShoulder season

Bar · New York

Centre Island Reef

40.92°N · 73.53°W · Bar · Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY

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Best score today · 11 PM · Spotted seatrout

80/100Great
Now
5011 AM EDT
Best window
6 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing6.8 ft ▼

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 88

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score50Good
Tide6.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward NE
Wind11 kn NEgusts 25 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.1 ft · 4 s
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherOvercast99% cloud
Water69°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Spotted seatrout is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NYSDEC before you keep a fish.

Always check with NYSDEC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: NYSDEC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Spotted seatrout is best here

Shoulder season for Spotted seatrout · 1 more week at shoulder

Spotted seatrout season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Spotted seatrout · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Spotted seatrout in New York →

Spot profile

Centre Island Reef

Depth
6-10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Reef · Inner · Semi-exposedReef · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonSpotted seatrout

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 Centre Island Reef

Centre Island Reef is a bar in Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY, New York. Depth is 6-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads reef, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and little tunny. It is peak season now for scup, spot, little tunny and sheepshead, and shoulder season for black sea bass, Atlantic croaker, bluefish and tautog. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.

Tackle & technique

Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.
Scup
Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • West Harbor

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    75
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 75
    • Spot 75
    • Sheepshead 67

    11 kt NEL 4:16 PM · 1.0 ftH 10:15 PM · 7.5 ft

  • The Sand Hole

    Bay · 2.2 mi

    71
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 71
    • Spot 69
    • Little tunny 64

    11 kt NEL 4:07 PM · 1.0 ftH 10:09 PM · 7.0 ft

  • Oak Neck Point

    Cape · 2.0 mi

    68
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 68
    • Little tunny 67
    • Spot 66

    11 kt NEL 4:16 PM · 1.0 ftH 10:15 PM · 7.5 ft

  • Brickyard Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    67
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 67
    • Scup 67
    • Spot 65

    11 kt NEL 4:16 PM · 1.0 ftH 10:15 PM · 7.5 ft

Open in the tide map

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 NYSDEC before you keep a fish.