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Striped bassShoulder seasonBay · New York
Mott Cove
40.82°N · 73.65°W · Bay · Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 11 PM · Striped bass
- Now
- 545 PM EDT
- Best window
- 11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Mott Cove scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 5 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
52Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.3 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
43Wind: 10 kt NEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
80Water temp: 71°F, warmLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.0 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
67Season: ShoulderHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Striped bass is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NYSDEC before you keep a fish.
Source: NYSDEC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Striped bass is best here
Shoulder season for Striped bass · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Mott Cove
- Depth
- 3-10 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · 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 Mott Cove
Mott Cove is a bay in Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY, New York. Depth is 3-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
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 bluefish, weakfish, black sea bass and striped bass. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.
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.
- 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
- Hempstead Harbor67
Bay · 2.6 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 67
- Spot 65
- Sheepshead 63
10 kt NEH 10:22 PM · 7.4 ftL 4:45 AM · 0.6 ft
- Mosquito Cove66
Bay · 2.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 66
- Spot 62
- Little tunny 60
10 kt NEH 10:22 PM · 7.4 ftL 4:45 AM · 0.6 ft
- May Newburger Cove60
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 60
- Little tunny 55
- Sheepshead 54
10 kt NEH 10:04 PM · 7.5 ftL 4:29 AM · 0.6 ft
- Carpenter Point58
Cape · 1.6 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 58
- Scup 54
- Bluefish 50
10 kt NEH 10:04 PM · 7.5 ftL 4:29 AM · 0.6 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 NYSDEC before you keep a fish.