Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bar · New York

Picket Rock

40.86°N · 73.68°W · Bar · Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 AM · Cobia

80/100Great
Now
4511 AM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing6.9 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: Thu · 83

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score45Good
Tide6.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.5 kn · toward NW
Wind11 kn NEgusts 28 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Cobia in New York →

Spot profile

Picket Rock

Depth
10-30 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonCobia

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 Picket Rock

Picket Rock is a bar in Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY, New York. Depth is 10-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Cobia
Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
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.
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

View all on map →
  • Hempstead Harbor

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    72
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 72
    • Spot 72
    • Little tunny 64

    11 kt NEL 4:26 PM · 0.8 ftH 10:22 PM · 7.4 ft

  • Mosquito Cove

    Bay · 1.4 mi

    70
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 70
    • Spot 69
    • Little tunny 62

    11 kt NEL 4:26 PM · 0.8 ftH 10:22 PM · 7.4 ft

  • Red Spring Point

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    62
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 62
    • Scup 62
    • Spot 60

    11 kt NEL 4:26 PM · 0.8 ftH 10:22 PM · 7.4 ft

  • Carpenter Point

    Cape · 1.7 mi

    59
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 59
    • Scup 56
    • Bluefish 51

    11 kt NEL 4:10 PM · 0.8 ftH 10:04 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.