Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bar · New York

Target Rock

40.93°N · 73.43°W · Bar · Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY

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Best score today · 7 PM · Weakfish

79/100Great
Now
511 PM EDT
Best window
6 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.9 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 1 PM · now

Time1PNOW
Score51Good
Tide3.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward NNE
Wind11 kn ENEgusts 27 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.4 ft · 4 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water70°FObserved

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 NYSDEC before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Weakfish in New York

Spot profile

Target Rock

Depth
8-35 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · slope
Season
Shoulder 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 Target Rock

Target Rock is a bar in Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY, New York. Depth is 8-35 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are black sea bass, little tunny and sheepshead. It is peak season now for little tunny, sheepshead, summer flounder and spot, and shoulder season for black sea bass, bluefish, king mackerel and tautog. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November. Little tunny peak from September through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September.

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.
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.
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

  • Lloyd Harbor

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    70
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 70
    • Sheepshead 69
    • Little tunny 67

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

  • Morris Rock

    Bar · 2.1 mi

    67
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 67
    • Little tunny 66
    • Sheepshead 66

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

  • Huntington Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    66
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 66
    • Little tunny 65
    • Sheepshead 64

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

  • Price Bend

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    66
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 66
    • Little tunny 65
    • Sheepshead 64

    11 kt ENEL 3:46 PM · 0.9 ftH 9:53 PM · 7.3 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.