Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bay · New York

The Sand Hole

40.94°N · 73.49°W · Bay · Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY

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Best score today · 7 PM · Weakfish

76/100Great
Now
582 PM EDT
Best window
6 PM-12 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.5 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 PM · now

Time2PNOW
Score58Good
Tide2.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward NW
Wind11 kn NEgusts 26 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.2 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

The Sand Hole

Depth
2-30 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 The Sand Hole

The Sand Hole is a bay in Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY, New York. Depth is 2-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, little tunny and sheepshead. It is peak season now for spot, little tunny, sheepshead and summer flounder, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, striped bass and weakfish. Spot peak from August through October. 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.
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.
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 · 2.7 mi

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

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

  • Centre Island Reef

    Bar · 2.2 mi

    68
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 68
    • Black sea bass 67
    • Sheepshead 67

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

  • Oyster Bay

    Bay · 2.8 mi

    68
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 68
    • Little tunny 67
    • Sheepshead 65

    11 kt NEL 4:13 PM · 0.9 ftH 10:14 PM · 7.4 ft

  • Morris Rock

    Bar · 1.5 mi

    66
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 66
    • Little tunny 65
    • Sheepshead 65

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