Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

CobiaShoulder season

Bay · New York

Great Kills Harbor

40.54°N · 74.14°W · Bay · New York Harbor

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Cobia

67/100Great
Now
303 AM EDT
Best window
5-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding2.7 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Great Kills Harbor scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 AM · now

Time3ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide2.7 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward SW
Wind9 kn NEgusts 21 · steady
Sea stateRough4.3 ft · 7 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water69°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.

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

Great Kills Harbor

Depth
10-25 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
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 Great Kills Harbor

Great Kills Harbor is a bay in New York Harbor. Depth is 10-25 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

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

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.
Sheepshead
Sheepshead graze barnacles and crabs off pilings, jetty rocks, bridge supports, oyster bars and nearshore reefs, from a few feet deep out to about 50 feet. Drop a fiddler crab, sand flea or piece of shrimp on a small, strong hook straight down next to the structure with just enough weight to hold bottom. The bite is a light tap, so keep the line tight and set the hook fast.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Raritan Bay West Reach

    Channel · 3.0 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Sheepshead 60
    • Striped bass 60

    9 kt NEH 6:04 AM · 4.7 ftL 12:15 PM · 1.0 ft

  • Crookes Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Striped bass 59
    • Bluefish 58

    9 kt NEH 5:59 AM · 4.7 ftL 12:16 PM · 0.9 ft

  • Old Orchard Shoal

    Bar · 1.7 mi

    60
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 60
    • Little tunny 57
    • Scup 57

    9 kt NEH 5:59 AM · 4.7 ftL 12:16 PM · 0.9 ft

  • Craven Shoal

    Bar · 2.8 mi

    60
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 60
    • Little tunny 57
    • Scup 57

    9 kt NEH 5:59 AM · 4.7 ftL 12:16 PM · 0.9 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.