Waterlands

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ScupShoulder season

Bay · New York

Bostwick Bay

41.11°N · 72.13°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

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Best score today · 7 AM · Tautog

81/100Great
Now
655 AM EST
Best window
6-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
High2.7 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Nov 12 · 2 PM

Time2P
Score77Great
Tide2.1 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward ENE
Wind9 kn NNWgusts 16 · steady
Air temp47°Cool
WeatherClear5% cloud
Water58°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here

Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder

Scup season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Scup in New York →

Spot profile

Bostwick Bay

Depth
15-30 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonScup

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 Bostwick Bay

Bostwick Bay is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 15-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and spot. It is peak season now for striped bass, tautog, spotted seatrout and bluefish, and shoulder season for scup, spot, weakfish and winter flounder. Scup peak from June through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Spot peak from August through October.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • Cherry Harbor

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    67
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 67
    • Striped bass 63
    • Spot 61

    9 kt WSWL 10:54 AM · 0.5 ftH 5:17 PM · 2.6 ft

  • Gardiners Bay

    Bay · 2.3 mi

    65
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 65
    • Striped bass 61
    • Spot 58

    7 kt WSWL 10:54 AM · 0.5 ftH 5:17 PM · 2.6 ft

  • Cherry Hill Point

    Cape · 1.3 mi

    64
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 64
    • Scup 60
    • Bluefish 54

    7 kt WSWL 10:54 AM · 0.5 ftH 5:17 PM · 2.6 ft

  • Crow Shoal

    Bar · 3.0 mi

    60
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 60
    • Striped bass 57
    • Bluefish 56

    7 kt WSWL 10:54 AM · 0.5 ftH 5:17 PM · 2.6 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.