Waterlands

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Summer flounderPeak season

Bay · New York

Gardiners Bay

41.08°N · 72.15°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 9 AM · Summer flounder

69/100Great
Now
469 PM EDT
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.6 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Oct 2 · 6 PM

Time6P
Score71Great
Tide2.0 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward ENE
Wind5 kn SSWgusts 10 · steady
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast89% cloud
Water66°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Summer flounder 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 Summer flounder is best here

Peak season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at peak

Summer flounder season by week of the year. Peak season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Summer flounder in New York

Spot profile

Gardiners Bay

Depth
15-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonSummer flounder

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 Gardiners Bay

Gardiners Bay is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 15-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Summer flounder
Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
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.
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

  • Bostwick Bay

    Bay · 2.3 mi

    60
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 60
    • Spot 60
    • Bluefish 51

    16 kt NEL 2:19 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:25 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Crow Shoal

    Bar · 0.8 mi

    55
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 55
    • Scup 54
    • Bluefish 53

    16 kt NEL 2:05 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:30 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Cherry Hill Point

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    55
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 55
    • Little tunny 54
    • Scup 54

    16 kt NEL 2:05 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:30 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Cherry Harbor

    Bay · 2.0 mi

    46
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 46
    • Bluefish 45
    • Black sea bass 44

    23 kt NEL 2:05 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:30 AM · 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.