UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
TautogShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 PM · Tautog
- Now
- 4111 AM EDT
- Best window
- 5-10 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Low1.1 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Gardiners Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 11 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
25Tide: Low slackCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
84Wind: 10 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
49Water temp: 71°F, warmLight: Partly cloudySolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.7 ftSeason & habitat · Tautog
Species seasonality
63Season: ShoulderHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Tautog is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NYSDEC before you keep a fish.
Source: NYSDEC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Tautog is best here
Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Gardiners Bay
- Depth
- 15-20 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonTautog
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 sheepshead. It is peak season now for scup, spot, sheepshead and little tunny, and shoulder season for bluefish, Atlantic croaker, weakfish and black sea bass. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September.
Tackle & technique
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
- 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
- Cherry Hill Point59
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 59
- Scup 54
- Sheepshead 52
10 kt NEH 5:30 PM · 2.6 ftL 11:49 PM · 0.8 ft
- Bostwick Bay59
Bay · 2.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 59
- Spot 57
- Sheepshead 56
10 kt NEH 5:24 PM · 2.8 ftL 12:08 AM · 0.8 ft
- Cherry Harbor58
Bay · 2.0 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 58
- Sheepshead 57
- Spot 57
14 kt NEH 5:30 PM · 2.6 ftL 11:49 PM · 0.8 ft
- Crow Shoal56
Bar · 0.8 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 56
- Scup 54
- Summer flounder 54
10 kt NEH 5:30 PM · 2.6 ftL 11:49 PM · 0.8 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.