Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Cape · New York

Goff Point

41.02°N · 72.06°W · Cape · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 3 AM · Atlantic croaker

73/100Great
Now
3510 AM EDT
Best window
8-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.1 ft ▼

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

Notify me when Goff Point 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 · 10 AM · now

Time10ANOW
Score35Fair
Tide1.1 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.9 kn · toward N
Wind21 kn NEgusts 29 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.8 ft · 4 s
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast30% chance of rain
Water70°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic croaker 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 Atlantic croaker is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder

Atlantic croaker season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Atlantic croaker in New York

Spot profile

Goff Point

Depth
3-10 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonAtlantic croaker

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 Goff Point

Goff Point is a cape in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth in the nearest water is 3-10 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and king mackerel. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
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.
Bluefish
Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Cherry Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    56
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 56
    • Bluefish 54
    • Black sea bass 49

    21 kt NEL 12:46 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:21 PM · 2.7 ft

  • Cherry Harbor

    Bay · 5.8 mi

    55
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 55
    • Bluefish 52
    • Striped bass 52

    21 kt NEL 12:46 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:21 PM · 2.7 ft

  • Lazy Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    53
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 53
    • Bluefish 51
    • Black sea bass 44

    21 kt NEL 12:02 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:21 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Napeague Harbor

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    51
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 51
    • Bluefish 50
    • Black sea bass 49

    21 kt NEL 12:02 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:21 PM · 2.2 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.