Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

TautogShoulder season

Bay · New York

Great Peconic Bay

40.94°N · 72.50°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Tautog

77/100Great
Now
412 AM EDT
Best window
4-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.9 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Great Peconic Bay 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 · 2 AM · now

Time2ANOW
Score41Fair
Tide0.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.2 kn
Wind15 kn NEgusts 22 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.0 ft · 6 s
Air temp68°Mild
WeatherOvercast92% cloud
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Tautog is best here

Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder

Tautog season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Tautog in New York

Spot profile

Great Peconic Bay

Depth
About 25 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 Great Peconic Bay

Great Peconic Bay is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is about 25 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 red drum, and shoulder season for bluefish, weakfish, Atlantic croaker and striped 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

  • Rodger Rock

    Bar · 1.9 mi

    64
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 64
    • Sheepshead 57
    • Spot 55

    15 kt NEH 6:52 AM · 2.2 ftL 12:48 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Robbins Island Rock

    Bar · 1.9 mi

    64
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 64
    • Sheepshead 58
    • Spot 57

    15 kt NEH 6:52 AM · 2.2 ftL 12:48 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Brushs Point

    Cape · 2.5 mi

    58
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 58
    • Little tunny 57
    • Scup 56

    15 kt NEH 6:43 AM · 2.3 ftL 1:07 PM · 0.7 ft

  • Browns Point

    Cape · 2.9 mi

    57
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 57
    • Scup 56
    • Spot 56

    15 kt NEH 6:43 AM · 2.3 ftL 1:07 PM · 0.7 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.