UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
CobiaShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Cobia
- Now
- 302 AM EDT
- Best window
- 2-4 AMNight bite
- Tide now
- Low0.6 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Hands Creek 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
Wednesday, Sep 30 · 4 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.9 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 5 kt ESEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
58Water temp: 65°F, coldLight: Late afternoonSolunar: Major periodSeas: 1.4 ftSeason & habitat · Cobia
Species seasonality
49Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here
Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Hands Creek
- Depth
- 3-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Estuary · Inner · ProtectedEstuary · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonCobia
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 Hands Creek
Hands Creek is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 3-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads estuary, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are bluefish, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, striped bass, black sea bass and Atlantic croaker. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.
Tackle & technique
- Cobia
- Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Northwest Harbor56
Bay · 2.5 mi
Top: SpotPeak season- Spot 56
- Little tunny 53
- Striped bass 53
16 kt NEL 2:42 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:57 AM · 2.6 ft
- Cedar Point49
Cape · 3.0 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 49
- Striped bass 48
- Bluefish 45
16 kt NEH 8:30 AM · 2.6 ftL 2:20 PM · 0.7 ft
- Barcelona Bank41
Bar · 2.6 mi
Top: BluefishShoulder season- Bluefish 41
- Striped bass 36
- Black sea bass 31
16 kt NEH 8:30 AM · 2.6 ftL 2:20 PM · 0.7 ft
- Threemile Harbor37
Bay · 0.7 mi
Top: BluefishShoulder season- Bluefish 37
- Striped bass 37
- Black sea bass 35
16 kt NEH 8:30 AM · 2.6 ftL 2:20 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.