Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bay · New York

Horseshoe Cove

41.00°N · 72.45°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

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Best score today · 12 AM · Weakfish

77/100Great
Now
574 PM EDT
Best window
4-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.1 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 4 PM · now

Time4PNOW
Score57Good
Tide1.1 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward WSW
Wind12 kn ENEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.6 ft · 3 s
Air temp68°Mild
WeatherOvercast99% cloud
Water70°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Weakfish 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 Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Weakfish in New York

Spot profile

Horseshoe Cove

Depth
3-15 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonWeakfish

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 Horseshoe Cove

Horseshoe Cove is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 3-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

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 weakfish, bluefish, Atlantic croaker and black sea bass. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September.

Tackle & technique

Weakfish
Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
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

  • Cutchogue Harbor

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    71
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 71
    • Spot 70
    • Sheepshead 68

    12 kt ENEH 9:09 PM · 2.8 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Hog Neck Bay

    Bay · 2.3 mi

    71
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 71
    • Spot 71
    • Sheepshead 68

    12 kt ENEH 8:26 PM · 2.5 ftL 2:38 AM · 0.6 ft

  • North Race

    Channel · 1.7 mi

    69
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 69
    • Spot 68
    • Sheepshead 65

    12 kt ENEH 9:09 PM · 2.8 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Little Peconic Bay

    Bay · 2.7 mi

    69
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 69
    • Spot 66
    • Sheepshead 64

    12 kt ENEH 9:09 PM · 2.8 ftL 3:16 AM · 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.