Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Cape · New York

Iron Point

40.92°N · 72.61°W · Cape · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

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Best score today · 6 AM · Atlantic croaker

65/100Great
Now
4512 AM EDT
Best window
6-8 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.8 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 12 AM · now

Time12ANOW
Score45Good
Tide1.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward E
Wind14 kn ENEgusts 20 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.5 ft · 5 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water69°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

Iron Point

Depth
3-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
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 Iron Point

Iron Point is a cape in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 3-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are little tunny, striped bass and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, spot, sheepshead and red drum, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and weakfish. Little tunny peak from September through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Bluefish peak in May 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.
Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.
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

  • Reeves Bay

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    63
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 63
    • Sheepshead 58
    • Bluefish 57

    14 kt ENEL 3:39 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:36 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Flanders Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    63
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 63
    • Sheepshead 58
    • Bluefish 57

    14 kt ENEL 3:39 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:36 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Miamogue Point

    Cape · 2.2 mi

    62
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 62
    • Striped bass 59
    • Bluefish 58

    14 kt ENEL 3:39 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:36 AM · 2.5 ft

  • Browns Point

    Cape · 3.5 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Bluefish 57
    • Spot 57

    14 kt ENEL 3:39 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:36 AM · 2.5 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.