Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Cape · New York

Lazy Point

41.01°N · 72.06°W · Cape · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

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Best score today · 3 AM · Atlantic croaker

73/100Great
Now
522 AM EDT
Best window
2-4 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.0 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 AM · now

Time2ANOW
Score52Good
Tide1.0 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.6 kn · toward SW
Wind7 kn SSWgusts 12 · building
Sea stateModerate2.0 ft · 5 s
Air temp69°Warm
WeatherOvercast90% 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

Lazy Point

Depth
2-7 ftNearest water
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 Lazy Point

Lazy Point is a cape in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth in the nearest water is 2-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are striped bass, red drum and little tunny. It is peak season now for red drum, little tunny, scup and spot, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, spotted seatrout and weakfish. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Red drum peak in May and from September through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.

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.
Red drum
Redfish feed on shallow grass flats, oyster bars and marsh edges, often in 1 to 4 feet of water, and drop into channels, deep holes and tidal creeks when the water turns very hot or cold. Work a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic along the grass line on a rising tide, then fish creek mouths and drains as the tide falls. Bull reds over 30 inches school in the surf, passes and jetties in late summer and fall, where cut mullet or a live crab on the bottom is the standard approach.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Napeague Harbor

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    71
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 71
    • Scup 69
    • Sheepshead 68

    7 kt SSWH 5:56 AM · 1.8 ftL 12:02 PM · 0.9 ft

  • Goff Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Red drum 69
    • Little tunny 68

    7 kt SSWH 5:56 AM · 1.8 ftL 12:02 PM · 0.9 ft

  • Cherry Harbor

    Bay · 6.2 mi

    69
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 69
    • Scup 67
    • Red drum 65

    7 kt SSWH 7:01 AM · 2.3 ftL 12:46 PM · 0.9 ft

  • Cherry Point

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    68
    Top: Red drumPeak season
    • Red drum 68
    • Striped bass 67
    • Little tunny 66

    7 kt SSWH 7:01 AM · 2.3 ftL 12:46 PM · 0.9 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.