Waterlands

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ScupShoulder season

Bay · New York

Little Bay

41.14°N · 72.25°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

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Best score today · 6 AM · Striped bass

85/100Epic
Now
674 AM EST
Best window
6-9 AMEbb tide
Tide now
High2.5 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Nov 4 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score86Epic
Tide2.4 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.4 kn · toward NE
Wind5 kn SWgusts 10 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.5 ft · 3 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water59°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here

Shoulder season for Scup · 3 more weeks at shoulder

Scup season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Scup · 3 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Scup in New York →

Spot profile

Little Bay

Depth
2-10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonScup

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 Little Bay

Little Bay is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 2-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and spot. It is peak season now for striped bass, spotted seatrout, tautog and bluefish, and shoulder season for scup, spot, weakfish and red drum. Scup peak from June through October. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Spot peak from August through October.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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

  • Browns Point

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Scup 63
    • Spotted seatrout 58

    6 kt WSWL 10:14 AM · 0.4 ftH 4:33 PM · 2.7 ft

  • Long Beach Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    67
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 67
    • Striped bass 63
    • Spot 60

    6 kt WSWL 10:14 AM · 0.4 ftH 4:33 PM · 2.7 ft

  • Eagles Neck Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 61
    • Spot 55

    6 kt WSWL 10:14 AM · 0.4 ftH 4:33 PM · 2.7 ft

  • Eagle Point

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 61
    • Spot 55

    6 kt WSWL 10:14 AM · 0.4 ftH 4:33 PM · 2.7 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.