Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Bay · New York

Orient Harbor

41.13°N · 72.31°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 5 PM · Weakfish

81/100Great
Now
674 AM EDT
Best window
4-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding1.4 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 AM · now

Time4ANOW
Score67Great
Tide1.4 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.4 kn · toward NW
Wind9 kn Ngusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.5 ft · 3 s
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherOvercast83% chance of rain
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.

Source: NYSDEC · synced yesterday

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

Orient Harbor

Depth
15-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Orient Harbor

Orient Harbor is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 15-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, scup and sheepshead. It is peak season now for spot, scup, sheepshead and little tunny, and shoulder season for weakfish, Atlantic croaker, striped bass and black sea bass. Spot peak from August through October. Scup peak from June 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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Eagle Point

    Cape · 1.9 mi

    75
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 75
    • Red drum 70
    • Spot 70

    9 kt NH 7:12 AM · 2.2 ftL 1:02 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Spring Pond

    Bay · 1.6 mi

    73
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 73
    • Red drum 72
    • Scup 70

    10 kt NNEH 7:50 AM · 2.3 ftL 1:12 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Hay Beach Point

    Cape · 1.9 mi

    73
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 73
    • Little tunny 69
    • Red drum 68

    10 kt NNEH 7:50 AM · 2.3 ftL 1:12 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Browns Point

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    71
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 71
    • Spot 70
    • Red drum 67

    9 kt NH 7:12 AM · 2.2 ftL 1:02 PM · 0.8 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.