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Summer flounderPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Summer flounder
- Now
- 528 PM EDT
- Best window
- 8 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.7 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Smith Cove scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 8 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
63Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.8 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
35Wind: 17 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
53Water temp: 69°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 3.3 ftSeason & habitat · Summer flounder
Species seasonality
84Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Summer flounder is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NYSDEC before you keep a fish.
Source: NYSDEC · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Summer flounder is best here
Peak season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Smith Cove
- Depth
- 10-30 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
- Season
- Peak seasonSummer flounder
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 Smith Cove
Smith Cove is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 10-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and little tunny. It is peak season now for scup, spot, little tunny and summer flounder, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, striped bass, bluefish and weakfish. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Summer flounder
- Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
- 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
- Congdons Creek63
Bay · 1.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 63
- Spot 60
- Red drum 53
17 kt NEL 2:41 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:06 AM · 2.6 ft
- Dickerson Creek63
Bay · 1.4 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 63
- Spot 60
- Red drum 53
17 kt NEL 2:41 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:06 AM · 2.6 ft
- Congdons Point58
Cape · 1.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 58
- Little tunny 56
- Spot 55
17 kt NEL 2:41 AM · 0.6 ftH 9:06 AM · 2.6 ft
- Tyndal Point57
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 57
- Little tunny 55
- Spot 54
17 kt NEL 2:42 AM · 0.6 ftH 8:57 AM · 2.6 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.