Waterlands

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ScupShoulder season

Bay · New York

Stirling Basin

41.11°N · 72.36°W · Bay · Peconic and Gardiners Bays

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Striped bass

85/100Epic
Now
705 PM EST
Best window
6-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
High2.6 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Nov 6 · 5 PM

Time5P
Score83Great
Tide0.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood1.2 kn · toward W
Wind7 kn Sgusts 20 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 5 s
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherOvercast55% chance of rain
Water61°FModel

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Scup is best here

Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder

Scup season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Scup in New York →

Spot profile

Stirling Basin

Depth
2-6 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · 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 Stirling Basin

Stirling Basin is a bay in Peconic and Gardiners Bays, New York. Depth is 2-6 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and spotted seatrout. 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. Spotted seatrout peak from October through November.

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.
Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Greenport Harbor

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    75
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 75
    • Striped bass 72
    • Black sea bass 67

    10 kt SWL 10:54 PM · 0.3 ftH 5:38 AM · 2.7 ft

  • Hay Beach Point

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    75
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 75
    • Striped bass 72
    • Black sea bass 67

    10 kt SWL 10:54 PM · 0.3 ftH 5:38 AM · 2.7 ft

  • Dering Harbor

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    74
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 74
    • Striped bass 72
    • Spot 67

    10 kt SWL 10:54 PM · 0.3 ftH 5:38 AM · 2.7 ft

  • Spring Pond

    Bay · 1.2 mi

    73
    Top: ScupShoulder season
    • Scup 73
    • Striped bass 70
    • Tautog 64

    10 kt SWL 10:54 PM · 0.3 ftH 5:38 AM · 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.