Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Bay · New York

Gilgo Heading

40.62°N · 73.40°W · Bay · South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · Cobia

63/100Good
Now
307 AM EDT
Best window
7-8 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding0.9 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 AM · now

Time7ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide0.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood1.6 kn · toward E
Wind9 kn NEgusts 20 · steady
Sea stateRough6.1 ft · 7 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water66°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Cobia 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 Cobia is best here

Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder

Cobia season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Cobia · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Cobia in New York

Spot profile

Gilgo Heading

Depth
1-6 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonCobia

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 Gilgo Heading

Gilgo Heading is a bay in South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay, New York. Depth is 1-6 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are bluefish, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for little tunny, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for bluefish, striped bass, black sea bass and king mackerel. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Black sea bass peak from May through June and from October through November.

Tackle & technique

Cobia
Cobia cruise inlets, beaches, buoys, wrecks and the backs of rays in 5 to 100 feet of water. On calm, sunny days sight-cast bucktails or live eels to fish near the surface. Otherwise anchor up-current of structure, chum, and fish live eels, crabs or menhaden near the bottom.
Bluefish
Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • South Oyster Bay

    Bay · 3.3 mi

    67
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 67
    • Bluefish 52
    • Little tunny 52

    9 kt NEL 12:34 PM · 0.7 ftH 6:56 PM · 3.4 ft

  • Amityville Cut

    Channel · 0.9 mi

    62
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 62
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 55

    9 kt NEH 8:26 AM · 1.1 ftL 3:07 PM · 0.3 ft

  • Amity Channel

    Channel · 2.3 mi

    62
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 62
    • Bluefish 58
    • Black sea bass 56

    9 kt NEH 8:24 AM · 1.2 ftL 3:14 PM · 0.3 ft

  • Little Swift Creek

    Channel · 2.6 mi

    60
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 60
    • Bluefish 56
    • Black sea bass 53

    11 kt NEH 8:26 AM · 1.1 ftL 3:07 PM · 0.3 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.