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King mackerelShoulder season

Channel · New York

Range Channel

40.67°N · 73.14°W · Channel · South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · King mackerel

65/100Great

Now: 292 AM EDT
Best window: 4-8 AMFlood tide
Tide now: Ebbing0.5 ft ▼

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

Notify me when Range Channel scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Sun · 83

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 AM · now

DRAG OR TAP AN HOUR

Time2ANOW

Score29Fair

Tide0.5 ft ▼Ebbing

CurrentEbb0.8 kn · toward WSW

Wind9 kn NEgusts 19 · steady

Sea stateRough4.7 ft · 7 s

Air temp57°Mild

WeatherOvercast100% cloud

Water67°FObserved

WED · SEP 23

12A

NOW

10A

11A

12P

10P

11P

2.9

2.1

0.8

○0.0

0.3

1.3

2.0

1.6

0.4

○0.1

0.9

2.1

2.7

2.0

0.8

○0.0

0.4

1.4

2.2

1.8

0.6

○0.0

0.6

1.8

2010

199

2010

2110

2211

2311

2511

2812

3013

3113

3214

3213

3113

3012

2812

2611

2411

2311

2210

219

4.7

4.8

5.0

5.1

5.3

5.6

5.9

6.2

6.1

6.0

6.2

6.4

6.2

6.0

67°

Hour

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for King mackerel is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with NYSDEC before you keep a fish.

Always check with NYSDEC ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: NYSDEC · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When King mackerel is best here

Shoulder season for King mackerel · 1 more week at shoulder

Peak
Shoulder
Off
Not here
This week

King mackerel in New York →

Spot profile

Range Channel

Depth: 6-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure: Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · flat bottom
Season: Shoulder seasonKing mackerel

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 Range Channel

Range Channel is a channel in South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay, New York. Depth is 6-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are striped bass, scup and summer flounder. It is peak season now for scup, summer flounder, little tunny and sheepshead, and shoulder season for striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass and tautog. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Scup peak from June through October. Summer flounder peak from June through September.

Tackle & technique

King mackerel: Kings roam from beaches and pier ends out to reefs, wrecks and ledges in 40 to 200 feet, usually feeding in the upper half of the water column. Slow-troll live menhaden, blue runners or cigar minnows on a light wire stinger rig, or pull spoons and ribbonfish past bait schools. Look for clean green water above 68 F with bait and birds on it.
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.
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

View all on map →

Nicoll Bay
Bay · 3.1 mi
60
Top: Little tunnyPeak season
- Little tunny 60
- Striped bass 60
- Bluefish 58
9 kt NEL 3:31 AM · 0.1 ftH 9:23 AM · 0.7 ft
East Channel
Channel · 0.5 mi
56
Top: Striped bassShoulder season
- Striped bass 56
- Scup 52
- Summer flounder 52
9 kt NEL 2:33 AM · 0.5 ftH 8:14 AM · 1.3 ft
Great South Bay
Bay · 2.6 mi
56
Top: Little tunnyPeak season
- Little tunny 56
- Striped bass 56
- Bluefish 55
13 kt NEL 3:31 AM · 0.1 ftH 9:23 AM · 0.7 ft
West Channel
Channel · 4.1 mi
55
Top: SpotPeak season
- Spot 55
- Red drum 54
- Weakfish 54
9 kt NEL 2:17 AM · 0.1 ftH 8:14 AM · 0.6 ft

Open in the tide map

NYSDEC regulations ↗

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.