Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Channel · New York

Runway Channel

40.59°N · 73.86°W · Channel · South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay

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Best score today · 11 PM · Little tunny

72/100Great
Now
573 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding3.0 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 PM · now

Time3PNOW
Score57Good
Tide3.0 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood1.4 kn · toward ENE
Wind11 kn NEgusts 27 · steady
Sea stateRough4.0 ft · 7 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherOvercast88% cloud
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Little tunny 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 Little tunny is best here

Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak

Little tunny season by week of the year. Peak season for Little tunny · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Little tunny in New York

Spot profile

Runway Channel

Depth
3-15 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · slope
Season
Peak seasonLittle tunny

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 Runway Channel

Runway Channel is a channel in South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay, New York. Depth is 3-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Little tunny
Little tunny travel fast in schools that pin bait against inlets, points, jetties and tide rips, usually within a few miles of shore and often in less than 60 feet. Stay off the school's path, wait for it to surface within range, and cast small metal or epoxy jigs with a fast retrieve. When fish stay down, troll small feathers along bait edges and color changes to find them.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Nova Scotia Bar

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    63
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 63
    • Bluefish 62
    • Summer flounder 58

    11 kt NEH 6:18 PM · 5.5 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.5 ft

  • Horse Channel

    Channel · 0.9 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Summer flounder 61
    • Sheepshead 59

    11 kt NEH 6:27 PM · 5.7 ftL 1:02 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Big Channel

    Channel · 1.0 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Summer flounder 61
    • Sheepshead 59

    11 kt NEH 6:18 PM · 5.5 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.5 ft

  • Yankee Channel

    Channel · 0.4 mi

    61
    Top: Summer flounderPeak season
    • Summer flounder 61
    • Scup 59
    • Little tunny 57

    11 kt NEH 6:18 PM · 5.5 ftL 12:36 AM · 0.5 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.