Waterlands

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TautogShoulder season

Cape · New York

White Point

40.64°N · 73.52°W · Cape · South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay

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Best score today · 4 AM · Tautog

66/100Great
Now
308 PM EDT
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.5 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 PM · now

Time8PNOW
Score30Fair
Tide2.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind8 kn NEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateRough5.8 ft · 8 s
Air temp59°Mild
WeatherPartly cloudy48% cloud
Water67°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Tautog 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 Tautog is best here

Last week of shoulder season for Tautog · peak season next

Tautog season by week of the year. Last week of shoulder season for Tautog · peak season next.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Tautog in New York

Spot profile

White Point

Depth
2-4 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonTautog

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 White Point

White Point is a cape in South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay, New York. Depth in the nearest water is 2-4 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

Tautog
Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Flat Creek

    Channel · 0.5 mi

    53
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 53
    • Striped bass 52
    • Bluefish 47

    8 kt NEL 1:09 AM · 0.6 ftH 7:17 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Olivers Channel

    Channel · 0.6 mi

    53
    Top: Black sea bassShoulder season
    • Black sea bass 53
    • Striped bass 52
    • Bluefish 47

    8 kt NEL 1:09 AM · 0.6 ftH 7:17 AM · 3.2 ft

  • East Bay

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    48
    Top: BluefishShoulder season
    • Bluefish 48
    • Striped bass 47
    • Black sea bass 42

    8 kt NEL 2:02 AM · 0.3 ftH 7:54 AM · 2.4 ft

  • Crooked Lead

    Channel · 1.1 mi

    48
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 48
    • Black sea bass 47
    • Bluefish 43

    8 kt NEL 2:02 AM · 0.3 ftH 7:54 AM · 2.4 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.