Waterlands

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CobiaShoulder season

Channel · New York

Wreck Lead Channel

40.60°N · 73.66°W · Channel · South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 AM · Cobia

69/100Great
Now
308 AM EDT
Best window
5-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.4 ft ▼

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 84

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score30Fair
Tide3.4 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind9 kn NEgusts 20 · building
Sea stateRough4.4 ft · 7 s
Air temp57°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water67°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.

Always check with NYSDEC ↗Fishing license ↗

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

Wreck Lead Channel

Depth
15-50 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Inner · ProtectedChannel · 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 Wreck Lead Channel

Wreck Lead Channel is a channel in South Shore Bays from Jones Inlet through Shinnecock Bay, New York. Depth is 15-50 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, sheepshead and black sea bass. It is peak season now for scup, sheepshead, summer flounder and little tunny, and shoulder season for black sea bass, striped bass, bluefish and tautog. Scup peak from June through October. Sheepshead peak from July through September. 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.
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.
Sheepshead
Sheepshead graze barnacles and crabs off pilings, jetty rocks, bridge supports, oyster bars and nearshore reefs, from a few feet deep out to about 50 feet. Drop a fiddler crab, sand flea or piece of shrimp on a small, strong hook straight down next to the structure with just enough weight to hold bottom. The bite is a light tap, so keep the line tight and set the hook fast.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Island Park Harbor

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    65
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 65
    • Sheepshead 65
    • Little tunny 64

    9 kt NEL 12:11 PM · 0.8 ftH 6:37 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Shell Harbor

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    65
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 65
    • Sheepshead 65
    • Little tunny 64

    9 kt NEL 12:11 PM · 0.8 ftH 6:37 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Hog Island Channel

    Channel · 0.9 mi

    64
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 64
    • Sheepshead 62
    • Black sea bass 61

    9 kt NEL 12:11 PM · 0.8 ftH 6:37 PM · 4.3 ft

  • Reynolds Channel

    Channel · 0.8 mi

    63
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 63
    • Sheepshead 62
    • Black sea bass 61

    9 kt NEL 12:18 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:32 PM · 4.7 ft

Open in the tide map

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.