Best scup (porgy) lakes in New York
5 New York waters hold scup (porgy), 5 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. A schooling Northeast bottom fish that gathers along rocks, piers, channel shoulders and other hard relief through the warm season.
- Shinnecock Bay — 15 ft max · survey depth data · Striped Bass, Summer Flounder (Fluke), Winter Flounder, BluefishWhy #1: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 2 public access sites
- Flanders Bay — 15 ft max · survey depth data · Striped Bass, Summer Flounder (Fluke), Winter Flounder, BluefishWhy #2: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 3 public access sites, 1 carry-in or shore-oriented
- Orient Harbor — 22 ft max · survey depth data · Summer Flounder (Fluke), Winter Flounder, Bluefish, Scup (Porgy)Why #3: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 2 public access sites
- Setauket Harbor — 18 ft max · survey depth data · Striped Bass, Winter Flounder, Bluefish, Scup (Porgy)Why #4: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 1 public access site
- Baldwin Bay — 22 ft max · survey depth data · Striped Bass, Summer Flounder (Fluke), Winter Flounder, BluefishWhy #5: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 2 public access sites, 1 carry-in or shore-oriented
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How to use this ranking
The order is a map-planning ranking, not a claim about today's fish population. It favors larger mapped waters and gives survey-backed contours a three-times data-quality boost. Agency population surveys, current regulations, access and recent conditions should make the final decision.
Compare maximum depth across 37,233 lake records · See New York waters with public access data
When to fish scup (porgy) in New York
- Spring 5–25 ft — Look for the first schools on measured rocks, groins and channel-side structure, then keep the bait just above bottom.
- Summer 6–35 ft — Schools work hard structure and channel shoulders; use light tackle, small baits and move after a short drift without contact.
- Fall 8–40 ft — Follow cooling-water schools from shallow harbor structure toward deeper measured shoulders and connected-water exits.
- Winter 12–50 ft — Most scup leave small harbors for deeper water; any winter zone is a low-confidence search for holdovers, not a claim of exact local occurrence.
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