Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bar · Massachusetts

Devils Back

42.35°N · 70.91°W · Bar · Boston Harbor

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Best score today · 8 AM · Summer flounder

78/100Great
Now
648 AM EDT
Best window
8-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing5.0 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Sep 24 · 6 AM

Time6A
Score45Good
Tide2.5 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward SW
Wind15 kn ENEgusts 24 · steady
Sea stateRough4.2 ft · 6 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water62°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Summer flounder is best here

Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder

Summer flounder season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Summer flounder in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Devils Back

Depth
25-40 ftSlope
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonSummer flounder

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 Devils Back

Devils Back is a bar in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Depth is 25-40 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are striped bass, little tunny and bluefish. It is peak season now for striped bass, little tunny, bluefish and Atlantic cod, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Little tunny peak from September through October. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Boston North Channel

    Channel · 1.0 mi

    86
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 86
    • Black sea bass 77
    • Little tunny 75

    5 kt NWL 11:01 AM · 2.2 ftH 5:17 PM · 8.8 ft

  • Hypocrite Channel

    Channel · 0.7 mi

    85
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 85
    • Black sea bass 78
    • Atlantic cod 77

    5 kt NWL 11:00 AM · 2.1 ftH 5:16 PM · 8.7 ft

  • Boston South Channel

    Channel · 0.5 mi

    84
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 84
    • Black sea bass 77
    • Little tunny 73

    5 kt NWL 11:00 AM · 2.1 ftH 5:16 PM · 8.7 ft

  • Halftide Rocks

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    79
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 79
    • Striped bass 78
    • Little tunny 77

    5 kt NWL 11:00 AM · 2.1 ftH 5:16 PM · 8.7 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 MassDMF before you keep a fish.