Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

HaddockPeak season

Bay · Massachusetts

Nahant Bay

42.44°N · 70.90°W · Bay · Boston Harbor

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 11 PM · Haddock

80/100Great
Now
655 PM EDT
Best window
9 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding6.8 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Nahant Bay scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score65Great
Tide6.8 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.2 kn · toward SSW
Wind10 kn SSEgusts 21 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 4 s
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% chance of rain
Water64°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Haddock 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 Haddock is best here

Peak season for Haddock · 1 more week at peak

Haddock season by week of the year. Peak season for Haddock · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Haddock in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Nahant Bay

Depth
60-70 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · slope
Season
Peak seasonHaddock

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 Nahant Bay

Nahant Bay is a bay in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Depth is 60-70 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Haddock
Haddock feed on gravel, sand and clay bottom along the edges of banks and ledges, mostly in 120 to 400 feet. They have small, soft mouths, so fish clam or squid on small hooks on a high-low rig, or a light jig with teasers, right on the bottom. Set the hook gently and keep steady pressure on the way up.
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.
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

  • Galloupes Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    81
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 81
    • Little tunny 73
    • Bluefish 69

    10 kt SSEH 7:14 PM · 8.5 ftL 1:46 AM · 1.7 ft

  • Outer Gut

    Gut · 1.1 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Scup 74
    • Black sea bass 73

    10 kt SSEH 7:14 PM · 8.5 ftL 1:46 AM · 1.7 ft

  • Inner Gut

    Gut · 1.2 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Black sea bass 71
    • Scup 71

    10 kt SSEH 7:14 PM · 8.5 ftL 1:46 AM · 1.7 ft

  • Fred Bliss Rocks

    Bar · 1.3 mi

    75
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 75
    • Black sea bass 74
    • Striped bass 74

    10 kt SSEH 7:14 PM · 8.5 ftL 1:46 AM · 1.7 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.