Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Cape · Massachusetts

Red Rock

42.46°N · 70.93°W · Cape · Boston Harbor

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Best score today · 8 AM · Scup

80/100Great
Now
7011 AM EDT
Best window
4-10 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing4.9 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Sep 28 · 2 AM

Time2A
Score62Good
Tide8.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind14 kn NEgusts 27 · steady
Sea stateRough5.2 ft · 6 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water61°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Source: MassDMF · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black sea bass is best here

Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak

Black sea bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Black sea bass in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Red Rock

Depth
4-15 ftNearest water
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · slope
Season
Peak seasonBlack sea bass

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 Red Rock

Red Rock is a cape in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Depth in the nearest water is 4-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Black sea bass
Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Blaney Rock

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    70
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 70
    • Little tunny 68
    • Striped bass 68

    8 kt NNEL 1:52 PM · 2.4 ftH 8:08 PM · 8.6 ft

  • Lincoln House Point

    Cape · 1.1 mi

    68
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 68
    • Striped bass 68
    • Bluefish 65

    8 kt NNEL 1:52 PM · 2.4 ftH 8:08 PM · 8.6 ft

  • Lynn Harbor

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    68
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 68
    • Striped bass 67
    • Little tunny 66

    8 kt NNEL 1:52 PM · 2.4 ftH 8:08 PM · 8.6 ft

  • Old Sump

    Bar · 1.0 mi

    67
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 67
    • Little tunny 66
    • Atlantic cod 64

    8 kt NNEL 1:52 PM · 2.4 ftH 8:08 PM · 8.6 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.