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ScupPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 4 AM · Striped bass
- Now
- 709 AM EDT
- Best window
- 11 AM-7 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.4 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Buzzards Bay scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions
Saturday, Sep 26 · 7 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
91Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.6 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
15Wind: 15 kt NNEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
90Water temp: 66°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 2.2 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
88Season: PeakHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Scup is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with MassDMF before you keep a fish.
Source: MassDMF · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Scup is best here
Peak season for Scup · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Buzzards Bay
- Depth
- 45-50 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonScup
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 Buzzards Bay
Buzzards Bay is a bay in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 45-50 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and little tunny. It is peak season now for scup, striped bass, little tunny and bluefish, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Scup peak from June through September. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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
- Timmy Point76
Cape · 3.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 76
- Little tunny 74
- Bluefish 68
6 kt NNWH 2:06 PM · 3.2 ftL 8:06 PM · 1.2 ft
- Northwest Gutter75
Gut · 3.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 75
- Scup 73
- Black sea bass 70
6 kt NNWH 2:06 PM · 3.2 ftL 8:06 PM · 1.2 ft
- Penzance74
Cape · 4.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 74
- Little tunny 72
- Bluefish 66
6 kt NNWH 2:29 PM · 1.9 ftL 11:11 PM · 0.7 ft
- Timmy Point Shoal71
Bar · 3.7 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 71
- Bluefish 70
- Striped bass 69
6 kt NNWH 2:06 PM · 3.2 ftL 8:06 PM · 1.2 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.