Waterlands

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BluefishPeak season

Bay · Massachusetts

Buzzards Bay

41.56°N · 70.75°W · Bay · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 5 PM · Bluefish

82/100Great
Now
765 PM EDT
Best window
5-6 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.6 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score76Great
Tide1.6 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward SW
Wind8 kn Sgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.0 ft · 3 s
Air temp72°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy80% cloud
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Bluefish 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 Bluefish is best here

Peak season for Bluefish · 1 more week at peak

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

Bluefish in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Buzzards Bay

Depth
45-50 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonBluefish

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 striped bass, little tunny and bluefish. It is peak season now for striped bass, little tunny, bluefish and black sea bass, 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

Bluefish
Bluefish travel in size-sorted schools and feed where tide pushes bait past structure: inlet mouths, rips, shoal edges and the surf line, mostly in water shallower than 60 feet. Look for birds and breaking bait and cast metal or poppers into it, or soak cut bunker or mullet on the bottom from the beach. Use a short wire or heavy leader because their teeth cut light line.
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 Point

    Cape · 3.9 mi

    86
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 86
    • Little tunny 83
    • Bluefish 77

    8 kt SL 6:49 PM · 1.0 ftH 1:37 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Northwest Gutter

    Gut · 3.9 mi

    85
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 85
    • Black sea bass 78
    • Little tunny 75

    8 kt SL 6:49 PM · 1.0 ftH 1:37 AM · 2.8 ft

  • Penzance

    Cape · 4.0 mi

    85
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 85
    • Little tunny 82
    • Bluefish 76

    8 kt SL 10:07 PM · 0.7 ftH 1:51 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Timmy Point Shoal

    Bar · 3.7 mi

    81
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 81
    • Bluefish 79
    • Striped bass 79

    8 kt SL 6:49 PM · 1.0 ftH 1:37 AM · 2.8 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.