Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bay · Massachusetts

Cuttyhunk Harbor

41.43°N · 70.91°W · Bay · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · Summer flounder

87/100Epic
Now
523 PM EDT
Best window
6-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
High3.0 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Sep 29 · 7 PM

Time7P
Score62Good
Tide0.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentEbb1.0 kn · toward NW
Wind5 kn SSWgusts 14 · steady
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water64°FPersisted

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

Cuttyhunk Harbor

Depth
9-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
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 Cuttyhunk Harbor

Cuttyhunk Harbor is a bay in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 9-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, little tunny and black sea bass. It is peak season now for scup, little tunny, black sea bass and bluefish, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Scup peak from June through September. Little tunny peak from September through October. Black sea bass 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.
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.
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

  • Whale Rock

    Bar · 0.7 mi

    79
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 79
    • Black sea bass 64
    • Atlantic cod 61

    5 kt NNWL 8:59 PM · 1.1 ftH 3:36 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Pease Ledge

    Bar · 0.3 mi

    78
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 78
    • Black sea bass 64
    • Bluefish 63

    5 kt NNWL 8:59 PM · 1.1 ftH 3:36 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Canapitsit Channel

    Channel · 0.3 mi

    75
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 75
    • Black sea bass 61
    • Little tunny 58

    5 kt NNWL 8:59 PM · 1.1 ftH 3:36 AM · 2.6 ft

  • Cuttyhunk Pond

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    75
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 75
    • Little tunny 62
    • Bluefish 61

    5 kt NNWL 8:59 PM · 1.1 ftH 3:36 AM · 2.6 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.