Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Dry Ledge

41.70°N · 70.69°W · Bar · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 5 PM · Little tunny

81/100Great
Now
754 PM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Sep 19 · 7 PM

Time7P
Score81Great
Tide2.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.4 kn · toward SW
Wind4 kn Egusts 8 · steady
Sea stateLight chop0.5 ft · 5 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy73% cloud
Water71°FBias corrected

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.

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

Dry Ledge

Depth
10-20 ftSlope
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 Dry Ledge

Dry Ledge is a bar in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 10-20 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, scup and little tunny. It is peak season now for black sea bass, scup, little tunny and Atlantic cod, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September. Scup peak from June through September. Little tunny peak 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.
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

  • Great Hill Point

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    76
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 76
    • Striped bass 72
    • Bluefish 71

    4 kt NL 7:20 PM · 1.2 ftH 2:32 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Warren Point

    Cape · 1.1 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Bluefish 69
    • Striped bass 69

    4 kt NL 7:58 PM · 1.4 ftH 2:30 AM · 3.0 ft

  • Wings Cove

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Bluefish 72
    • Black sea bass 70

    4 kt NL 7:20 PM · 1.2 ftH 2:32 AM · 3.2 ft

  • Stony Point Dike

    Bar · 1.3 mi

    72
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 72
    • Bluefish 71
    • Atlantic cod 68

    4 kt NL 7:58 PM · 1.4 ftH 2:30 AM · 3.0 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.