Waterlands

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ScupPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Mendells Rocks

41.68°N · 70.74°W · Bar · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 8 AM · Black sea bass

78/100Great
Now
6511 AM EDT
Best window
4-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.3 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Sep 25 · 12 AM

Time12A
Score69Great
Tide0.6 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward SSW
Wind14 kn NEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.3 ft · 4 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water66°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Scup is best here

Peak season for Scup · 1 more week at peak

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

Scup in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Mendells Rocks

Depth
7-20 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · slope
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 Mendells Rocks

Mendells Rocks is a bar in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 7-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, black sea bass and Atlantic cod. It is peak season now for scup, black sea bass, Atlantic cod and bluefish, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Scup peak from June through September. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and 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.
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.
Atlantic cod
Cod hold near coarse, rocky bottom on ledges, banks and wrecks, commonly from 80 to 300 feet in the Gulf of Maine. Drift over the structure with a diamond or cod jig and a teaser fly above it, keeping the jig within a few feet of bottom, or fish clams on a high-low rig. Check the stock area and season before keeping one, because most of the year cod must be released.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Seal Rocks

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    67
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 67
    • Black sea bass 65
    • Little tunny 64

    11 kt NNEH 4:59 PM · 3.8 ftL 12:27 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Sippican Harbor

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    66
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 66
    • Little tunny 65
    • Striped bass 65

    11 kt NNEH 4:59 PM · 3.8 ftL 12:27 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Charles Neck Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    61
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 61
    • Striped bass 60
    • Bluefish 58

    11 kt NNEH 4:59 PM · 3.8 ftL 12:27 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Aucoot Cove

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    60
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 60
    • Bluefish 56
    • Little tunny 55

    11 kt NNEH 4:57 PM · 3.5 ftL 11:21 PM · 1.1 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.