Waterlands

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TautogShoulder season

Cape · Massachusetts

North Point

41.61°N · 70.83°W · Cape · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 2 AM · Tautog

78/100Great
Now
567 AM EDT
Best window
7-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 AM · now

Time7ANOW
Score56Good
Tide2.1 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward SW
Wind10 kn NNEgusts 19 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.2 ft · 4 s
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast80% chance of rain
Water69°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Tautog is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with MassDMF before you keep a fish.

Source: MassDMF · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Tautog is best here

Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Tautog in Massachusetts

Spot profile

North Point

Depth
3-20 ftSlope
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonTautog

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 North Point

North Point is a cape in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 3-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are little tunny, striped bass and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Little tunny peak from September through October. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.

Tackle & technique

Tautog
Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Puppy Rocks

    Bar · 0.7 mi

    77
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 77
    • Black sea bass 76
    • Bluefish 75

    10 kt NNEL 10:22 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:58 PM · 3.3 ft

  • North Cove

    Bay · 0.2 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Bluefish 72
    • Striped bass 72

    10 kt NNEL 10:22 AM · 0.9 ftH 5:04 PM · 3.4 ft

  • Nasketucket Bay

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Bluefish 72
    • Striped bass 72

    10 kt NNEL 10:22 AM · 0.9 ftH 4:58 PM · 3.3 ft

  • Round Cove

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Bluefish 72
    • Striped bass 72

    10 kt NNEL 10:22 AM · 0.9 ftH 5:04 PM · 3.4 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.