Waterlands

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Atlantic codPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Point May

41.62°N · 70.82°W · Bar · Buzzards Bay

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Best score today · 7 AM · Atlantic cod

75/100Great
Now
6211 AM EDT
Best window
6-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.4 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Sep 22 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score71Great
Tide2.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.5 kn · toward SW
Wind9 kn NEgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.6 ft · 3 s
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water69°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic cod 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 Atlantic cod is best here

Peak season for Atlantic cod · 5 more weeks at peak

Atlantic cod season by week of the year. Peak season for Atlantic cod · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Atlantic cod in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Point May

Depth
4-10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonAtlantic cod

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 Point May

Point May is a bar in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 4-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bar, 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 scup, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. 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

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.
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

  • Seal Island Rocks

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    73
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 73
    • Black sea bass 69
    • Little tunny 66

    6 kt SEH 3:58 PM · 3.2 ftL 10:47 PM · 1.0 ft

  • Puppy Rocks

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    73
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 73
    • Black sea bass 69
    • Little tunny 66

    6 kt SEH 3:58 PM · 3.2 ftL 10:47 PM · 1.0 ft

  • Brant Island Cove

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    70
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 70
    • Striped bass 70
    • Little tunny 66

    6 kt SSEH 3:58 PM · 3.2 ftL 10:47 PM · 1.0 ft

  • Nasketucket Bay

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Scup 69
    • Little tunny 65

    6 kt SEH 3:58 PM · 3.2 ftL 10:47 PM · 1.0 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.