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Little tunnyPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 AM · Little tunny
- Now
- 614 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6-8 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Barnstable Harbor scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions
Monday, Oct 5 · 4 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: FloodingCurrent: 1.0 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
80Wind: 10 kt SWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
48Water temp: 63°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Little tunny
Species seasonality
93Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Little tunny 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 Little tunny is best here
Peak season for Little tunny · 4 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Barnstable Harbor
- Depth
- 2-6 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Peak seasonLittle tunny
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 Barnstable Harbor
Barnstable Harbor is a bay in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 2-6 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, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for scup, striped bass, black sea bass and bluefish, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Scup peak from June through September. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Mussel Point66
Cape · 1.3 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 66
- Little tunny 63
- Bluefish 61
8 kt NEH 9:03 AM · 8.3 ftL 3:14 PM · 2.1 ft
- The Cove65
Bay · 1.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 65
- Striped bass 63
- Bluefish 61
8 kt NEH 9:03 AM · 8.3 ftL 3:14 PM · 2.1 ft
- Bass Hole64
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 64
- Striped bass 63
- Bluefish 61
8 kt NEH 9:03 AM · 8.3 ftL 3:14 PM · 2.1 ft
- Horseshoe Shoal63
Bar · 0.9 mi
Top: BluefishPeak season- Bluefish 63
- Little tunny 60
- Scup 59
8 kt NEH 9:03 AM · 8.3 ftL 3:14 PM · 2.1 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.