Waterlands

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ScupPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Buoy Rocks

41.90°N · 70.06°W · Bar · Cape Cod Bay

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Best score today · 12 AM · Scup

70/100Great
Now
5611 AM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing7.3 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Oct 5 · 5 PM

Time5P
Score59Good
Tide7.0 ft ▲Flooding
Wind17 kn SWgusts 26 · easing
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water61°FPersisted

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.

Source: MassDMF · synced yesterday

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

Buoy Rocks

Depth
6-10 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · flat bottom
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 Buoy Rocks

Buoy Rocks is a bar in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 6-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

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

  • Jeremy Point

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    61
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 61
    • Little tunny 58
    • Bluefish 57

    19 kt NEL 3:14 PM · 2.2 ftH 9:15 PM · 9.8 ft

  • Wellfleet Harbor

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    60
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 60
    • Black sea bass 59
    • Little tunny 56

    19 kt NEL 3:14 PM · 2.2 ftH 9:15 PM · 9.8 ft

  • Smalley Bar

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    57
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 57
    • Atlantic cod 55
    • Little tunny 55

    19 kt NEL 3:14 PM · 2.2 ftH 9:15 PM · 9.8 ft

  • Old Saw

    Bar · 1.7 mi

    57
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 57
    • Atlantic cod 55
    • Little tunny 55

    19 kt NEL 3:14 PM · 2.2 ftH 9:15 PM · 9.8 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.