Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Little tunnyPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Buoy Rocks

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

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 AM · Little tunny

75/100Great
Now
706 AM EDT
Best window
6-9 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding6.4 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Buoy Rocks scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 AM · now

Time6ANOW
Score70Great
Tide6.4 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward SSW
Wind13 kn NEgusts 16 · building
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 4 s
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherOvercast90% chance of rain
Water65°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Little tunny season by week of the year. Peak season for Little tunny · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Little tunny in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Buoy Rocks

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

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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Jeremy Point

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    75
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 75
    • Little tunny 73
    • Bluefish 70

    13 kt NEH 8:13 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:19 PM · 2.5 ft

  • Wellfleet Harbor

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 74
    • Scup 72
    • Black sea bass 71

    13 kt NEH 8:13 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:19 PM · 2.5 ft

  • Smalley Bar

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    70
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 70
    • Little tunny 70
    • Striped bass 68

    13 kt NEH 8:13 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:19 PM · 2.5 ft

  • Old Saw

    Bar · 1.7 mi

    70
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 70
    • Little tunny 70
    • Striped bass 68

    13 kt NEH 8:13 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:19 PM · 2.5 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.