Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bar · Massachusetts

Lieutenant Island Bar

41.88°N · 70.05°W · Bar · Cape Cod Bay

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Best score today · 7 PM · Summer flounder

76/100Great
Now
602 PM EDT
Best window
5-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding5.0 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Oct 1 · 5 PM

Time5P
Score35Fair
Tide9.9 ft ▼Ebbing
Wind11 kn ENEgusts 15 · steady
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water59°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Summer flounder 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 Summer flounder is best here

Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Summer flounder in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Lieutenant Island Bar

Depth
15-20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonSummer flounder

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 Lieutenant Island Bar

Lieutenant Island Bar is a bar in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 15-20 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, Atlantic cod and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, Atlantic cod, bluefish and scup, and shoulder season for summer flounder and tautog. Little tunny peak from September through October. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.

Tackle & technique

Summer flounder
Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
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.
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

  • Wellfleet Harbor

    Bay · 1.5 mi

    77
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 77
    • Black sea bass 75
    • Little tunny 72

    6 kt NNEH 5:30 PM · 9.6 ftL 12:16 AM · 1.7 ft

  • The Cove

    Bay · 1.3 mi

    76
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 76
    • Little tunny 70
    • Black sea bass 69

    6 kt NH 5:30 PM · 9.6 ftL 12:16 AM · 1.7 ft

  • Jeremy Point

    Bar · 1.2 mi

    74
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 74
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Bluefish 70

    6 kt NNEH 5:30 PM · 9.6 ftL 12:16 AM · 1.7 ft

  • Smalley Bar

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    71
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 71
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Bluefish 70

    6 kt NNEH 5:30 PM · 9.6 ftL 12:16 AM · 1.7 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.