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ScupPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 4 AM · Scup
- Now
- 5610 AM EDT
- Best window
- 4 PM-12 AMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Ebbing6.4 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Shank Painter Bar 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
Saturday, Oct 3 · 7 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
56Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
93Wind: 10 kt WSWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
91Water temp: 60°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Scup
Species seasonality
81Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
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
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Shank Painter Bar
- Depth
- 20-150 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · drop-off
- 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 Shank Painter Bar
Shank Painter Bar is a bar in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts. Depth is 20-150 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are Atlantic cod, black sea bass and haddock. It is peak season now for Atlantic cod, black sea bass, haddock and bluefish, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September. Haddock peak from May through 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.
- 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.
- 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
- Wood End Bar62
Bar · 1.3 mi
Top: Atlantic codPeak season- Atlantic cod 62
- Black sea bass 61
- Haddock 59
19 kt NNEL 1:59 PM · 2.1 ftH 8:15 PM · 8.9 ft
- Long Point62
Bar · 2.9 mi
Top: Atlantic codPeak season- Atlantic cod 62
- Black sea bass 61
- Haddock 58
19 kt NNEL 1:59 PM · 2.1 ftH 8:15 PM · 8.9 ft
- Hatches Harbor59
Bay · 1.8 mi
Top: Black sea bassPeak season- Black sea bass 59
- Striped bass 56
- Bluefish 55
19 kt NNEL 1:59 PM · 2.1 ftH 8:15 PM · 8.9 ft
- Herring Cove55
Bay · 0.6 mi
Top: BluefishPeak season- Bluefish 55
- Black sea bass 54
- Little tunny 54
19 kt NNEL 1:59 PM · 2.1 ftH 8:15 PM · 8.9 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.