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ScupPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Striped bass
- Now
- 786 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6-9 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing7.2 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Brace Cove 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 · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
91Tide: EbbingCurrent: SlackWind & pressure
ECMWF
92Wind: 6 kt NWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
98Water temp: 66°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Major periodSeas: 1.9 ftSeason & habitat · Scup
Species seasonality
88Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
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 today
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
Brace Cove
- Depth
- 8-20 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
- 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 Brace Cove
Brace Cove is a bay in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth is 8-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and little tunny. It is peak season now for scup, striped bass, little tunny 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. Little tunny peak from September through October.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Southeast Harbor85
Bay · 0.5 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 85
- Scup 82
- Little tunny 79
6 kt NWL 10:54 AM · 2.0 ftH 5:14 PM · 8.5 ft
- Black Bess Rocks82
Bar · 0.8 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 82
- Black sea bass 73
- Striped bass 73
6 kt NWL 10:54 AM · 2.0 ftH 5:14 PM · 8.5 ft
- Black Bess Point80
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 80
- Little tunny 75
- Scup 73
6 kt NWL 10:54 AM · 2.0 ftH 5:14 PM · 8.5 ft
- Lighthouse Cove78
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 78
- Striped bass 78
- Little tunny 71
6 kt NWL 10:54 AM · 2.0 ftH 5:14 PM · 8.5 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.