Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Striped bassPeak season

Cape · Massachusetts

Cow Beach Point

43.14°N · 70.62°W · Cape · Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 AM · Striped bass

78/100Great
Now
6011 AM EDT
Best window
7-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing7.0 ft ▼

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

Notify me when Cow Beach Point 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 · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score60Good
Tide7.0 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind8 kn ENEgusts 18 · steady
Sea stateRough4.1 ft · 6 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water62°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Striped bass 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 Striped bass is best here

Peak season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at peak

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

Striped bass in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Cow Beach Point

Depth
6-35 ftSlope
Structure
Point · Outer · ExposedPoint · slope
Season
Peak seasonStriped bass

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 Cow Beach Point

Cow Beach Point is a cape in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth is 6-35 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads point, outer water and exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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

  • Banks Rock

    Bar · 0.2 mi

    67
    Top: Atlantic codPeak season
    • Atlantic cod 67
    • Scup 67
    • Black sea bass 65

    8 kt ENEL 3:38 PM · 1.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 8.9 ft

  • Roaring Rock Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Striped bass 60
    • Black sea bass 58

    8 kt ENEL 3:38 PM · 1.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 8.9 ft

  • East Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Striped bass 60
    • Atlantic cod 58

    8 kt ENEL 3:38 PM · 1.3 ftH 9:38 PM · 8.9 ft

  • Prebbles Point

    Cape · 0.7 mi

    60
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 60
    • Striped bass 60
    • Black sea bass 58

    8 kt ENEL 3:38 PM · 1.3 ftH 9:38 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.