Waterlands

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Little tunnyPeak season

Bar · Massachusetts

Great Pig Rocks

42.46°N · 70.85°W · Bar · Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · Little tunny

74/100Great
Now
459 AM EDT
Best window
6-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding7.7 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 9 AM · now

Time9ANOW
Score45Good
Tide7.7 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind12 kn ENEgusts 25 · steady
Sea stateRough4.4 ft · 5 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy72% cloud
Water62°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

Great Pig Rocks

Depth
30-70 ftDrop-off
Structure
Ledge · Outer · ExposedLedge · drop-off
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 Great Pig Rocks

Great Pig Rocks is a bar in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth is 30-70 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

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

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.
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

  • Southwest Breakers

    Bar · 0.2 mi

    61
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 61
    • Atlantic cod 56
    • Black sea bass 54

    12 kt ENEH 9:39 AM · 7.8 ftL 3:32 PM · 1.6 ft

  • Outer Breakers

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    61
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 61
    • Atlantic cod 54
    • Black sea bass 52

    12 kt ENEH 9:39 AM · 7.8 ftL 3:32 PM · 1.6 ft

  • Pitchers Shoal

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    53
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 53
    • Atlantic cod 52
    • Haddock 50

    12 kt ENEH 9:39 AM · 7.8 ftL 3:32 PM · 1.6 ft

  • Roaring Bull

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    52
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 52
    • Atlantic cod 50
    • Bluefish 47

    12 kt ENEH 9:39 AM · 7.8 ftL 3:32 PM · 1.6 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.