Waterlands

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Winter flounderOff season

Flat · Massachusetts

Ichabods Flat

41.99°N · 70.68°W · Flat · Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · Winter flounder

71/100Great
Now
3011 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing7.8 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 PM · now

Time11PNOW
Score30Fair
Tide7.8 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward WNW
Wind11 kn ENEgusts 23 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.3 ft · 5 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy75% cloud
Water63°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Winter 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 Winter flounder is best here

Out of season for Winter flounder · it leaves in 10 weeks

Winter flounder season by week of the year. Out of season for Winter flounder · it leaves in 10 weeks.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Winter flounder in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Ichabods Flat

Depth
4-15 ftSlope
Structure
Flat · Outer · ExposedFlat · slope
Season
Off seasonWinter 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 Ichabods Flat

Ichabods Flat is a flat in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth is 4-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads flat, outer water and exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Winter flounder
Winter flounder spend late winter and spring on mud and sand bottom in harbors, coves and tidal channels, often in 5 to 30 feet. Anchor, chum with crushed clams or mussels, and fish small long-shank hooks with worm or clam on the bottom, tapping the rig to stir up mud. The bite is light, so use a sensitive rod.
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.
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

  • Billington Ledge

    Flat · 0.2 mi

    67
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 67
    • Atlantic cod 66
    • Scup 63

    11 kt ENEL 3:40 AM · 1.4 ftH 9:43 AM · 8.6 ft

  • Kingston Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Bluefish 64
    • Scup 60

    11 kt ENEL 3:49 AM · 1.4 ftH 9:39 AM · 8.7 ft

  • The Nummet

    Flat · 0.9 mi

    62
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 62
    • Black sea bass 59
    • Bluefish 59

    11 kt ENEL 3:40 AM · 1.4 ftH 9:43 AM · 8.6 ft

  • White Flat

    Flat · 1.0 mi

    62
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 62
    • Black sea bass 59
    • Bluefish 59

    11 kt ENEL 3:40 AM · 1.4 ftH 9:43 AM · 8.6 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.