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Summer flounderShoulder seasonCape · Massachusetts
Seal Head Point
43.12°N · 70.63°W · Cape · Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Summer flounder
- Now
- 577 PM EDT
- Best window
- 7-8 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding7.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Seal Head Point 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 · 7 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
98Tide: FloodingCurrent: 1.0 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 3 kt ENEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
68Water temp: 62°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 3.0 ftSeason & habitat · Summer flounder
Species seasonality
41Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Summer flounder 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 Summer flounder is best here
Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Seal Head Point
- Depth
- 6-40 ftSlope
- Structure
- Point · Outer · ExposedPoint · slope
- Season
- Shoulder seasonSummer 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 Seal Head Point
Seal Head Point is a cape in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth is 6-40 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 bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, striped bass, bluefish and black sea bass, 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. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.
Tackle & technique
- Summer flounder
- Summer flounder lie half-buried on sand and shell bottom and ambush bait along channel edges, inlet bars and ocean reefs, from a few feet deep in back bays to about 100 feet offshore. Drift with the tide and bounce a bucktail tipped with a squid or fish strip along the bottom. The bigger fish move to ocean reefs and wrecks in late summer, so follow them out.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Argo Point78
Cape · 0.2 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 78
- Striped bass 78
- Bluefish 72
3 kt ENEH 8:52 PM · 8.6 ftL 3:31 AM · 0.9 ft
- York Harbor78
Bay · 0.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 78
- Little tunny 76
- Black sea bass 74
3 kt ENEH 8:52 PM · 8.6 ftL 3:31 AM · 0.9 ft
- Godfreys Cove76
Bay · 0.3 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 76
- Little tunny 74
- Bluefish 72
3 kt ENEH 8:52 PM · 8.6 ftL 3:31 AM · 0.9 ft
- Black Rocks76
Bar · 0.7 mi
Top: Black sea bassPeak season- Black sea bass 76
- Scup 76
- Little tunny 75
3 kt ENEH 8:52 PM · 8.6 ftL 3:31 AM · 0.9 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.
