Waterlands

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ScupOff season

Cape · Massachusetts

Thurston Point

42.64°N · 70.68°W · Cape · Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay

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Best score today · 6 PM · Scup

76/100Great
Now
352 PM EST
Best window
5-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding7.9 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Nov 11 · 8 AM

Time8A
Tide3.2 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.3 kn · toward SSW
Wind9 kn NNEgusts 19 · steady
Air temp47°Cool
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water55°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Scup is best here

Out of season for Scup · it leaves next week

Scup season by week of the year. Out of season for Scup · it leaves next week.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Scup in Massachusetts →

Spot profile

Thurston Point

Depth
2-10 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Off 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 Thurston Point

Thurston Point is a cape in Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay. Depth in the nearest water is 2-10 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 9 species here; the best right now are striped bass, tautog and Atlantic cod. It is peak season now for tautog, and shoulder season for striped bass, Atlantic cod, little tunny and haddock. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Tautog peak in May and from October through November. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and 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.
Tautog
Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Montgomery Cove

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    76
    Top: TautogPeak season
    • Tautog 76
    • Striped bass 71
    • Atlantic cod 61

    6 kt WSWH 3:56 PM · 10.0 ftL 10:24 PM · -0.2 ft

  • Wheeler Point

    Cape · 0.4 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 74
    • Tautog 72
    • Atlantic cod 61

    6 kt WSWH 3:58 PM · 9.9 ftL 10:27 PM · -0.2 ft

  • Babson Point

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 74
    • Tautog 72
    • Atlantic cod 61

    6 kt WSWH 3:58 PM · 9.9 ftL 10:27 PM · -0.2 ft

  • Annisquam River

    Gut · 0.3 mi

    72
    Top: Striped bassShoulder season
    • Striped bass 72
    • Tautog 72
    • Atlantic cod 61

    6 kt WSWH 3:58 PM · 9.9 ftL 10:27 PM · -0.2 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.