Waterlands

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HaddockPeak season

Bay · Massachusetts

Cockle Cove

41.67°N · 70.01°W · Bay · Nantucket Sound

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 8 AM · Haddock

79/100Great
Now
515 AM EDT
Best window
6-10 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding3.1 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

Time5ANOW
Score51Good
Tide3.1 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind13 kn WSWgusts 20 · easing
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 4 s
Air temp68°Warm
WeatherOvercast92% chance of rain
Water71°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Haddock 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 Haddock is best here

Peak season for Haddock · 1 more week at peak

Haddock season by week of the year. Peak season for Haddock · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Haddock in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Cockle Cove

Depth
3-9 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonHaddock

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 Cockle Cove

Cockle Cove is a bay in Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts. Depth is 3-9 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

Haddock
Haddock feed on gravel, sand and clay bottom along the edges of banks and ledges, mostly in 120 to 400 feet. They have small, soft mouths, so fish clam or squid on small hooks on a high-low rig, or a light jig with teasers, right on the bottom. Set the hook gently and keep steady pressure on the way up.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Sears Point

    Cape · 1.8 mi

    68
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 68
    • Bluefish 60
    • Scup 60

    13 kt WSWH 6:09 AM · 3.4 ftL 11:27 AM · 1.1 ft

  • Harding Beach Point

    Cape · 1.9 mi

    68
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 68
    • Bluefish 60
    • Scup 60

    13 kt WSWH 6:09 AM · 3.4 ftL 11:27 AM · 1.1 ft

  • Stage Harbor

    Bay · 2.1 mi

    67
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 67
    • Striped bass 67
    • Black sea bass 60

    13 kt WSWH 6:09 AM · 3.4 ftL 11:27 AM · 1.1 ft

  • Chatham Roads

    Channel · 1.3 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 65
    • Black sea bass 59

    13 kt WSWH 6:09 AM · 3.4 ftL 11:27 AM · 1.1 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.