Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Flat · Massachusetts

Browing Ledge

41.48°N · 71.05°W · Flat · Rhode Island Sound

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Best score today · 6 AM · Black sea bass

79/100Great
Now
718 AM EDT
Best window
8-11 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.7 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 8 AM · now

Time8ANOW
Score71Great
Tide1.7 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.6 kn · toward ESE
Wind7 kn NEgusts 13 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.6 ft · 5 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water67°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Black sea bass 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 Black sea bass is best here

Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak

Black sea bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Black sea bass in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Browing Ledge

Depth
15-40 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Outer · ExposedLedge · slope
Season
Peak seasonBlack sea bass

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 Browing Ledge

Browing Ledge is a flat in Rhode Island Sound, Massachusetts. Depth is 15-40 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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

  • Westport Point

    Cape · 2.1 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Little tunny 79
    • Bluefish 76

    7 kt NEL 11:32 AM · 0.6 ftH 5:47 PM · 2.8 ft

  • Pinetree Ground

    Bar · 1.1 mi

    79
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 79
    • Bluefish 78
    • Striped bass 73

    7 kt NEL 11:32 AM · 0.6 ftH 5:47 PM · 2.8 ft

  • Hen and Chickens

    Bar · 1.5 mi

    78
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 78
    • Little tunny 77
    • Striped bass 73

    7 kt NEL 11:32 AM · 0.6 ftH 5:47 PM · 2.8 ft

  • The Let

    Bay · 1.7 mi

    76
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 76
    • Striped bass 73
    • Little tunny 71

    7 kt NEL 11:32 AM · 0.6 ftH 5:47 PM · 2.8 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.