Waterlands

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TautogShoulder season

Cape · Massachusetts

Flat Point

41.47°N · 70.62°W · Cape · Vineyard Sound

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Tautog

79/100Great
Now
5510 PM EDT
Best window
10 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.8 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 10 PM · now

Time10PNOW
Score55Good
Tide1.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.9 kn · toward WSW
Wind7 kn NEgusts 15 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.7 ft · 4 s
Air temp59°Mild
WeatherOvercast91% cloud
Water69°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Tautog 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 Tautog is best here

Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder

Tautog season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Tautog in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Flat Point

Depth
1-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonTautog

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 Flat Point

Flat Point is a cape in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. Depth is 1-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Kuffies Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    79
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • Bluefish 77
    • Little tunny 76

    5 kt NEL 1:58 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:04 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Hullman Point

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    79
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • Little tunny 76
    • Bluefish 74

    5 kt NEL 1:58 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:04 AM · 1.5 ft

  • Middle Ground

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    79
    Top: BluefishPeak season
    • Bluefish 79
    • Little tunny 74
    • Striped bass 72

    5 kt NEL 1:58 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:04 AM · 1.5 ft

  • West Chop

    Cape · 1.6 mi

    79
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • Little tunny 77
    • Bluefish 74

    7 kt NEL 1:58 AM · 0.4 ftH 9:04 AM · 1.5 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.