Waterlands

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Summer flounderShoulder season

Bay · Massachusetts

Little Harbor

41.52°N · 70.67°W · Bay · Vineyard Sound

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Best score today · 2 AM · Summer flounder

82/100Great
Now
411 PM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMHigh slack
Tide now
Flooding0.4 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 1 PM · now

Time1PNOW
Score41Fair
Tide0.4 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind11 kn NNEgusts 25 · steady
Sea stateModerate2.5 ft · 4 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherPartly cloudy47% cloud
Water69°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Summer flounder is best here

Shoulder season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Summer flounder in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Little Harbor

Depth
4-20 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · 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 Little Harbor

Little Harbor is a bay in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. Depth is 4-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

  • Parker Flats

    Flat · 0.3 mi

    62
    Top: Atlantic codPeak season
    • Atlantic cod 62
    • Black sea bass 61
    • Scup 61

    11 kt NNEH 5:28 PM · 1.9 ftL 12:52 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Red Ledge

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    62
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 62
    • Scup 62
    • Atlantic cod 61

    11 kt NNEH 5:28 PM · 1.9 ftL 12:52 AM · 0.7 ft

  • Juniper Point

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    58
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 58
    • Scup 58
    • Atlantic cod 57

    11 kt NNEH 5:19 PM · 1.2 ftL 1:30 AM · 0.3 ft

  • Nonamesset Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    53
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 53
    • Bluefish 52
    • Striped bass 52

    11 kt NNEH 5:19 PM · 1.2 ftL 1:30 AM · 0.3 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.