Waterlands

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ScupPeak season

Bay · Massachusetts

Menemsha Bight

41.35°N · 70.78°W · Bay · Vineyard Sound

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Best score today · 6 PM · Striped bass

82/100Great
Now
762 PM EDT
Best window
5-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.8 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Tuesday, Sep 22 · 1 AM

Time1A
Score59Good
Tide0.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentEbb0.7 kn · toward WSW
Wind19 kn ENEgusts 23 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.3 ft · 4 s
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast37% chance of rain
Water68°FModel

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.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Scup is best here

Peak season for Scup · 1 more week at peak

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

Scup in Massachusetts

Spot profile

Menemsha Bight

Depth
8-35 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Peak 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 Menemsha Bight

Menemsha Bight is a bay in Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts. Depth is 8-35 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

  • Squibnocket Bight

    Bay · 2.6 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Little tunny 75
    • Scup 73

    6 kt SWL 6:25 PM · 0.8 ftH 12:40 AM · 2.3 ft

  • Gay Head

    Cape · 3.0 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Little tunny 76
    • Bluefish 71

    6 kt SWL 7:12 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:19 AM · 2.3 ft

  • Peases Point

    Cape · 0.9 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Striped bass 73
    • Scup 71

    6 kt SWL 8:03 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:40 AM · 2.2 ft

  • Devils Bridge

    Bar · 3.5 mi

    73
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 73
    • Bluefish 72
    • Striped bass 71

    6 kt SWL 7:12 PM · 0.8 ftH 1:19 AM · 2.3 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.