Waterlands

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Summer flounderPeak season

Bar · Maryland

Bodkin Point Shoal

39.14°N · 76.43°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD

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Best score today · 1 AM · Summer flounder

70/100Great
Now
607 PM EDT
Best window
7-9 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing0.9 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Sep 23 · 9 AM

Time9A
Score66Great
Tide0.9 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.3 kn · toward S
Wind12 kn NNEgusts 23 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherOvercast89% cloud
Water73°FBias corrected

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 Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.

Source: Maryland DNR · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Summer flounder is best here

Peak season for Summer flounder · 1 more week at peak

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

Summer flounder in Maryland

Spot profile

Bodkin Point Shoal

Depth
9-15 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · flat bottom
Season
Peak 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 Bodkin Point Shoal

Bodkin Point Shoal is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD, Maryland. Depth is 9-15 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are little tunny, Spanish mackerel and bluefish. It is peak season now for little tunny, Spanish mackerel, summer flounder and spot, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, weakfish and king mackerel. Little tunny peak from September through October. Spanish mackerel peak from July through September. Bluefish peak in May and from October through November.

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.
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.
Spanish mackerel
Spanish mackerel school along beaches and around inlets, jetties, piers and bridge-tunnel structures, and along tide rips in 5 to 40 feet of water once the water climbs above about 68 degrees F. Troll small spoons or cast metal jigs and retrieve fast, or look for birds diving on bait and cast into the school. FWC calls for a 30 to 60 pound monofilament leader because their teeth cut light line.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Bodkin Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    67
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 67
    • Bluefish 59
    • Spot 59

    13 kt ENEL 9:42 PM · 0.7 ftH 4:26 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Cedar Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    67
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 67
    • Bluefish 59
    • Spot 59

    13 kt ENEL 9:42 PM · 0.7 ftH 4:26 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Bodkin Creek

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    65
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 65
    • Red drum 62
    • Little tunny 60

    13 kt ENEL 9:42 PM · 0.7 ftH 4:26 AM · 1.6 ft

  • Sevenfoot Knoll

    Bar · 1.7 mi

    64
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 64
    • Spanish mackerel 62
    • Bluefish 60

    13 kt ENEL 10:24 PM · 0.8 ftH 5:07 AM · 1.7 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 Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.