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Striped bassShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 11 PM · Striped bass
- Now
- 596 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6 PM-12 AMHigh slack
- Tide now
- Flooding1.9 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Sands Cove scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 6 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
88Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.5 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
61Wind: 11 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
62Water temp: 75°F, warmLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 0.9 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
67Season: ShoulderHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Striped bass 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 yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Striped bass is best here
Shoulder season for Striped bass · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Sands Cove
- Depth
- 2-15 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
- Season
- Shoulder seasonStriped 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 Sands Cove
Sands Cove is a bay in Chesapeake Bay north of Pooles Island MD, Maryland. Depth is 2-15 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, scup and little tunny. It is peak season now for spot, scup, little tunny and sheepshead, and shoulder season for weakfish, bluefish, spotted seatrout and Atlantic croaker. Spot peak from August through October. Scup peak from June through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- Spot
- Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
- 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
- Swan Creek Point75
Cape · 2.6 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 75
- Scup 70
- Spot 70
11 kt NEH 7:59 AM · 2.3 ftL 2:57 PM · 0.4 ft
- Cedar Point75
Cape · 2.8 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 75
- Scup 70
- Spot 70
11 kt NEH 7:59 AM · 2.3 ftL 2:57 PM · 0.4 ft
- Buzzards Glory72
Bar · 2.2 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 72
- Spanish mackerel 71
- Scup 70
11 kt NEH 7:59 AM · 2.3 ftL 2:57 PM · 0.4 ft
- Sandy Point70
Cape · 2.1 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 70
- Spot 70
- Little tunny 69
11 kt NEH 7:08 AM · 1.9 ftL 2:00 PM · 0.2 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.