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Striped bassShoulder seasonBay · Maryland
Muscle Hole
38.08°N · 76.01°W · Bay · Tangier Sound and the inland waters surrounding Bloodsworth Island
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 8 AM · Striped bass
- Now
- 5610 AM EDT
- Best window
- 10 AM-1 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.3 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Muscle Hole 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 · 10 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
70Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.2 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
46Wind: 13 kt NEPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
87Water temp: 68°F, primeLight: OvercastSolunar: Near a majorSeas: 2.5 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
55Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: 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
Muscle Hole
- Depth
- 1-3 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- 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 Muscle Hole
Muscle Hole is a bay in Tangier Sound and the inland waters surrounding Bloodsworth Island, Maryland. Depth is 1-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and red drum. It is peak season now for scup, spot, red drum and summer flounder, and shoulder season for bluefish, black sea bass, weakfish and striped bass. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Red drum peak in May and 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Sheepshead Harbor72
Bay · 1.0 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 72
- Spot 71
- Sheepshead 70
13 kt NEH 11:44 AM · 1.5 ftL 5:59 PM · 0.4 ft
- Tangier Sound71
Bay · 1.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 71
- Spot 69
- Little tunny 65
13 kt NEH 11:18 AM · 1.8 ftL 5:49 PM · 0.5 ft
- Kedges Straits70
Channel · 1.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 70
- Spot 69
- Sheepshead 67
13 kt NEH 11:44 AM · 1.5 ftL 5:59 PM · 0.4 ft
- Musclehole Bar66
Bar · 0.1 mi
Top: Little tunnyPeak season- Little tunny 66
- Red drum 65
- Scup 65
13 kt NEH 11:44 AM · 1.5 ftL 5:59 PM · 0.4 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.