Waterlands

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ScupShoulder season

Cape · Maryland

Indian Queen Point

38.75°N · 77.03°W · Cape · Tidal Potomac from Key Bridge to Indian Head MD

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Best score today · 5 PM · Scup

84/100Great
Now
559 AM EST
Best window
4-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding0.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Nov 13 · 3 PM

Time3P
Score53Good
Tide1.0 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.2 kn · toward S
Wind4 kn Sgusts 13 · steady
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy74% cloud
Water61°FPersisted

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 Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.

Source: Maryland DNR · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Scup is best here

Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder

Scup season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Scup · 2 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Scup in Maryland →

Spot profile

Indian Queen Point

Depth
3-7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder 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 Indian Queen Point

Indian Queen Point is a cape in Tidal Potomac from Key Bridge to Indian Head MD, Maryland. Depth is 3-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 14 species here; the best right now are striped bass, spotted seatrout and tautog. It is peak season now for striped bass, spotted seatrout, tautog and bluefish, and shoulder season for scup, little tunny, weakfish and red drum. Striped bass peak from April through May and from October through December. Spotted seatrout peak from October through November. Tautog peak in April and from October through December.

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.
Spotted seatrout
Trout hold over grass beds and sandy potholes in 2 to 8 feet of water most of the year and slide into channels, deep creek bends and canals during cold snaps. A live shrimp under a slip or popping cork, a paddle tail on a light jighead, or a topwater walked at first light covers most situations. Keep the drag light because their mouths tear easily.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Stump Neck

    Cape · 18 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 74
    • Tautog 70
    • Bluefish 69

    2 kt SSWH 1:08 PM · 1.4 ftL 6:53 PM · 0.3 ft

  • Chapmans Point

    Cape · 5.3 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Tautog 64
    • Bluefish 63

    3 kt SSWH 2:10 PM · 2.2 ftL 8:02 PM · 0.4 ft

  • Sheridan Point

    Cape · 3.3 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • Spotted seatrout 63
    • Tautog 63

    3 kt SSWH 2:10 PM · 2.2 ftL 8:02 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.