Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Cape · Maine

Bald Head

43.99°N · 69.86°W · Cape · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 7 AM · Black sea bass

81/100Great
Now
555 PM EDT
Best window
6-11 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Low1.1 ft

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 PM · now

Time5PNOW
Score55Good
Tide1.1 ftLow
CurrentSlack0.1 kn
Wind4 kn NNEgusts 12 · easing
Sea stateLight chop1.4 ft · 6 s
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy68% cloud
Water61°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Black sea bass is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with Maine DMR before you keep a fish.

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Black sea bass is best here

Peak season for Black sea bass · 1 more week at peak

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

Black sea bass in Maine

Spot profile

Bald Head

Depth
2-8 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Point · Inner · ProtectedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonBlack sea 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 Bald Head

Bald Head is a cape in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 2-8 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

Black sea bass
Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.
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

  • Trotts Rock

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    66
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 66
    • Black sea bass 63
    • Atlantic cod 60

    4 kt NNEH 10:56 PM · 5.2 ftL 5:25 AM · 0.6 ft

  • The Chops Passage

    Channel · 1.5 mi

    65
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 65
    • Atlantic cod 62
    • Black sea bass 62

    4 kt NNEH 10:56 PM · 5.2 ftL 5:25 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Chops Point

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    65
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 65
    • Striped bass 63
    • Black sea bass 62

    4 kt NNEH 10:56 PM · 5.2 ftL 5:25 AM · 0.6 ft

  • Merrymeeting Bay

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    63
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 63
    • Striped bass 61
    • Little tunny 58

    4 kt NNEH 10:56 PM · 5.2 ftL 5:25 AM · 0.6 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 Maine DMR before you keep a fish.