Waterlands

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Striped bassPeak season

Cape · Maine

Hendricks Head

43.82°N · 69.69°W · Cape · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 12 AM · Striped bass

82/100Great
Now
682 AM EDT
Best window
4-10 AMFlood tide
Tide now
Low1.6 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Sep 26 · 1 AM

Time1A
Score63Good
Tide7.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.7 kn · toward SSE
Wind9 kn NNEgusts 15 · steady
Sea stateVery rough7.3 ft · 9 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast30% chance of rain
Water60°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Source: Maine DMR · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Striped bass is best here

Peak season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at peak

Striped bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Striped bass in Maine

Spot profile

Hendricks Head

Depth
15-150 ftDrop-off
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · drop-off
Season
Peak 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 Hendricks Head

Hendricks Head is a cape in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 15-150 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are striped bass, scup and Atlantic cod. It is peak season now for striped bass, scup, Atlantic cod and black sea bass, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Scup peak from June through September. Atlantic cod peak from May through June 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.
Atlantic cod
Cod hold near coarse, rocky bottom on ledges, banks and wrecks, commonly from 80 to 300 feet in the Gulf of Maine. Drift over the structure with a diamond or cod jig and a teaser fly above it, keeping the jig within a few feet of bottom, or fish clams on a high-low rig. Check the stock area and season before keeping one, because most of the year cod must be released.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Dogfish Head

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    68
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 68
    • Scup 62
    • Atlantic cod 59

    3 kt NH 7:56 AM · 7.5 ftL 1:46 PM · 2.1 ft

  • Cozy Harbor

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    67
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 67
    • Scup 62
    • Atlantic cod 59

    3 kt NH 7:56 AM · 7.5 ftL 1:46 PM · 2.1 ft

  • Nick Ledge

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    63
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 63
    • Striped bass 61
    • Black sea bass 60

    3 kt NH 7:56 AM · 7.5 ftL 1:46 PM · 2.1 ft

  • Deep Cove

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Striped bass 61
    • Atlantic cod 59

    3 kt NH 7:56 AM · 7.5 ftL 1:46 PM · 2.1 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.