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TautogShoulder seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · Tautog
- Now
- 4711 PM EDT
- Best window
- 11 PM-12 AMNight bite
- Tide now
- Low1.2 ft
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Maquoit Bay 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
Thursday, Sep 24 · 7 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.5 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
91Wind: 6 kt NNEPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
70Water temp: 59°F, primeLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 3.2 ftSeason & habitat · Tautog
Species seasonality
68Season: ShoulderHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Tautog 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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Tautog is best here
Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Maquoit Bay
- Depth
- 10-20 ftFlat bottom
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · flat bottom
- Season
- Shoulder seasonTautog
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 Maquoit Bay
Maquoit Bay is a bay in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 10-20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are striped bass, scup and bluefish. It is peak season now for striped bass, scup, bluefish and little tunny, 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. Bluefish peak from June through July and in September.
Tackle & technique
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Goose Point68
Cape · 1.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 68
- Bluefish 55
- Little tunny 55
5 kt ENEH 5:01 AM · 7.9 ftL 10:50 AM · 2.1 ft
- Bunganuc Point67
Cape · 1.2 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 67
- Bluefish 55
- Little tunny 54
5 kt ENEH 5:01 AM · 7.9 ftL 10:50 AM · 2.1 ft
- Merepoint Bay65
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 65
- Scup 58
- Bluefish 55
5 kt ENEH 5:01 AM · 7.9 ftL 10:50 AM · 2.1 ft
- Bunganuc Rock62
Bar · 0.6 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 62
- Striped bass 61
- Black sea bass 58
5 kt ENEH 5:01 AM · 7.9 ftL 10:50 AM · 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.