Waterlands

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Black sea bassPeak season

Bay · Maine

New Harbor

43.87°N · 69.49°W · Bay · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 12 AM · Striped bass

79/100Great
Now
6912 PM EDT
Best window
4 PM-12 AMHigh slack
Tide now
Ebbing3.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Friday, Sep 25 · 12 AM

Time12A
Score81Great
Tide7.7 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.6 kn · toward SW
Wind6 kn NEgusts 9 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.9 ft · 9 s
Air temp50°Cool
WeatherPartly cloudy39% cloud
Water59°FModel

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

New Harbor

Depth
5-20 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
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 New Harbor

New Harbor is a bay in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 5-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

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

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

  • Salt Pond Ledge

    Bar · 0.7 mi

    71
    Top: Black sea bassPeak season
    • Black sea bass 71
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Haddock 67

    8 kt NL 1:37 PM · 2.1 ftH 7:54 PM · 8.5 ft

  • Back Cove

    Bay · 0.2 mi

    70
    Top: Atlantic codPeak season
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Black sea bass 70
    • Haddock 66

    8 kt NL 1:37 PM · 2.1 ftH 7:54 PM · 8.5 ft

  • 70
    Top: Atlantic codPeak season
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Black sea bass 70
    • Haddock 67

    8 kt NL 1:37 PM · 2.1 ftH 7:54 PM · 8.5 ft

  • Long Cove

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    70
    Top: Atlantic codPeak season
    • Atlantic cod 70
    • Black sea bass 70
    • Haddock 67

    8 kt NL 1:37 PM · 2.1 ftH 7:54 PM · 8.5 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.