Waterlands

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Winter flounderOff season

Bar · Maine

Seal Rocks

43.91°N · 69.72°W · Bar · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 6 AM · Winter flounder

81/100Great
Now
352 PM EDT
Best window
2-10 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding6.8 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Wednesday, Sep 30 · 4 PM

Time4P
Score35Fair
Tide8.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.5 kn · toward SSW
Wind6 kn ESEgusts 16 · steady
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water59°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Winter flounder 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 Winter flounder is best here

Out of season for Winter flounder · it leaves in 11 weeks

Winter flounder season by week of the year. Out of season for Winter flounder · it leaves in 11 weeks.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Winter flounder in Maine

Spot profile

Seal Rocks

Depth
2-7 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Ledge · Inner · ProtectedLedge · flat bottom
Season
Off seasonWinter flounder

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 Seal Rocks

Seal Rocks is a bar in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 2-7 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

Winter flounder
Winter flounder spend late winter and spring on mud and sand bottom in harbors, coves and tidal channels, often in 5 to 30 feet. Anchor, chum with crushed clams or mussels, and fish small long-shank hooks with worm or clam on the bottom, tapping the rig to stir up mud. The bite is light, so use a sensitive rod.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Bluff Head

    Cape · 0.7 mi

    84
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 84
    • Little tunny 74
    • Scup 71

    5 kt SSEH 4:48 PM · 8.8 ftL 11:24 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Montsweag Bay

    Bay · 0.9 mi

    81
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 81
    • Scup 76
    • Little tunny 71

    5 kt SSEH 4:20 PM · 9.0 ftL 10:45 PM · 1.2 ft

  • McCarty Cove

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    81
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 81
    • Scup 76
    • Little tunny 71

    5 kt SSEH 4:20 PM · 9.0 ftL 10:45 PM · 1.2 ft

  • Halftide Rock

    Bar · 1.4 mi

    80
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 80
    • Black sea bass 78
    • Striped bass 77

    5 kt SSEH 4:20 PM · 9.0 ftL 10:45 PM · 1.2 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.