Waterlands

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TautogShoulder season

Bar · Maine

Sloop Ledge

43.77°N · 69.73°W · Bar · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 8 AM · Tautog

83/100Great
Now
695 AM EDT
Best window
7-10 AMHigh slack
Tide now
Flooding4.6 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Thursday, Oct 1 · 6 PM

Time6P
Score77Great
Tide5.5 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.0 kn · toward SSE
Wind5 kn ENEgusts 12 · steady
Air temp64°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water59°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Tautog is best here

Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder

Tautog season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Tautog · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Tautog in Maine

Spot profile

Sloop Ledge

Depth
30-60 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Outer · ExposedLedge · slope
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 Sloop Ledge

Sloop Ledge is a bar in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 30-60 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

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

  • Todds Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Little tunny 67
    • Bluefish 66

    4 kt NH 7:57 AM · 7.1 ftL 1:48 PM · 2.0 ft

  • Sagadahoc Bay

    Bay · 1.4 mi

    77
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 77
    • Scup 72
    • Bluefish 66

    4 kt NH 7:57 AM · 7.1 ftL 1:48 PM · 2.0 ft

  • The Black Rocks

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    75
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 75
    • Atlantic cod 73
    • Black sea bass 73

    4 kt NH 7:57 AM · 7.1 ftL 1:48 PM · 2.0 ft

  • Little River Ledges

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    73
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 73
    • Atlantic cod 69
    • Bluefish 67

    4 kt NH 7:57 AM · 7.1 ftL 1:48 PM · 2.0 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.