Waterlands

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ScupPeak season

Bay · Maine

Wilson Cove

43.82°N · 69.98°W · Bay · Casco Bay

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Best score today · 8 AM · Scup

78/100Great
Now
703 PM EDT
Best window
4 PM-12 AMHigh slack
Tide now
Flooding2.8 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Oct 3 · 7 PM

Time7P
Score84Great
Tide7.8 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.8 kn · toward S
Wind4 kn NNEgusts 19 · steady
Air temp66°Mild
WeatherOvercast89% cloud
Water59°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Scup 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 Scup is best here

Peak season for Scup · 1 more week at peak

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

Scup in Maine

Spot profile

Wilson Cove

Depth
3-20 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Peak seasonScup

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 Wilson Cove

Wilson Cove is a bay in Casco Bay, Maine. Depth is 3-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Middle Bay

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    70
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 70
    • Striped bass 62
    • Black sea bass 61

    6 kt NNWH 8:06 PM · 8.7 ftL 2:37 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Widgeon Cove

    Bay · 1.0 mi

    70
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 70
    • Little tunny 63
    • Striped bass 63

    6 kt NNWH 8:06 PM · 8.7 ftL 2:37 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Ewin Narrows

    Channel · 1.5 mi

    70
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 70
    • Black sea bass 67
    • Striped bass 63

    6 kt NNWH 8:06 PM · 8.7 ftL 2:37 AM · 1.3 ft

  • Wilson Ledges

    Bar · 0.4 mi

    65
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 65
    • Atlantic cod 63
    • Haddock 62

    6 kt NNWH 8:06 PM · 8.7 ftL 2:37 AM · 1.3 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.