Waterlands

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Striped bassPeak season

Bay · Maine

Billings Cove

44.20°N · 68.59°W · Bay · Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME

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Best score today · 6 PM · Striped bass

83/100Great
Now
6611 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMNight bite
Tide now
Flooding1.1 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 PM · now

Time11PNOW
Score66Great
Tide1.1 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentSlack0.0 kn
Wind5 kn SSEgusts 9 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.1 ft · 5 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% chance of rain
Water59°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Striped 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 Striped bass is best here

Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak

Striped bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Striped bass in Maine

Spot profile

Billings Cove

Depth
10-20 ftSlope
Structure
Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · slope
Season
Peak seasonStriped 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 Billings Cove

Billings Cove is a bay in Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME, Maine. Depth is 10-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 13 species here; the best right now are striped bass, scup and Atlantic bluefin tuna. It is peak season now for striped bass, scup, Atlantic bluefin tuna and bluefish, and shoulder season for summer flounder, tautog and mahi-mahi. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Scup peak from June through September. Atlantic bluefin tuna peak from July through October.

Tackle & technique

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.
Atlantic bluefin tuna
Bluefin tuna follow schools of herring, mackerel, sand eels and menhaden over banks, ledges and shoals, mostly in the top 150 feet. Troll spreader bars and daisy chains to find fish, then switch to live bait, chunks or stick baits once a school is located. Heavy tackle and a NOAA HMS permit are required, and size-class limits change through the season.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Eaton Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    68
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 68
    • Scup 63
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 57

    5 kt SSEH 4:50 AM · 8.7 ftL 10:48 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Mud Cove

    Bay · 0.7 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 60
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 53

    5 kt SSEH 4:50 AM · 8.7 ftL 10:48 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Deep Cove

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 60
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 54

    5 kt SSEH 4:50 AM · 8.7 ftL 10:48 AM · 1.9 ft

  • Western Cove

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    66
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 66
    • Scup 60
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 54

    5 kt SSEH 4:50 AM · 8.7 ftL 10:48 AM · 1.9 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.