Waterlands

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Atlantic bluefin tunaPeak season

Bar · Maine

Harthorne Ledge

44.56°N · 67.76°W · Bar · Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME

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Best score today · 6 PM · Atlantic bluefin tuna

82/100Great
Now
656 PM EDT
Best window
6-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding5.2 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 86

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 6 PM · now

Time6PNOW
Score65Great
Tide5.2 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.7 kn · toward E
Wind2 kn Egusts 7 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.8 ft · 6 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water57°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic bluefin tuna is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with Maine DMR before you keep a fish.

Always check with Maine DMR ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: Maine DMR · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic bluefin tuna is best here

Peak season for Atlantic bluefin tuna · 5 more weeks at peak

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

Atlantic bluefin tuna in Maine →

Spot profile

Harthorne Ledge

Depth
5-30 ftSlope
Structure
Ledge · Inner · ProtectedLedge · slope
Season
Peak seasonAtlantic bluefin tuna

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 Harthorne Ledge

Harthorne Ledge is a bar in Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME, Maine. Depth is 5-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and protected.

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

Tackle & technique

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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Look Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    84
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 84
    • Scup 75
    • Little tunny 73

    2 kt EH 9:24 PM · 11.0 ftL 4:00 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Lower Wass Cove

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    82
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 82
    • Scup 75
    • Little tunny 70

    2 kt EH 9:24 PM · 11.0 ftL 4:00 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Long Cove

    Bay · 0.5 mi

    82
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 82
    • Scup 75
    • Little tunny 70

    2 kt EH 9:24 PM · 11.0 ftL 4:00 AM · 1.0 ft

  • Muscle Shoal

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    82
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 82
    • Scup 75
    • Atlantic cod 71

    2 kt EH 9:24 PM · 11.0 ftL 4:00 AM · 1.0 ft

Open in the tide map

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.