Waterlands

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Striped bassPeak season

Bar · Maine

Lower Middle Ground

44.50°N · 67.85°W · Bar · Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME

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Best score today · 11 PM · Striped bass

79/100Great
Now
603 PM EDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.9 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 PM · now

Time3PNOW
Score60Good
Tide1.9 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward NW
Wind4 kn ENEgusts 15 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.7 ft · 5 s
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherClear0% cloud
Water57°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 · 4 more weeks at peak

Striped bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Striped bass in Maine

Spot profile

Lower Middle Ground

Depth
15-25 ftSlope
Structure
Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · 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 Lower Middle Ground

Lower Middle Ground is a bar in Intra Coastal Waters from Schoodic Point, ME to Stonington, ME, Maine. Depth is 15-25 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

  • 66
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 66
    • Black sea bass 64
    • Atlantic cod 63

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

  • Stover Cove

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Striped bass 60
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 59

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

  • Turner Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    62
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 62
    • Striped bass 62
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 59

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

  • Narraguagus Bay

    Bay · 0.6 mi

    60
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 60
    • Atlantic bluefin tuna 59
    • Striped bass 59

    4 kt ENEH 9:24 PM · 11.0 ftL 4:00 AM · 1.0 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.