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HaddockPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · Haddock
- Now
- 634 AM EDT
- Best window
- 4-8 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.6 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Dark Harbor scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 4 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
79Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.2 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
85Wind: 6 kt NPressure: Rising fastWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
44Water temp: 57°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 1.6 ftSeason & habitat · Haddock
Species seasonality
90Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of rangeRegulations: no rule on file
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Haddock 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 Haddock is best here
Peak season for Haddock · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Dark Harbor
- Depth
- 7-90 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · Semi-exposedBay · drop-off
- Season
- Peak seasonHaddock
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 Dark Harbor
Dark Harbor is a bay in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Depth is 7-90 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bay, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and Atlantic cod. It is peak season now for scup, striped bass, Atlantic cod and black sea bass, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Scup peak from June through September. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October.
Tackle & technique
- Haddock
- Haddock feed on gravel, sand and clay bottom along the edges of banks and ledges, mostly in 120 to 400 feet. They have small, soft mouths, so fish clam or squid on small hooks on a high-low rig, or a light jig with teasers, right on the bottom. Set the hook gently and keep steady pressure on the way up.
- 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.
- 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
- Shattuck Point70
Cape · 0.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 70
- Scup 61
- Black sea bass 59
6 kt NH 8:40 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:33 PM · 2.1 ft
- Gilkey Harbor69
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 69
- Scup 68
- Black sea bass 65
6 kt NH 8:40 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:33 PM · 2.1 ft
- Ames Cove67
Bay · 0.5 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 67
- Scup 66
- Black sea bass 59
6 kt NH 8:40 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:33 PM · 2.1 ft
- Jones Cove67
Bay · 1.3 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 67
- Scup 66
- Black sea bass 59
6 kt NH 8:40 AM · 8.4 ftL 2:33 PM · 2.1 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.