UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN
ScupPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 AM · Scup
- Now
- 7212 AM EDT
- Best window
- 6-9 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.2 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Dow Ledge 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
Wednesday, Sep 30 · 4 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.7 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 4 kt WNWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
95Water temp: 58°F, primeLight: Late afternoonSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Tautog
Species seasonality
86Season: ShoulderHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
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.
Source: Maine DMR · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Scup is best here
Peak season for Scup · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Dow Ledge
- Depth
- 4-40 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · drop-off
- 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 Dow Ledge
Dow Ledge is a bar in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Depth is 4-40 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, striped bass and black sea bass. It is peak season now for scup, striped bass, black sea bass and Atlantic cod, 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. Black sea bass peak from June through July and in September.
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.
- 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.
- Black sea bass
- Black sea bass hold tight to wrecks, reefs, rock piles and jetties, from 15 feet inshore in late spring to well over 100 feet on offshore wrecks in late fall. Anchor or drift right over the structure and fish a two-hook high-low rig with squid or clam, or bounce a small jig on the bottom. The biggest males sit on the highest relief.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Staple Point78
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 78
- Scup 63
- Black sea bass 61
3 kt SSEH 4:41 AM · 8.3 ftL 10:41 AM · 2.1 ft
- Webb Cove77
Bay · 1.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 77
- Scup 69
- Black sea bass 61
3 kt SSEH 4:41 AM · 8.3 ftL 10:41 AM · 2.1 ft
- Roebuck Ledge72
Bar · 0.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 72
- Striped bass 71
- Black sea bass 69
3 kt SSEH 4:41 AM · 8.3 ftL 10:41 AM · 2.1 ft
- Sam Stick Ledge72
Bar · 1.0 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 72
- Striped bass 71
- Black sea bass 69
3 kt SSEH 4:41 AM · 8.3 ftL 10:41 AM · 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.