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ScupPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 8 AM · Scup
- Now
- 676 AM EDT
- Best window
- 7 AM-12 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding7.0 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Inner Ledges 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
Friday, Oct 2 · 6 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.3 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
97Wind: 7 kt WNWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
Open-Meteo Marine
54Water temp: 58°F, hotLight: DawnSolunar: Near a majorSeason & habitat · Atlantic cod
Species seasonality
89Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: Out of 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
Inner Ledges
- Depth
- 25-45 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bar · Inner · Semi-exposedBar · slope
- 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 Inner Ledges
Inner Ledges is a bar in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Depth is 25-45 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bar, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 10 species here; the best right now are scup, Atlantic cod and striped bass. It is peak season now for scup, Atlantic cod, striped bass and bluefish, and shoulder season for tautog and summer flounder. Scup peak from June through September. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October. Striped bass peak from May through June and from September through October.
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.
- Atlantic cod
- Cod hold near coarse, rocky bottom on ledges, banks and wrecks, commonly from 80 to 300 feet in the Gulf of Maine. Drift over the structure with a diamond or cod jig and a teaser fly above it, keeping the jig within a few feet of bottom, or fish clams on a high-low rig. Check the stock area and season before keeping one, because most of the year cod must be released.
- 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
- Northeast Ledge75
Bar · 0.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 75
- Black sea bass 72
- Atlantic cod 70
3 kt NNWH 7:49 AM · 8.3 ftL 1:36 PM · 2.3 ft
- Outer Ledges74
Bar · 0.2 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 74
- Black sea bass 71
- Atlantic cod 70
3 kt NNWH 7:49 AM · 8.3 ftL 1:36 PM · 2.3 ft
- Camden Harbor74
Bay · 0.4 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 74
- Striped bass 72
- Black sea bass 70
3 kt NNWH 7:49 AM · 8.3 ftL 1:36 PM · 2.3 ft
- Northeast Passage72
Channel · 0.3 mi
Top: ScupPeak season- Scup 72
- Striped bass 72
- Black sea bass 69
3 kt NNWH 7:49 AM · 8.3 ftL 1:36 PM · 2.3 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.