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ScupOff seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 AM · Scup
- Now
- 359 PM EST
- Best window
- 9-11 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing2.8 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when South 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
Sunday, Nov 15 · 5 PM
- —
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
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Wind & pressure
ECMWF
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Water temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
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Season & habitat · Scup
Species seasonality
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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Scup is best here
Out of season for Scup · it leaves next week
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
South Ledge
- Depth
- 35-50 ftSlope
- Structure
- Ledge · Inner · Semi-exposedLedge · slope
- Season
- Off 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 South Ledge
South Ledge is a bar in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Depth is 35-50 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads ledge, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 9 species here; the best right now are tautog, Atlantic cod and haddock. It is peak season now for tautog, and shoulder season for Atlantic cod, haddock, striped bass and little tunny. Tautog peak in May and from October through November. Atlantic cod peak from May through June and from September through October. Haddock peak from May through 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.
- Tautog
- Tautog live in rocks, wrecks, bridge pilings and jetties and rarely stray from cover, usually in 10 to 60 feet inshore and deeper in late fall. Anchor so the bait sits in the structure, fish crab on a short rig or a tog jig, and set hard on the second tap before the fish pulls into the rocks. Clams and worms work better in cold spring water; hard crabs are the standard in fall.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Spears Rock77
Bar · 0.8 mi
Top: TautogPeak season- Tautog 77
- Atlantic cod 69
- Haddock 60
9 kt WSWL 11:15 PM · -0.2 ftH 5:40 AM · 9.9 ft
- Lowell Ledge77
Bar · 0.8 mi
Top: TautogPeak season- Tautog 77
- Atlantic cod 69
- Haddock 60
9 kt WSWL 11:15 PM · -0.2 ftH 5:40 AM · 9.9 ft
- Rockland Harbor75
Bay · 0.2 mi
Top: TautogPeak season- Tautog 75
- Striped bass 66
- Atlantic cod 60
9 kt WSWL 11:15 PM · -0.2 ftH 5:40 AM · 9.9 ft
- Crockett Point68
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: TautogPeak season- Tautog 68
- Striped bass 67
- Atlantic cod 59
9 kt WSWL 11:15 PM · -0.2 ftH 5:40 AM · 9.9 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.