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Atlantic codPeak seasonSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Atlantic cod
- Now
- 612 PM EDT
- Best window
- 5-9 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding5.9 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Western Cove 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
Monday, Sep 28 · 2 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.7 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
85Wind: 6 kt NNWPressure: Rising fastWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
30Water temp: 58°F, warmLight: NightSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Atlantic cod
Species seasonality
73Season: PeakHabitat: Poor fitDepth: Out of range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
No rule for Atlantic cod 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 Atlantic cod is best here
Peak season for Atlantic cod · 6 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Western Cove
- Depth
- 2-45 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Inner · ProtectedBay · slope
- Season
- Peak seasonAtlantic cod
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 Western Cove
Western Cove is a bay in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Depth is 2-45 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.
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 haddock, 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
- 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.
- 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
- Swains Ledge72
Bar · 1.6 mi
Top: Black sea bassPeak season- Black sea bass 72
- Scup 72
- Atlantic cod 71
11 kt NWH 5:02 PM · 9.3 ftL 11:32 PM · 1.5 ft
- Swains Cove72
Bay · 1.9 mi
Top: Black sea bassPeak season- Black sea bass 72
- Atlantic cod 71
- Scup 71
11 kt NWH 5:02 PM · 9.3 ftL 11:32 PM · 1.5 ft
- Long Cove72
Bay · 2.0 mi
Top: Black sea bassPeak season- Black sea bass 72
- Atlantic cod 71
- Scup 71
11 kt NWH 5:02 PM · 9.3 ftL 11:32 PM · 1.5 ft
- Weeds Point72
Cape · 2.3 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 72
- Black sea bass 65
- Little tunny 63
11 kt NWH 5:02 PM · 9.3 ftL 11:32 PM · 1.5 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.