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Buzzards Bay Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Southeastern Massachusetts’ bay: Buzzards holds stripers, blues and tautog on rocky bottom.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Next tide
Low 1:16 AM
Air / High
53 / 53 F
Wind
NNE 11 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 8447930, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Buzzards Bay is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. Today brings clear skies, wind NNE around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 53. Tides: high 6:32 AM and 6:52 PM, low 12:38 AM and 1:18 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 64 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:46 PM-11:46 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

BluefishExcellent

Fall turns the migration south toward the South Atlantic Bight, and fish feed along beaches and inlets on the way. Follow the bait and the birds.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 58 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 8447930 (Woods Hole). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW12:38 AM0.4 ft
HIGH6:32 AM2.1 ft
LOW1:18 PM0.4 ft
HIGH6:52 PM1.9 ft
Sat
LOW1:16 AM0.3 ft
HIGH7:14 AM2.4 ft
LOW2:19 PM0.2 ft
HIGH7:34 PM2.0 ft

Cape Cod Canal tide chart: the week and the month →

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp53 F
High / Low53 / 38 F
WindNNE 11-18 mph
Pressure1027.1 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain1% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:04 / 17:50
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~64 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Buzzards Bay this week

The best day on Buzzards Bay this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:16 AM-11:16 AM and 9:46 PM-11:46 PM
Minor period
3:38 AM-4:38 AM
Sun
07:04 to 17:50
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 15 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Buzzards Bay: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Bluefish illustration

Bluefish

Peak harvest: May-Oct, most in Jul-Aug (NOAA)

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) are sharp-toothed schooling predators that move up and down the Atlantic coast with the seasons and feed in surface blitzes on menhaden, silversides and squid. Fall turns the migration south toward the South Atlantic Bight, and fish feed along beaches and inlets on the way. Follow the bait and the birds.

When to come: the Buzzards Bay calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
Bluefish
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 64 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Buzzards Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 59 F, wind to 18 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 56 F, wind to 19 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 61 F, wind to 18 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Massachusetts requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Massachusetts saltwater permit. Striped bass, tautog and fluke rules change annually: check current DMF regulations.

Access

Ramps at New Bedford, Mattapoisett, Marion and Wareham; shore access along the bay towns and Sconticut Neck.

About this water

A 28-mile bay between southeastern Massachusetts and the Elizabeth Islands, Bristol and Plymouth counties.

Fishing Buzzards Bay: the full guide

A bay of rocks and current

Buzzards Bay spreads about 28 miles between southeastern Massachusetts and the Elizabeth Islands, a shallow, rocky bay connected to Vineyard Sound through Woods Hole and the canal. Striped bass and bluefish are the headline, joined by tautog on the rocky structure, scup and sea bass in season, and fluke on the sandier bottom.

Stripers on structure

The bay’s countless rocks, ledges and boulder fields hold striped bass through the season, feeding hardest on moving tide: eels, plugs and soft plastics from boats, with shore access at Sconticut Neck, West Island and points along the shore. The Cape Cod Canal at the head of the bay is its own famous fishery.

Tautog and the seasons

Tautog work the rocky structure in spring and fall, taken on green crab: a serious fishery with a devoted following. Scup and sea bass are abundant in summer around any structure. The bay warms considerably in summer, pushing stripers to the cooler current areas near Woods Hole and the canal.

Southeastern Massachusetts logistics

Ramps at New Bedford, Mattapoisett, Marion and Wareham serve the bay, with extensive shore access along the shoreline towns. Wind against tide builds steep chop in shallow water, and the rocks are unforgiving: charts matter. New Bedford and Fairhaven provide full services and a working fishing fleet.

Common questions

Why is it good for stripers?

Rocks, ledges and boulder fields everywhere, with tidal current moving bait: classic structure fishing.

When is tautog season?

Spring and fall on the rocky structure, taken on green crab: a serious fishery with devoted followers.

Is navigation tricky?

Yes: the bay is shallow and rocky, and wind against tide builds steep chop. Charts and caution both matter.

Is fishing good at Buzzards Bay right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Stafford Pond16 miSakonnet River19 miMarthas Vineyard19 miCape Cod Canal22 miPawtuxet River31 miWickford Harbor31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 8447930 — Woods Hole
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.6000, -70.8500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.