Today — right on the edge — wave, wind and visibility.
Sources & confidence
Compiled by the spearo sea-state engine · How it works →
The verdict comes from seven water factors and hard safety gates — not ten tabs. Go or stay.
Our own model
Our own forecast engine — not a third-party widget. It weighs these water factors into one go-or-stay verdict for this coast; the 0–10 dial is that verdict, read out as a number.
Safety gates
It all folds into a single 0–10 score and one verdict: go or stay.
A forecast, not a guarantee — the sea has the last word.
Where to get in, where to hunt
Wind, wave and the swell windows — when to go and the best hours.
The day is picked above, in the hero. Here are that day's windows, the hour-by-hour map and the trends. Tap a window to break down the conditions.
Leave your email — and the moment a window opens at Boothbay Harbor, we'll send the go / no-go verdict. Email is all we need.
What's missing? Tell us what you'd like to see — new spots, species, data or features. We read everything.
Visibility and what drives it — post-storm clearing, river plume, temperature and the thermocline.
spearo.app folds wind, wave, swell period, visibility, tides, water temperature and risk into a single verdict — go to the spot or not. It computes 7 days ahead from open marine models (Open-Meteo, IPMA), with no sign-up and no accounts. Built for solo spearfishing off the rocks, where any mistake costs dearly.
Now live: 3016 spots across 406 stretches of coast — mainland Portugal, Madeira and the Azores.
See all spotsRelief and bottom type, tides, and the depths of each spot.
The models set the window. Whether you go in is read only at the water: count the sets, watch the surge on the entry. If in doubt, you don't get in.
Scouted entries, coloured by today. The colour is the sea state at the spot, not a guarantee: the wash and a slippery entry you judge on site.
Open the seafloor mapLedge and islet at the outer mouth of Boothbay Harbour off Southport, 3–20 m. The current builds through mid-tide, so dive it on the slack; tautog and cod over the rock. Pin: shore access; water entry unverified.
Google MapsUninhabited island about 9 km offshore ringed by the ledges known as The Motions, 3–15 m. Cleaner water than the mainland — pollock and cunner; lobster is thick here but never legal by spear in Maine.
Google MapsLedge and boulder ground off the tip of Ocean Point in East Boothbay, 3-15 m. Pollock, cunner and lobster along the ledge line; shore entry from the point road is over rock, and the ebb sets hard down the Damariscotta side.
Google MapsSOLO is the biggest risk: underwater you can black out from lack of oxygen silently and fatally, with no one around. Solo is never truly «safe». Below are the best weather windows; carry a buoy, tell someone your plan and exit time, and any doubt — don't go.
Cameras, map and reference — to hand as you come up.
Check the cam BEFORE you leave. Foam, brown/green murk, or waves washing the entry rocks = No-go. At night/in fog the cam is useless — treat it as «unknown», NOT «green».
US spearfishing law is state-by-state. License, spearable species, powerhead rules and distances vary; federal sanctuaries (Gray's Reef, the Keys, Flower Garden Banks) ban spearfishing. Always confirm with the state agency and local ordinances.
Spearfishing Boothbay Harbor is a mid-coast Maine ledge dive, not a protected harbor swim. Two marks drive the plan: Cuckolds Light Ledges off Southport Island and Damariscove Island Ledges about 5 nm offshore. Both are yellow-risk, boat-minded sites with cold water, tide and current in the foreground. Target tautog, cod and pollock style fish, and remember that striped bass may not be taken by spear in Maine. Lobster appears in the ecology, but American lobster is never a spear target and needs its own hand-take rules. Treat every plan as weather-first.
There are only two listed spots, and both are outer-harbor or offshore ledges. That makes this a selective boat and tide plan rather than a list of easy shore entries.
| Spot | Type | Depth | Level | Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuckolds Light Ledges | Ledge and islet at the outer mouth of Boothbay Harbor | Rock ledge; exact depth not stated | Intermediate to advanced because of strong current | Boat off Southport Island | Expect strong current, tautog and cod. Time it carefully and leave a conservative exit margin. |
| Damariscove Island Ledges | Uninhabited offshore island with rock ledges | Island ledges; exact depth not stated | Intermediate to advanced boat dive | Boat run about 5 nm off Boothbay | The ledges known as The Motions hold pollock, cunner and lobster around Damariscove. Lobster is not a spear target. |
Visibility depends on swell, tide and how much current is moving over the ledges. Boothbay is unsheltered with a southeast-facing exposure and macro tide. A calm harbor camera is useful, but it does not prove the outer ledges are workable. Compare the cove and marina cameras with NDBC 44007, then check the entry and exit from the boat before anyone drops.
Tautog, cod and pollock are practical spear targets, with cunner around Damariscove. The broader regional list also includes black sea bass, fluke, scup and bluefish. Striped bass is the important Maine no-go by spear, and American lobster is hand-take only under separate rules, not a spearfishing quarry.
Confirm Maine saltwater license status, current seasons and species rules with Maine DMR before heading out. Do not spear striped bass, do not spear lobster, and treat sturgeon as fully protected. If a ledge is inside a local closure, aquaculture area or navigation conflict that you cannot verify, choose another piece of bottom.
No. The listed spots are Cuckolds Light and Damariscove Island, both boat-oriented ledges with current and weather exposure.
No. Maine does not allow striped bass by spear.
No. American lobster is never a spear target and is hand-take only under separate rules.
Current on the outer ledges, especially around Cuckolds Light, plus macro tide and southeast exposure.
Use the Boothbay harbor camera views for local surface clues and NOAA NDBC 44007 for offshore wind and sea context.
