Scup (Porgy)

Also known as porgy.

A schooling, bottom-dwelling panfish that supports a popular, accessible fishery. Doesn't require structure but benefits from it — larger 'dinner-plate' scup hold tighter to reefs and wrecks.

When they run

Inshore roughly May through October; scup return inshore in spring and migrate offshore in fall.

How to catch them

Bottom / still-fishing with small hooks
High-low bait rigs
Light-tackle jigging near structure

Bait & lures

Squid stripsSea/clam worms, clamSmall pieces of cut fishSmall bait jigs / sabiki-style rigs

Where to find them

Mainly sand and mud bottom; also rocky reefs, wrecks, mussel beds, piers and pilings, and channel edges.

Abundant throughout; Narragansett Bay and the RI coastal reefs are classic scup grounds.

Block Island Narragansett Bay Buzzards Bay Vineyard & Nantucket Sound Fishers Island Sound & the East End Long Island Sound

Catch reports from cruisers

No catch reports for Scup (Porgy) yet. Landed one in these waters? Add the first — real reports only, moderated before they appear.

Augusto fishing notes are a starting point, not a guarantee — fish move with the water and the season. Nothing here is a substitute for current state regulations or local knowledge.