Scup, better known as porgies, are the workhorse panfish of Northeast bottom fishing. They gather in big schools over structure, they bite readily on simple gear, and the bigger ones (“dinner plates”) pull hard and taste great. When you want steady action and a cooler of fillets, scup deliver.
How to identify them
Scup are deep-bodied and silvery with a slightly iridescent, faintly striped sheen and a small mouth built for picking at the bottom. They look like a saltwater bream, and school in numbers over hard bottom.
Where and when
Scup move inshore in the warm months and relate hard to structure: wrecks, reefs, rockpiles, mussel beds and hard bottom, often the same pieces that hold black sea bass and tautog. Find the structure and you find the scup.
Tip Downsize your hooks. Scup have small mouths and nibble, so a small hook baited with a bit of clam, squid or sea worm, fished right on the bottom, out-catches a big hook every time.
How to catch them
A simple high-low rig with small hooks baited with clam, squid or sea worm, dropped onto structure, is all it takes. A small jig or a bit of bait on a dropper produces too. It is easy, effective fishing that anyone can do.