Free Yourself from the Fleet
While there are reasons to be hopeful for the future, most anglers struggled mightily to catch striped bass last year. Those who had a productive season for big bass were bunched up tighter than a bunker school under duress from a pack of marauding bluefish. In some ways, sophisticated electronics, such as side-scanning sonar, have increased the pressure on striped bass. Buddy boats line up port to starboard and fire up their sonar, then like mine-sweepers, scan miles of ocean in search of their quarry.
Comparing the current state of the striper to the 80s, which I experienced firsthand during my formative years, is challenging. The culture of the modern angler is far different than even a generation ago. There once was a time when a fisherman on a pile of fish was among the most taciturn members of the human race. They would sooner shoot themselves than let on where they were catching their cows. No longer is that the case. Thanks to social media and other networking outlets, many anglers prefer to let others find the fish for them.
Find Fish with the Tube and Worm
Thankfully, following the fleet and having fun finding striped bass are not mutually exclusive. An alternative to joining the armada is to go it alone with other proven techniques. Overwhelmingly, most employ live bait, whether it’s mackerel or pogies, but a few solo artists stick to a method that seldom fails—the tube and worm. My favorite is the locally crafted Santini Tube, the brainchild of Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics. It’s only fitting that someone with local roots who understands our way of thinking and fishing would design a killer tube. If I had to narrow it down to a specific color, I’d go with what Peter refers to as “Toscano,” which is dark red.
The oft-repeated rub in going the tube route is that it’s a method that works only with leadcore line. This is true when trolling depths of 15 feet or more, but thanks to linesiders’ predilection for prowling the shallows, there are areas that fish well with a plain old tube-and-worm rig. Consider the Nantasket Beach stretch from Point Allerton to Gunrock Beach. Quincy Bay has productive shallow-water areas where trolling the tube excels, with Bumpkin Island, and Grape and Slate islands a few standouts. Veazie Rocks, Jackknife Ledge, and Sunken Ledge, historically, have been shallow-harbor hot spots ideally suited to the tube. Deeper inside the harbor is the mouth of the Mystic River through the gateway of the Chelsea Creek. Other options to consider are Constitution Beach, Snake Island, and Cherry Bar.
When asked for tube tips, Santini said not to saturate the hook with the worm. One seaworm hooked twice will suffice and increase the hookup ratio over a balled-up bait. One hundred feet of line, along with a 15-foot leader of 30- or 40-pound-test monofilament, is usually far enough in the wash to be effective. Should you decide to dedicate a rod to deep-trolling the tube, leadcore line provides more versatility. When in deeper water, stripers are not usually given to chase, making leadcore the smart choice. A rule of thumb when deploying leadcore is that each color swatch equals 3 to 4 feet of depth. Do the math, as the goal is to drag that tube just a tick or two above bottom. The same 15-foot leader applies to leadcore as to any other main line.
Historic hot spots for deep-trolling the tube and worm are Nixes Mate, the Brewsters, and Bob’s Bass Triangle.
Take a Bass Break with Flounder
Fortunately, there are alternatives to striped bass, with winter flounder one of the more enjoyable options. Last year’s annual Zobo Flounder Derby was a textbook example. The event was less about braggadocio and bucks, and more about friends, family, and fun.
Per usual, I participated in the derby and, unbelievably, I came in first place! While the primary credit goes to Captain Rob Bartolini for putting our crew onto fish—we placed first, fourth and ninth—one reason I do well at these events is that I embellish my Zobo Rig with all kinds of “bling”. I paint my sinkers yellow and snell on red 1/0 Mustad Ultra Point wide-gap hooks, only after sliding bright green and yellow beads above the hooks. While it may seem counterintuitive to use a 1/0 hook for a fish with such a small mouth, those larger hooks hold more bait which, in turn, attracts larger fish. From a conservation standpoint, the ancillary benefit is that I don’t gut-hook small fish and can release them in good condition.
Another neat thing about flounder fishing is that you can catch them from the various piers throughout Greater Boston. Don’t discount the potential for piers either; the harbor’s shore-bound flatfish specialist, Antoine Scott, has won the Zobo Tournament several times with fish caught right from shore. Piers I would consider are the Hull hat trick—Pemberton Pier, the Hull Public Pier, and the A Street Pier—as well as the Nut Island Pier, Deer Island Pier, the Lynn Pier, and the Fisherman’s Beach Pier in Swampscott.
Flounder can still be found later in the summer but, by then, you’ll have to ply deeper water since warmer temperatures push them offshore. Possibilities in July and August are Finn Ledge, Green Island, Boston Ledge, and Ultonia Ledge. Deeper water may also reward you with harbor pollock and some impressive cunner, which can almost be mistaken for their larger tautog cousins and are every bit as tasty.
While there’s no escaping the reality that these are not the best of times for striped bass, you can still have a blast catching them. To avoid disappointment, you may have to adjust your expectations. I recall an occasion last summer that drove this point home. A large school of pogies and bass were reported to be held up in the Anchorage section of the harbor. This prompted my friend Captain Tom Ciulla and I to check it out. Despite having a livewell full of choice mackerel baits, once we spotted the dozens of boats encircling the bait and the bass, we took one look at each other and without saying a word, both understood that we were not going to take a single cast.
Instead, we looked for our “own fish,” which we found by Cherry Bar in Revere. While our 30- to 34-inch playmates did not match the alleged size in the harbor, we did not miss the mayhem. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take fun over frustration any day of the week.
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