Metaphorically speaking, you are about to climb aboard a roller coaster to which there’s no turning back. Strap yourself in, it’s going to be a heck of a ride interspersed with the thrills and chills that can only mean one thing – the stripers are back! Typical of early May, the reports are sparse and the linesiders lacking in size, but it’s never too early to think “big.” And speaking of big fish, Wachusett Reservoir is giving up 12-pound lakers and 5-pound smallies. But fish of that size won’t get a rise from those jigging on Jeffreys Ledge who are intercepting breeder 50-pound-plus cod that are migrating inshore to spawn.
Cliff from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle has been finding sub-20-inch stripers in the South River. One of the better locations is at the bend of the river right behind Rexhame Beach. The fish aren’t fussy and 3-inch shad-type baits will do the trick, although if you’re equipped with soft Magic Swimmers, I’d bet you’ll out-fish your friends significantly. Echoing the South River results are catches of similar-sized schoolies from the North River by North Street in Norwell according to Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate. In early May the rivers fish best on an evening outgoing tide, especially after a sunny day. All of which makes the weather and tide forecast for the next week perfect for your maiden striper outing of 2011.
The biggest fish in the bunch will soon be cruising upstream into the rivers in search of alewives and later blueback herring. Most every river around has some herring runs in various states of vitality, but those older, stealthy stripers will not be found chasing them in skinny water by day. It is never too early to adjust your schedule to a nighttime pursuit of big bass. In lockstep with the evolution of the striped bass, instinct compels them to arrive when there is sufficient forage, such as river herring. On a nighttime incoming tide, pick your river and look for riprap, bridge pilings, spillways, dams or any structure that will impede the upstream migration of herring. See if you can time it so that you are there just as the water begins to breach the structure. Bass will be shoving the bait up against these barriers and they will be slaying the herring in water sometimes barely deep enough to cover their backs. Just make sure that you heed fish-ladder regulations that establish “no trespassing” buffer zones and are usually prominently posted.
It’s ironic, but back in the pre-herring moratorium day there was no shortage of anglers pursuing big bass in the herring runs, even after dark. But no more – and last I checked the moratorium does not apply to stripers that are still there feeding on the herring. Just because you can no longer live-line herring doesn’t mean you can no longer catch those bass, you just have to figure out how to dupe them into thinking that your offering is a herring.
Remember, you’re aiming for big fish and they are there for alewives, which are a considerable meal… so skip the small stuff. One of my favorite lures under these conditons is a big metal-lipped wooden swimmer. I’ll be toting alewife and black Big Water Lures Pikes; a charter captain friend of mine who when not in his boat prowls along greater Boston Rivers in May and crushes cows prefers black Beachmaster swimmers. Other favorites of mine are Ten-inch Fin-S Fish, nine-inch Slug-Gos, ten-inch Shankas and nine-inch Sebile Magic Swimmers. On The Water’s own Andy Nabreski told me that he’s done quite well during nighttime “runs” with Rapala Shad Raps, which he pops and pauses during his retrieve. That’s funny because it was the Shad Rap with which I caught my first large “lure” linesider all those years ago; it looks as if I may have to resurrect my decades-old stash.
There are few boats in the water and fewer still will be chasing bass come dark. But then again, there’s nothing typical of the stripers that my friend Captain Russ Burgess catches either. He’ll be out there, like the masters of old from Cuttyhunk who taught him his craft, and he’ll be trolling big Danny-style plugs throughout Boston Harbor come dark and bucktails/sea rind during the sliver of time that is first light, and I will be surprised if he doesn’t catch a 30-pound striper over the next week. So much for early May being just for schoolies! Russ and a few other top-rod mariners are having a fishing/boating flea market on May 21st in Marina Bay, Quincy. The North Shore has had a much-anticipated flea market in Newburyport for years and finally the Boston area has one.
If you’d rather not hoot with the owls to catch your fish, I suspect that we are days away from the invasion of sea herring in our bays from Plymouth to Cape Ann. Bass from 18 inches to 18 pounds will soon be busting on them, birds will be belying the schools of fish, and the boats will be on the chase. If you’re catching shorts, let your jig or spoon or shad drop to the bottom for far larger fish; avoid the temptation to throw out topwater offerings and you’ll catch far larger fish below the bedlam.
All this good stuff is not just restricted to Massachusetts either. While it’s been a few years, I used to accompany Suds ‘N Soda tackle manager Kyle Walsh for nighttime Great Bay excursions in early May and we would catch stripers up to 36 inches long at the mouth of the tributaries of the bay. Again, the best bite occurred as the tide began to flood over structure and the bass would have the alewives pinned up against the obstacles. We did very well with bronze Yo-Zuri Mag Poppers and Mag Darters.
Although “Whaleback,” the spawning cod area south of the Isle of Shoals, is now off limits to fishing, some are intercepting those breeder cod as they are migrating from offshore haunts. There have been a few 50-pound-plus behemoths bested within the last week. Before you tempt this yourself, familiarize yourself with the no-fishing chart posted on wildlife.state.nh.us.
Other groundfishing is nearly as good. Stellwagen, especially the NW corner, has been cooking for cod with most groups reaching their limits after only a few hours. The fish are generally market-sized specimens, but enough 15- to 20-pounders mingle in to spice the catch. Packs of 10-pound plus pollock really add punch to the fishing with double-headers making for a real workout. Slip off the edge of Stellwagen into 275 feet of water and bait up with clams for haddock.
And the winter flounder are also back! While I’m not hearing of any 4-pounders or limits as of yet, those will come in short order. On the South Shore, try Browns Bank in Plymouth, Duxbury Bay and Duxbury Beach. Farther up you should be able to scratch together a few flatties in Green Harbor and Scituate Harbor. And in the Boston area, try Hull, Quincy Bay, Hospital Shoals and Deer Island Flats. The latter of which my friend Nicky Frasso and deck-mate Mike Westcott recently pounded for flounder with fine results. Lynn Harbor is worth a look too as are Salem and Beverly Harbors.
Kay from Surfland wasn’t privy to any striper good news yet, but shad fans are happy. Rocks Village has been very reliable, especially on an outgoing tide with red/white shad darts. Upstream to the Lawrence Dam is good depending on water flow: the lesser the current the better the fishing. Unfortunately two-legged fishermen are not the only ones enjoying the shad, the ever-growing herd of seals don’t appear to be losing any weight. When asked about flounder, the hoped-for date is May 15th.
While it may be too early for banter about bass in Southern Maine, the sea-run brown trout brigade is plucking out an occasional salter from the Ogunquit and Mousam Rivers. And a surge in smelt numbers has resulted in stellar salmon fishing in Sebago.
Quabbin and Wachusett continue to wow. Rod of Flagg’s in Orange on Wednesday weighed in three landlocked salmon between 5 and nearly 7 pounds, all taken by the same angler from the Gate 31 section of Quabbin with shiners. While Eddie of B&A in West Boylston weighed in a 5-pound plus smallie and an 11-pound, 14-ounce lake trout caught by Joe Maple. Smallies are definitely beginning to stir, I took my first few of the year there on a Rapala gold/black floating minnow.
Best Bets
The drought is over, the stripers are here. Look for schoolies on an outgoing, evening tide and they’ll be hitting all manner of small soft plastics in the South and North rivers on the South Shore. Fish are feeding in the Weir River, Weymouth Back and the Neponsett River. Layover linesiders should be mixing it up with fresh migrants at the head of the Mystic River, and don’t discount the Charles River locks. Expect to find bass soon in the Pines, Saugus and Forest Rivers on the North Shore, and in Cape Ann, check out the Little River by Nichols Candy. The cod catch on Stellwagen is hot, but for a real heavyweight, jig a bit by Jeffreys and just see if you can’t connect with an incoming breeder cruising inshore to spawn.