Fishing Report for Massachusetts New Hampshire & Maine - June 23, 2011

My there are some big fish out there! While it’s hard to qualify 40-pounders as big while being overshadowed by the news of the 77-pound leviathan linesider bested from Block Island, 48-inch stripers aren’t anything to dismiss and there are a boatload of ways these fish are being boated. Okay, who invited the bluefish? Yes, those finned razor blades have shown up, so troll your umbrella rig at the peril of losing a few shads. Tuna have begun to relieve anglers targeting stripers of a goodly portion of their tackle and their nerve. And flounder from Green Harbor all the way to Maine remains good.

South Shore Fishing Report

Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth told me that the formula of “find the mackerel, find the bass” still holds true. The macks are a little tougher to come by but you should still be able to scratch together a tide’s worth just outside of The Gurnet. Travel a little closer to the shoreline once you have the bait, especially by the rocks at the point. Some are doing well with the mackerel, and to some extent pollock, by drifting along Saquish and into Duxbury Bay. And Duxbury Bay does have pogies; not a ton of them, but if you’re stealthy and out there very early you’ll find them.

When asked about fluke, Dave said anglers are still too busy catching their “left-sided” cousins, winter flounder. Drift a seaworm or anchor and chum to the left of Bug Light among the 30-foot flats that are just off the edge of the channel.

Green Harbor had been eerily quiet so far in the flounder sweepstakes, but blackbacks have busted loose recently. Those live-lining mackerel from the first “can” outside of the harbor to the jetties are finding stripers according to Bob Pronk from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle.

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate is stoked because there is so much bait in the area. Some unidentifiable small baitfish has attracted big jack mackerel in close to shore and this precluded an all-out major bliz on Monday that featured blues to 13 pounds, bass to 35 pounds and a bunch of spent fishermen. One guy that was elated was Brian Hannon who took a 35-pound striper on a Gibbs Polaris Popper. Some of the blues were regurgitating 5-inch pogies! The action took place among Cohassett, the Cliffs, a number of beaches and out to the SA Buoy.

Farther out by the high point of Stone Ledge, pollock have been pushing bait toward the surface resulting in topwater action. To hook 30-inch-plus pollock on a spinning rod is a real treat. Bluefin have been breaking hearts as well as the gear of anglers trolling mackerel for bass from Scituate to Hull within only a few miles of shore. The fish that are doing the damage are 250-pound “middleweights,” and there have been accounts of guys battling these brutes with bass gear for up to four hours, but I haven’t heard of anyone succeeding with the light gear.

Boston Harbor Fishing Report

We finally made good on a much longed for On The Water TV shoot on Wednesday. Along with publisher Chris Megan, Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters and I found a fantastic flounder bite within minutes of dropping anchor outside of Hull. Riding shotgun was Captain Roger Brousseau of Midnight Charters and mate Jim Swenson who provided a platform for camera-man Matt Rissell. Everyone caught fish, except for Matt who will have to give up yeoman duties for a fishing outing here on his own soon. While the fishing was great, what made the shoot was that we all had fun, which is the essence of flounder fishing and is what I believe we captured on film.  I was not surprised to see Chris, who doubtless is exposed to a lot of fishing, having one heck of a time fishing for “our flounder.” No question, we have it real good folks and the blackbacks are biting from Plymouth to Pepperell Cove.

What I take away from tournaments of any kind are lessons learned. The 13^th Annual Boston Harbor Striper Shootout was just such a linesider laboratory for me this past Saturday. There were a number of accomplished anglers who approached this event with solid game plans. There were chunkers, trollers, and live liners; some had umbrella rigs and there were a smattering of lures. I even spied live mackerel and pogies in a couple of live wells. In the end, what brought home the gold? And for that matter the silver? Nightime trolling in Boston Harbor with big, wooden, metal-lipped swimmers! The winners were Matt O’Connor and Captain Russ Burgess who took top honors with mackerel and bunker BigWaterLures trollers. The 48 ¾” and 48” stripers were found among the outer harbor islands, hunkered down among ledges in 25 feet of water.

Captain Roger Brousseau also has been catching 40-pound class fish trolling 9er Rigs (umbrella rigs) by Boston Light, Graves Light and the BG Buoy. Roger prefers white, black and chartreuse shads for the rig. Strangely Roger does not use leadcore or wire line to get the rig deeper but rather just good old monofilament, occasionally shifting out of gear when he gets to a depression to allow the rig to sink a bit.

Rick of Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy told me that shore slingers are scoring stripers on seaworms and clams from Avalon Beach. Other sure spots are the Weir River and the Fore River below the bridge. Rick McLaughlin of Quincy clobbered bass up to 42” from Faun Bar on a red Santini tube and worm, within the last week the tube has come into its own. In addition to Faun Bar, troll a tube by Lion’s Rock of Spectacle Island as well as the Quincy Bay area. Point Allerton, Boston Light, Jacknife Ledge, Veezie Rocks, Grape Island and Bumpkin Island are all good bets for the tube and worm. By the way…pogies are around! Look for them in Wollaston Beach, the Town River, the mouth of the Weymouth Back River and Higham Harbor.

Bluefish are on the prowl from Graves Light out to the BG Buoy. Speaking off Graves Light, if you can’t scratch together any inshore flounder try the outer areas such as Green Island but easy on the chum, you might attract dog fish.

North Shore Fishing Report

The north shore is finally in the 40-pounder club, according to Martha from Surfland. A dead mackerel drifted on an outgoing tide at the mouth of the Merrimack River resulted in a 42-pounder on Friday. While most would agree your odds of a big fish improve come dark, this nice bass hit at 4:30 in the evening. The beach has been good for those anglers soaking seaworms and they’re even picking up a few flounder on those worms when they can get past the stripers; meanwhile Joppa Flats starts jumping come nightfall for the tube-and-worm troops. At false dawn there’s terrific topwater action and the hot lure is the StriperSniper Ballerina Minnow, which is a little spook-type lure with killer moves.

Jack from Elm Street Bait and Tackle in Salisbury said that cut fish and clams off Salisbury Beach have been productive, but to avoid beachgoers, it’s best to fish after hours. Considering that the cows cruise the coast usually after dark, this works out for everyone. Boaters are picking up nice catches of winter flounder by targeting the mouth of the Merrimack River just south of the southern jetty.

The first tuna of the year for one of the First Light Anglers guys was taken as Captain Pete Yukins landed a perfect keeper-sized 57-inc fish from Stellwagen on an anonymous thin spoon to match all the slim-profiled 2” to 3” baitfish that are on the bank. You should be able to find mackerel just outside of Marblehead Harbor and Tinker’s Island and the bass should be right on them. Rivers are still producing stripers, especially the Ipswich on an outgoing tide with Fin-S Fish, Smack-it poppers and Jumpin’ Minnows. The rocky shoreline of Rockport is awash with harbor pollock; these make fine bait in themselves, with rainbow trout Magic Swimmers, bronze Yo-Zuri Mag Minnows and Arkansas Shiner Slug-Gos making effective artificial alternatives.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Chad from Dover Marine told me that there’s still good fishing to be had in Great Bay. Blueback herring swarm the tributaries and bass of 15- to 20-pounds are right on them. Those fishing the bay itself are scoring stripers with tubes and umbrella rigs with the latter requiring higher tides and careful maneuvering around the mud flats. The Piscataqua has been hot for, of all things, flounder! Fans of flounder are drifting seaworms by the Coast Guard Station and doing well as are fisherman targeting flounder in Rye, Hampton and even Pepperell Cove. The latter location, being in Maine, is off-limits to the harvesting of winter flounder until July 1^st, but if you’re one of the first ones out there once it opens you should have a fantastic day. Chad has been finding the biggest flounder in the shallowest water, as little as 3 to 5-feet. He’s actually been watching them follow the drifting seaworm aggressively and then slamming it. Beach bass enthusiasts should spike a rod and fish bait form York Beach and Wells Beach.

Ken from Saco Bay told me that there are some big mackerel prowling around Wood Island. And there have even been some whispers of bluefish! The trend is that the bait and the bass flow with the flood into the Saco River and exit with the ebb. Ferry Beach, Old Orchard and Pine Point Beach harbor stripers in the mid-thirty inch range that are great for catching but must be released in Maine. Hot lures are the salt and pepper Calcutta Shads, Bill Hurley Glass Eel and Arkansas shiner Fin-S Fish. Check out the cod at The Cove by Jeffrey’s Ledge, they’ve been taking 36-inch brown bombers by making short drifts among the rocks of the drop-off between 180 and 300 feet.

Best Fishing Bets

Jig up a mackerel off The Gurnet and live-line them for linesiders among the boulder-strewn point or Saquish Rip or maybe High Pine Ledge. Mackerel are also pure dynamite off Stone Ledge, the SA Buoy and off Hull. You can still find 15-pound-class stripers if you take the mackerel upstream into the South and North rivers. If you’re looking to troll mackerel for bass in deeper water, you had better have hefty gear with you since tuna have been tearing up those trolled baitfish. In Boston you may bag that bass of your dreams if you learn rips, spits and channels throughout the outer and inner harbor and present those fish big, wooden, swimming plugs at nightfall in water no deeper than 25 feet. Up north, the fishing in Great Bay is making this giant estuary live up to its name. For flounder, your best bets are off Hull, Green Island and the harbors of New Hampshire. And Downeasterners can rejoice over Saco Bay stripers and the beach bass bite.