This weekend you may ring in July 4th by watching a fireworks show, but make sure you put aside some fishing time – blitzing bass and blues are providing some impressive displays on their own. A slug of football tuna has invaded Stellwagen, prompting anglers to ask, “Where’s my spinning rod?” And the groundfishing remains great whether you’re clamming for cod in 250 feet of water or anchoring up in Boston Harbor in the lee of an island while putting aside a few relaxing hours with the family for flounder.
South Shore
Those that are walking the waterfront in inner Plymouth Bay, long before the tourists have even had their lattes, are finding occasional blitzes as stripers zero in on sea herring. Boaters are cashing in too, and some are also procuring pogies for trips to Peaked Hill Bar where tuna from 75 to 80 inches are testing tackle. Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter told me that there is some confusion about a few species that are occupying Duxbury Bay. Some are scratching their heads and inquiring why the “flounder have teeth.” Yes, the fluke are filtering in and it may be time to start bouncing a bucktail or drifting a three-way fluke rig with a mummichog or squid strip along the confluences where cuts in the mud flats join channels.
If you see in Duxbury what appears to be extra-large pogies, it might just be hickory shad. These tend to be larger fish, 14” to 16”, that will wallop a small spoon and, typical of members of the herring clan, put up a heck of a fight. Mackerel off the Gurnet are a little spotty; a better pick of macks should be available off High Pine Ledge.
Whenever I talk holiday fishing with Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate, the subject inevitably revolves around the much-ballyhooed Memorial Day Massacre of a few years ago. When asked if this year would spell a July 4th version of that special day, Pete replied, “It already happened!” On Tuesday from dawn to dusk a rolling caravan of bass to 30 pounds and an occasional bluefish tormented sea herring – and surf fishermen who were just beyond casting range. The epicenter was Peggotty Beach, but as these things go, the bass bedlam did not stay still. Pete told me that the hot lure was the 6 ½-inch pearl, blue and bubblegum Shankas sans weight and rigged with a 5/0 Gamakatsu EWG Monster hook. The bait, which primarily consists of 5-inch sea herring, tinker mackerel and harbor pollock, is still here, and with the slug of 20- to 25-pound stripers recently moving through the Canal, this area could be a tinder box ready to combust.
And even though we are on the doorstop of July, the doormats are still here! If you believe it’s a leap calling winter flounder “doormats,” Pete has weighed in 4 and 5-pound fish this year! And news for the future is that lobster fishermen are seeing more baby blackbacks in their pots than they have in years.
Captain Dave DeCastro of Sharon B charters told me that he’s finding a nice pick of cod in about 250 feet of water just east of Stellwagen Bank. Unlike earlier in the season when it seemed as if there was little more than a sea of small fish on the bank, the deeper water provides sanctuary for the occasional steaker and more of a mixture of gadoids. Bait is working best, but in order to limit the dogfish, stick with the ebbing tide – at the turn the doggies flood in.
Greater Boston
With the fine flounder fishing on the South Shore, the Hub is still not ready to relinquish its crown as the flounder capitol. In fact Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters, who is usually preoccupied with all things striper by now, still can’t shed his flounder addiction, the fishing remains that good. A charter recently took a 5-pound, 3-ounce flounder and deeper water spots off Hull are routinely giving up 18-inch- plus fish. Chum heavily, and in addition to flounder you’ll find an eclectic mixture of fish figuring in the mix such as black sea bass, 2-pound cunner and surprising numbers of tautog. I’d also look for fish among the outer islands such as the Brewsters and Green Island.
That’s not to say there are no bass around, with the mackerel staying put and plenty of sea herring there’s no shortage of stripers and big bluefish. On Wednesday I was out with Captain Tom Ciulla of TSea Charters along with first mate, Nick Frasso, and we found first-rate action as bass and blues were pushing bait to the surface from Bob’s Bass Triangle inshore to the Five Sisters and south to Nixes Mate. Every hit was a brief guessing game as to whether it was a blue or a bass. Once we felt the head shakes we knew it was the former and the lack of a second sustained run would usually indicate the latter. Live-lining mackerel was the ticket, but a method that Tom employs that is deadly is to vertical jig, especially when fish are marked. Butterfly, diamond jigs or Acme Trophy Spoons will all work as the predators expect to pick off the fluttering dead or dying herring and mackerel
Captain Rob Savino of CJ Victoria Charters, who has put patrons on two 40-pound stripers in the last few days, showed me an interesting rigging method for live mackerel. There is nothing unusual about a tandem-hook rig for live baits, but Rob adds subtle changes that make his method very effective. For the rear hook he uses a Mustad circle, for the front he ties on a treble which he attaches to the leader (40-pound fluorocarbon) with a very small dropper loop. The distance between hooks is about 6 inches. What makes this thing work is that the he sets up on the fish immediately upon impact. Blues inevitably hit the bait in the rear and the circle produces a clean lip hold. The small dropper allows the fish to shake its head, gnash its teeth and often just miss cutting the leader. Bass have more of a tendency to hit the bait head-first, and upon strike the treble immediately gains purchase in the maw of the bass. First time out I was impressed with the hook-up rate and lack of deep hook-ups and bite-offs.
This rig is also user-friendly. Eleven year old Mike Rodriguez, while an angler accomplished well beyond his years, got a little bit of help thanks to this rig on Tuesday when he became the latest member of the CJ Victoria 40-pounder club.
The skipper has been finding the 40-pounders in deeper water Northeast of Graves Light; look for humps in 30 to 50 feet that border significant drop-offs and adjust egg sinker weight from light to heavy until you are in the strike zone. Tube-and-wormers should check out the stretch between the Five Sisters and the Revere Beach breaker, there’s been some awfully nice fish taken there on Santini Tubes lately.
North Shore
On Monday evening I got a text message from Joe Holley, who was in the throes of an all-out bluefish, big bass melee between the East Point of Nahant and Egg Rock. On the menu were mackerel that were hurling themselves clear out of the water. While my resolve was sorely been tested, we had just sat down for dinner so I buzzed my friend Dave Flaherty in the hopes that I would vicariously catch them through him. Later I found out that the bite was an all-day affair from morning to nightfall. Those mackerel are showing no signs of fleeing and with plenty still on the South Shore and with no shortage of sea herring around, every day you’re out there you should prepare for an all-out blitz!
Jay from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Rowley had great news for sportsmen that want to tangle with tuna with a spinning rod – football tuna! A plethora of these manageable pelagics, measuring 40 to 50 inches, have invaded Stellwagen and they are finding metal spoons hard to resist. The logic is that since there is so many of sea herring the spoons match the hatch. If you launch from Cape Ann, it is never too early to begin your bluefin search, fish will occasionally appear within view of Halibut Point, Andrews Point and Thatcher’s Island.
The blitzes have not been limited to Nahant as fishermen have been finding similar striper/blue stanzas off Marblehead, through the Salem and Beverly out through Cape Ann. Again, it all comes down to baitfish and do we ever have it! Other than when there’s an obvious feed that will draw in larger fish, the fish close to the rocks tend to be smaller than those found in deeper water. Jay recommends hooking a mackerel with a 7/0 Gamakatsu through the snout, pinching a rubber core sinker on and probing slopping structure that plummets as deep as 80 feet.
When First Light Angler folks are talking flounder I guess there is no cure! Even they are taking limits of big blackbacks up to 22 inches long in Ipswich Bay and Gloucester Harbor! The guys fishing for fluke in Vineyard Sound would kill to find fish that big! Look for mussel beds or a rock pile along with tracts of mud in 15 to 25 feet of water, send out a good chum slick and see if you can’t call in a few flounder of your own. I haven’t heard much about flounder in Salem or Beverly harbors, but these were historically hot flounder locations years ago and I would suspect that they’ve come back there too.
Kay from Surfland told me that Joppa Flats has slowed down possibly due to all the rainfall. But anglers pitching eels and seaworms at the mouth of the Merrimack River are catching fish. There are scads of small sand eels around, so needlefish plugs and Bill Hurley glass eels, which are made of pure sand eel, should do the trick. The most effective time to fish has been half-tide into the outgoing. Boat anglers are doing best by jigging up mackerel and then live-lining them by Woodbridge Island. They’re catching a few fish from the Parker River Wildlife Reservation at first light with clams and seaworms. Flounder for boaters are good but surf fishermen are finding that they have to sift through skates.
New Hampshire and Southern Maine
According to Chad from Dover Marine, striper fishing has slowed from the hectic pace of a week ago. There are still bass in Great Bay feeding on fall-back herring at the base of the tributaries, but just not in the numbers there were. Your best bet remains live lining a mackerel along the banks of the Piscataqua River or among the rock piles and jetties of Hampton and Rye Beaches. You should not have to sweat catching mackerel as jack-sized macks chow down on butterfish (of all things!) by the Isle of Shoals. Jamie, who also helps out in the shop, was live-lining a mack by Scantum Basin and came tight to an estimated 500- to 600-pound beast of a bluefin, which after 45 minutes and only 12 feet from the boat, decided to end the game.
Groundfishing is still good by The Curl at New Scantum. Chad was able to downsize to diamond and Butterfly jigs at slack tide as light as 5 ounces, even though they were in almost 300 feet of water, and the haul included haddock and a 15-pound cod.
For a fresh look at things, the Pittsburgh area in the Connecticut Lakes Region is terrific for trout. Minnow type lures such as black/gold Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow and black/gold Rapala floating minnows are effective for 16” brook trout, 18” brown trout and rainbows.
Pete from Saco Bay said that the bass bite has shifted to a flooding feed in the rivers but outgoing to low works best at the beaches. The Royal River, the Mousam and Saco are good bets for those casting Gag’s Whip It Eels and Lonely Angler poppers. Beginning this weekend the shop will be carrying eels again to meet the demand. Mung among the Maine beaches has been a problem; fishermen are finding less on an outgoing tide and have been catching stripers at Pine Point and Ferry Beach. Groundfishing is best at Jeffreys Ledge and patrons of the shop have been doing real well on those new Oozie Jigs, which feature a “wick” stuffed into the cavity of the body which is designed to absorb BioEdge or other scent supplements.
Best Bets
Keep a close eye on the Scituate/Cohasset area if you are on the South Shore, all that bait combined with 20-pound plus stripers that have recently migrated through the Canal may combine for real Fourth of July fireworks. If the Hub is your home, Hospital Shoals still has flounder but you may find more fish off Hull. Jig up a livewell full of mackerel and slowly troll or live-line them among humps off Graves Light out through Nahant and into Cape Ann. On the North Shore, bass remain close to the rocks with the Parker River Wildlife Reservation a nice sand-spike option. Great Bay may have cooled but Southern Maine continues to sizzle, especially on an incoming tide among Mousam, Saco and Royal rivers