July 7, 2011 - Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report

With water temperatures up and the feed bag full, the linesiders are behaving a bit languid.  That’s not to suggest that you can’t catch stripers; quite the contrary, you just have to be ultra-sensitive as to how, when and where you are fishing and we are more than happy to clue you in.  Ordinarily during the dog days of summer mackerel have pushed northward and flounder have migrated to deep water, but both species continue to hang in there. Tuna, while not yet terrific, are making it worth the trip out to Stellwagen and Peaked Hill Bar as 50-inch “keepers” figure into the mix.

Unquestionably those fish are getting fussy. While it may not matter a lick what you’re throwing in the middle of a frenzied fall feeding bonanza, if there ever was a time to “match the hatch” it’s now. Thursday Morning found me aboard Captain Tom Ciulla’s TSea Center Console with pals Nicky Frasso and Captain Dennis DeCarney, and the bass bite off Nahant was fast and furious. The stripers, upper-20-inch to upper-30-inch fish, were bingeing on sea herring. I look at something like this as a linesider laboratory to see which wares these “captive fish” are interested in. Swim shads worked pretty well as did soft-plastic stickbaits and Butterfly jigs, but what absolutely slaughtered them was the 5-inch hollow greenie Sebile Magic Swimmer Soft. While there are still some mackerel around, the primary bait has shifted to sea herring and this soft plastic is their dead ringer. On the North Shore where sand eels are more prevalent, it might be a better idea to sling a Slug-Go, RonZ or Bill Hurley. And if you luck into some mackerel, you really can’t beat the real deal.

South Shore

Ordinarily we wave bye-bye to mackerel around late June but as recently as Thursday morning there were loads of this tuna/striper candy at the mouth of the North River. And some of these fish were big jacks! The timing of this might be perfect considering that a moby bass of 48”, 48-pounds was taken by MSBA member Van Christie on July 4^th on a live mackerel at Three and One-Half Fathom Ledge. Belsans was the official weigh station, and Pete Belsan described the fish as “old school square-perfect (48 x 48). There may just be a few old warriors from that school still prowling around and they find mackerel hard to pass up.

In the Plymouth area, mornings from Manomet Point to Priscilla Beach have been good with surface action belying bass belting what is most likely sea herring. Long Beach is a better bet if you decide to chunk under low-light conditions. On the outgoing tide I would sling an eel or weave a darter into the current of Eel River. There are pogies and hickory shad in Duxbury Bay, but they remain largely unmolested by stripers. That will change demonstrably when the blues of late summer turn on them, but for now they’re principally of interest to tuna tamers and those that choose to chunk for bass off The Gurnet and Duxbury Beach.

Fluke are finally making an impact in Duxbury Bay as well as a few from High Pine Ledge, the North River and even Green Harbor. And they are still getting a few winter flounder from Green Harbor and the Scituate area as well.

Greater Boston

Maybe a schoolmate of Van’s big bass made its way into Boston Harbor since according to Pete Santini, a 45-pounder was taken on a herring chunk from Captain Jimmy Brennan’s Strike Charters charter boat. The sweet spot for this special striper was Bob’s Bass Triangle. Ricky Paone of Stoneham found it frustrating the other day as it seems as if all he was doing was giving the live mackerel exercise as nothing seemed interested over by Graves Light. On a hunch, he began to cast dead macks into the foam of the lighthouse and found feeding fish held up among the structure. A particularly large one scrubbed his dad off among the hazardous structure of Graves. This was a case of “son knows best” as junior tried to tell senior to tighten up on the drag prior to casting but he didn’t heed the advice. The white water off all the outer islands is a good bet to lob a chunk, whole mackerel, herring or an eel. At dawn try tossing an eel up against or even onto the ledge and slowly pull the eel into the wash, this is a deadly method employed elsewhere that I have a hunch would work real well among our archipelago.

And yes, Captain Jason Colby is still finding winter flounder and it is well into July. All is not perfect, however, since they have for the most part cleared out of Quincy Bay and Hull and must be targeted off Point Allerton. Jason suspects that soon, the fish will have to be searched for in 35-foot depths near the ledges off Hull, and the main problem will be that any sort of chumming will call in the dog pack! While they’re still scratching together a few flatties, flounder seem to be supplanted by black sea bass up to 3 pounds and jumbo sea perch (known as cunner by the rest of the world!). I’ve seen a few of these 2-pound jumbo sea perch this year and their turquoise coloration and dogged fishing ability combined with sweet-tasting fillets make for a prized catch. Drift with squid strips for the black sea bass.

Rick Newcomb of Fore River Bait and Tackle told me that shore fishermen are experiencing a solid striper bite from the Town River as well as Watson Park on the Weymouth Fore River. Local dynamic duo, Maria and Lisa, are scoring nice fish with Cape Cod Spinners and sea worms, and tube-and-wormers are doing well trolling by Raccoon Island, Nut Island and Moon Island. And as you read this, odds are that more and more pogies are filling into the Quincy/Boston Harbor area!

North Shore

Patrick from First Light Anglers told me that 50-inch school-sized tuna, which neatly fit into the “keeper” category for recreational anglers who have a tuna permit, have arrived at Peaked Hill Bar and the southern portion of Stellwagen Bank. Nat Moody of First Light Anglers caught one recently with a live mackerel floated under a balloon. Bass fishing on the north shore remains good to great depending on whether you happen upon a blitz. Keep eyes peeled for activity from Tinkers Island to Marblehead Harbor outside of the Salem and Beverly harbors and all the way through Cape Ann. The target of these shows is sea herring and mackerel. Among the rocks of the North Shore, bass prowl for pollock; moreover, live-lining one about 8 feet under a float is a deadly option. Cranes Beach, along with most of the river mouths, has been productive on an ebbing tide as the stripers scrounge for the plentiful sand eels. Effective offerings when they focus in on this unique bait are Bill Hurley tails, RonZs and Point Jude Gold and Silver Minnows.  Dave Texeirra of Wakefield, when he’s not injection-molding Shankas stick baits, is chasing cows at Cape Ann has been drifting mackerel off the tip of the Dogbar Breakwater and finding fish that stretch the tape to 4 feet!

Liz from Surfland said that over the weekend the “Kelly Boys” made a killing off the “ocean side” of Plum Island as the two boys and their dad soaked seaworms for everything from fat flounder to keeper-sized stripers. The flats of Joppa are jumping for those trolling the tube-and-worm and drifting eels at nightfall. On the ebbing tide, both the Salisbury and Newburyport jetties at the mouth of the Merrimack River have been productive for chunkers, eel casters and topwater aficionados.

New Hampshire and Maine

Jamie from Dover Marine told me that the Piscataqua River is the place for three-waying sea herring, mackerel, pollock or eels. This river cooks, so you’ll need lead as heavy as 8 ounces to tend bottom. Look for channel edges that are in 20 to 40 feet of water and border channels that plummet to as deep as 60-feet. Sea herring is the predominant bait at the moment, but you’ll find mackerel that are feeding on butterfish by the Isle of Shoals. Chunkers are catching the occasional cow off Hampton and Rye Beaches; tube and worm guys are doing well covering the same areas, especially by the jetties and near rock piles. They are also still picking up bass in Great Bay with a tube and worm.

Flounder frequent Hampton and Rye Harbors as well as Pepperell Cove. Now just might be one of the better times to clobber that slob cod as breeders abandon in-shore spawning redds and return to Jeffreys Ledge, these fish are famished and looking to feed.

Shane from Saco Bay Tackle said that chunkers soaking cut bait as well as clams are finding night tides productive from Pine Point, Old Orchard Beach and Biddeford Pool. Chum up some mackerel by Richmond Island and cast them among the white water of the island or on an ebbing tide drift them along the mouth of the Saco River. Don’t ignore the potential of a topwater bite; a nice 32-pound linesider recently hit a popper in the Saco River.

Best Bets

With mackerel still hanging in there, it makes sense to spend a little time trying to procure this striper candy. The mouth of the North River remains hot and I would take those macks out to Minot’s Ledge or Stone Ledge and see if you can’t coax a 35-pound cow or bigger. Closer to The Hub, if you can find mackerel drift or troll a few from Point Allerton out to Thieves or Three and One-half Fathom Ledge. But don’t spend the whole day chasing bait, a lot of bass are bent on chasing sea herring and the Magic Swimmer Soft is a proven sea herring imitator. For a flounder best bet, your odds improve among the cooler sea off Newburyport and New Hampshire. And if Maine is your starting point, chum up some macks off Richmond Island and see if you can’t coax a cow from the mouth of the Saco River.