Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Maine Fishing Reports: 10-29-11

And the run is underway! Wednesday morning just north of Boston there was a blitz some described as epochal with kayakers concerned that the big bass that were bumping their boats were going to swamp them. The harbor has been hot for those who find the pogies but also quite good for those who know the intricacies of wire-lining bucktail jigs, something that is not always associated with the Bay State’s archipelago. Up north there are still plenty of bass in Saco Bay, ensuring that we have a ways to go.

South Shore

Smelt sleuths have an advocate in Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate who after hearing grumblings about access issues in Scituate Harbor got to the bottom of it. The unwritten policy now is that fishing for smelt off the Harbormaster’s float in the harbor will be allowed during the week but not the weekend. Evidently a few sail boat owners found the fishing annoying and griped loud enough to cause the new regulations. In the hopes of limiting any further restrictions please pick up after yourself and others and be as careful as possible.

It’s strange but you will find bluefish from the Pilgrim Power Plant in Plymouth up to just outside of Green Harbor but they almost pull a “Copperfield” in Scituate where few are found. 2011 has to go down as the year of the mighty mackerel and you can still find this prized bait source just outside of bays and harbors. And you should find bass up to and over 30-pounds not far from the forage. Get your macks and bass outside of The Gurnet, High Pine Ledge and the bell in Green Harbor. Closer to Scituate folks are jigging up macks and finding fish near Beetle Rock, Smith Rock, The Glades and Third and Fourth Cliff. Surf fisherman have been doing decently off Rexhame Beach, Peggotty Beach, Egypt Beach and Minot. For my money, a surf fisher can’t beat a big wad of clam at the end of your hook this time of the year!

Greater Boston

Wednesday morning there were 35-pound stripers taken but not everyone was so lucky. Dave Panarella did well by snagging pogies near Castle Island and live-lining them by Long Island where he found plenty of cows up to 45”. At the same time Captain Russ Burgess and his buddy Pete “the Jigman” employed an entirely different tact, they wire lined bucktails and bested about 10 bass between 17-pounds and 35-pounds among the outer islands and shipping lanes. White smilin’ Bill parachute jigs with red sea rind strips was the key to their success. This is an old school method that is standard issue in Montauk, Cuttyhunk, Race Point and other legendary linesider locales but is rarely seen in these parts. Hmmm…I see the makings of a story in there somewhere! By the way, The Jigman also slayed the stripers Thursday morning this way as well!

Now is prime time for surf fisherman to consider eel slinging for nighttime bass. We have a number of rivers that are perfect for this practice, from the Weir River to the Weymouth Back to the Neponsett. I’ve always done best just as the tide begins to turn and begins bringing in oxygenated bait-rich “green” water. The caveat is that these are treacherous times and I strongly advise you to take along a fishing buddy when you fish these places at dark.

Rick form Fore River told me that the smelt bite is just right. Hull is hot on an incoming tide from the A Street Pier through the Hull Public Pier and the fish are even hitting during the day. Most anywhere you find a dock in the Town River you should be able to find smelt. Closer to Boston you should check out the Summer Street Bridge and maybe even the Deer Island dockage as well as the Winthrop Public Pier.

North Shore

Just maybe the best bass bite in this week’s forecast took place on Wednesday by the Lynn shorefront. During the afternoon I received a call from a pal who was nearly catatonic as he sat in his truck transfixed by a mass of busting bass that stretched from Red Rock in Lynn Beach to the causeway in Nahant. Without rod at the ready, my buddy could only wonder about the size of the participants. I placed a call to Laurie of Ippi’s in Lynn and she received word from Kayakers who were in the midst of the mayhem and the phrase 40-pounds plus was being bandied about! I’m sure that there were more than a few “sleigh rides” going on there. The million dollar question now becomes: where are those fish now? One place you may want to consider if you’re a landlubber is Red Rock. Many moons ago I frequented that place and I once saw a sharpie land a 47-pounder there on a pogy chunk. According to Ippi the “rock” has been hot all season long. Kudos to Torin Mailoux whose 35 ½-inch striper took first place in Ippi’s recent derby!

Nat Moody from First Light Anglers told me that jigging up mackerel and tossing them into the wash of islands, “spindles” and the crags of the North Shore is a winning formula especially on a flooding tide. Moreover, the outgoing tide of the rivers is effective at nighttime for eels. Try Castle Rock in Marblehead or Bakers and Misery Islands. The backside of Gloucester remains consistently good as are Long, Cape Hedge and Pebble beaches. Plum Island sound has been effective but it remains a spotty bite throughout the Parker River Wildlife Reservation as anglers putting in the time account for only a fish or two. According to Kay from Surfland, some patrons have been pleased to see a batch of smaller schoolies make occasional feeding runs into the Merrimack River. Boaters do best trolling mackerel by the Polio Camp. Northern halfbeaks are peaking right now providing explosive top water action for tuna in Ipswich Bay and some of the activity is within sight of the shoreline! How to find them? Keep a pair of binoculars handy, when those ballistic cousins of the ballyhoo are around their aerial shows give them away.

New Hampshire and Downeast Maine

It seems as if striper fishermen in the Granite State have given up the game! Two shops that I spoke to had absolutely no news to report on. But all is not lost according to Jamie from Dover Marine. While searching for a giant among tuna (he did boat a 72” fish), Jamie spotted about 20 distinct schools of football tuna between the Isle of Shoals and due east. The 240-foot contour line seems to be the magical place and preferred bait is whiting and mackerel. Under the very strange heading, uncharacteristically warm water temperatures – upper 60-dgrees – have attracted unusual species. While attempting to jig up bait by the Isle of Shoals, there have been reports of black sea bass in the mix and even what appears to be small false albacore. Considering that there have been confirmed cases of albies this year from Scituate to Boston Harbor, this just might be probable. Groundfishing remains strong for cod up to 15 to 20-pounds and hefty haddock on the northern side of Jeffrey’s Ledge.

Last week saw an increase in tuna action offshore in southern Maine.  Highlights included busting bluefin from the Isle of Shoals north to Casco Bay.  Nick Masi of Biddeford was rewarded for his hard work with a quality 80-inch giant bluefin tuna, a feat that couldn’t have happened without the support of his friend Paul Provencher who went out to retrieve Nick after he experienced some engine problems.

Groundfishing down on Jefferey’s Ledge continues to produce.  On a Sunday morning trip last week, Marco from Saco Bay Tackle and friends were rewarded with dozens of cusk, ten or so plump haddock, and a nice pollock in the twenty pound class.  They boated a few short cod, no keepers but could hardly complained being out there on a summer-like day.  Bait seems to be the key to catching these late summer/early fall bottom dwellers.  They mostly fished frozen shrimp on tandem rigs with 20 oz. cannon ball weights. The round shape works quite well on the gnarly bottom terrain frequently found on offshore humps and they rarely hang up.

Marco and buddies were sternly tested as they steamed out on Sunday as there were busting stripers inside Saco River.  Just upstream from the University of New England they picked their way through a blitz that was three or four hundred yards across. Later in the day the buzz at Chevy’s Bait and Tackle was all about the aggressive striper bite.   Hot baits for the past week’s striper action included soft shad swim baits and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows.  Tube and worm fishermen continue to produce fish as well.  Most bass are in the 25- to 30-inch slot.

Best Bets

The fish are on the move and you should be on the look out for them. Scituate still sizzles with bass in the 30-pound class scoffing up any wayward mackerel they can get a bead on. Live line or troll some up just outside of the beaches and rocks. Closer to the Hub, it remains a game of “find the pogy, find the bass”. But you have to have a backup plan, next time take with you a bucktail jig and bottle of sea rind and snap this alluring lure in front of bass from Deer Island to Long Island and the outer islands. The big question on the North Shore is “where have all those bass off Lynn went?” You can bet I’m going on a search and find mission as soon as I vet this off to the editor. On the north shore, it’s all about tossing mackerel up against the wash of those rocks and swimming eels on a nighttime outgoing tide. And while New Hampshire striper hounds have given up the surf for the field, acres of busting bass in Saco Bay have made a few Downeasterners glad that they are still at it!