Massachusetts, New Hampshire & Maine Fishing Reports: 10-13-11

The calendar and the brightening foliage may tell you it’s October, but if you’ve toed the surf or lipped a striper from your boat, you’re left with one inescapable conclusion – the water feels more like mid-September. And with the foreseeable weather forecast a relatively balmy one, the bait, bass, blues and bluefin shouldn’t go anywhere for awhile! Dovetailing nicely with requests for some sweetwater scuttlebutt, there is some fantastic freshwater fishing available as well.

Freshwater

The fall stocking of trout has been completed in all the Masswildlife regions. And some of the fish are big browns. Rodney of Flagg’s in Orange told me that one of the fish culturists for Masswildlife said that the hatcheries had a surplus of brown trout and 1900 fish up to 19” long were stocked in the Miller River. The nice brownies went in by the Wendell Depot and the Bears Den. If the idea of stocked fish, even 3-pound browns, doesn’t do it for you than maybe wild native brookies does. There has been a grass roots movement among many to restore this indigenous species to much of its native range across the east coast and the folks at Masswildlife have not been insulated from this trend. A recent sampling of brookie water in the Connecticut Valley Region revealed ecosystems teeming with the little char, in fact one of the biologists described an anonymous brook in the town of Orange as having the largest volume of brook trout that he had ever seen. If you get jazzed about finding a fish that has roots that predate the Mayflower, as I do, then slip on your hippers and start exploring.

This Saturday is closing time for the Quabbin for the year. By all accounts it has been a stellar season, although angling participation has been way off. The few that have fished The “Q” have been catching 6-pound salmon with regularity and scary numbers of trophy white perch. Rod told me of an eye-popping stringer he saw recently loaded with one 16” white perch after another taken by Bobby May. Other anglers are also finding these 2-pound white perch easy pickings by The Gap area accessed by Gate 31. The best baits have been worms, shiners and streamers trolled behind dodgers. While the end is in sight, there’s still time and odds are that you will find little company out there, save the fish.

Eddie of B&A in West Boylston told me that hardly anyone is fishing Wachusett Reservoir. Do you need incentive? Here it is: salmon and yellow perch! Landlocked salmon have been in the Stillwater River, especially just upstream of the Singing Bridge, for about 2 weeks now and the recent rains will only bring more fish. Many of these fish are breeder females which can top 6-pounds! They are wily buggers and you will fare best if you opt for as light a line as you dare – with 4-pound fluorocarbon a good choice. The second most important fish in Wachusett right now in my estimation is the yellow perch. Other than smelt, yellow perch are the most important forage in the reservoir. And evidently there has been a surge in perch fry numbers. A pale of yellows is pure gold for big lakers and smallies. Swing by B&A; pick up some small hooks, red wigglers and the coordinates as to the latest perch swarms and get ready for a heck of a hot fishing experience.

South Shore

With Pete Belsan hobnobbing with other anglers in Martha’s Vineyard during the derby, I received little information about what was going on in the South Shore.  Mike who is minding the Scituate shop in Pete’s absence said that the fish are on the move with no prevalent patterns other than to be on the lookout for obvious signs such as working birds. He did say that the great equalizer is bait and that roving fish will follow their noses to a fresh chunk of mackerel every time. Mike has been doing well on schoolies in Cohassett Harbor.

Bob Pronk of Green Harbor told me that big bluefin tuna are following around draggers and picking off the discards from Cape Cod Bay to George’s Bank. Erudite anglers are in the wash trolling and livelining whiting and picking off giants. Those looking for something a little less taxing on their tackle, should check out Stellwagen, a mass of schoolie-sized tuna have moved onto the bank. According to Bob, the mackerel are still present and so are the striped bass. Chunk mackerel and chunk pogies are accounting for cows from Burkes and Rexhame Beaches. And this is the one time of the year when the morning bite is often as good as the night bite.

Greater Boston

From smelt to 49-pound stripers, Rick Newcomb of Fore River was a wealth of information when we spoke. The big bass was taken by MSBA member Frank Mazzulli courtesy of a live pogy between Deer Island and Long Island. Those pogies that arrived just after Labor Day are one of the keys to catching those cows but not the only ones. In some cases spending the time to jig up a few mackerel is time well served. On Saturday, Captain Dennis DeCarney of Drop A Line Charters decided to avoid the mad dash of the fleet chasing the pogies and instead set a course for Nahant in the hope that he’d find a few mackerel. After topping off the livewell with a tide’s worth, he nudged the boat toward Nixes Mate. Drifting the live mackerel resulted in a number of keeper stripers and more action than from what he saw of the pogy pursuers. Another example of mackerel being a better choice was courtesy of Captain Roger Brousseau of Midnight Charters. He was picking off some fish by Bob’s Bass Triangle recently when Captain Chuck DeStefano of Skip A Dory Charters arrived with live mackerel. The word “whooped” (with a Parisian accent) was used by Roger to describe how Chuck did on fish to over 30-pounds. Another angler that I know very well but cares to remain anonymous has been slaying some big stripers and blues just under the schools of pogies by bouncing white parachute jigs with red sea rind along the bottom.

It’s nice to report that Dorchester Bay, which years ago was one of the better Boston bets for pogies and blues, has been hot again. Don’t discount the river systems either, herring will often cruise upstream with bass on their tails at dusk, remain in the estuaries/marshes throughout the night and at daybreak depart the area. Rick from Fore River said that well upstream of the Weymouth Back River by the “Boy Scout Bridge” anglers have been landing 36” linesiders on higher tides. While Hull remains hectic for smelt, they’ve migrated to Hingham Harbor as well.

North Shore

The area between Swampscott and Lynn continues to be lights-out for linesiders. Most recently there were blitzes Thursday morning. Nat Moody of First Light Anglers said that the most riveting news is the appearance of, as he put it, “millions” (not the first to get overly excited about tuna) of small tuna from Halfway Rock in Ipswich Bay all the way out to the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen. The action has been described as “nuts.” The fish are keying in on halfbeaks and other slim-profiled prey. Soft-plastic stickbaits rule, as RonZs and the Bill Hurley Rat Tail are making a killing. Sebile Koolie Minnows and Rapala X-Raps are also working well when trolled.

For stripers, bait is beginning to flush out toward the mouths of the river systems on the North Shore. An outgoing tide under low light conditions is ideal for this sort of fishing. Good lure choices are Lunker City’s Fin-S Fish, Sebile’s soft Magic Swimmer and Vision’s Surf Eel. There have been “feeds” throughout Manchester Harbor and out into Beverly Harbor, most of the bass in the lower to mid-30 inch bracket but an occasional 25-pounder plus fish pops up often enough to keep anglers on alert.

Kay from Surfland was pleased to report that a slug of 24-inch and under stripers livened up Plum Island over the last few days. The slop brought about by the East wind may have contributed to the increase in action, especially compared to the mill-pond conditions of the weekend which showed little life. The best bait has been the venerable bloodworm (Surfland is one of the few shops that still carries this striper candy) and the venue has been the Parker River Wildlife Reservation.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

It was hardly promising when I asked Jamie from Dover Marine about stripers and the phone suddenly went quiet! Combine this with withering freshwater opportunities, especially after October 15th and it’s no surprise why Granite State outdoorsmen are swapping their waders and bibs for cameo and boots. However, the same school of schoolie tuna that is thrilling Bay State anglers was also recently slashing bait near the Isle of Shoals and even as close as Boone Island which is just off the coast of Hampton. And the groundfishing is good offshore a bit at The Curl; bait is working well with not too many dogfish on the prowl. Great Bay has one of the healthier smelt runs in the wintertime, now is the time to intercept them as they begin staging during nighttime tides off dockage in Seabrook, Hampton and Rye Harbors.

Compared to Ken from Saco Bay, the folks from New Hampshire are downright chatty about fishing opportunities. Usually there are a handful of tight-lipped fly fishermen and light tackle enthusiasts who pursue wily sea run brown trout from Stevens Brook, the Ogunquit River and the Mousam River. These fish with access to the sea have a much larger selection of prey species available and successful fishers target them with scud, shrimp and minnow imitations. The dockage by Commerce Street in Portland usually harbors schools of smelt and mackerel in October. Drop down a Sabiki rig anchored by a Swedish Pimple and you could be treated to a real mixed bag.

Best Bets

If your home base is near the south shore top off the gas tank and bring the binoculars since the fish are on the move! Chunking off Rexhame Beach, Burkes Beach and Cohassett Harbor should result in some fish. Closer to the Hub, look for the pogies in Dorchester Bay or Boston Harbor and the bass and blues should be nearby. Jigging below the school or live lining mackerel may make you the high hook. Keep on the lookout for linesiders near Lynn! Or drift eels on an outgoing tide at the mouths of the North Shore Rivers. Hungry bass are also staging in Beverly and Manchester Harbors. But then again, all those school sized tuna in Ipswich Bay are awfully tempting. And lastly the white perch in the Quabbin and landlocked salmon in the Stillwater underscore the sweet in sweetwater!