Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 4-12-2012

In most years it’s a pretty safe bet that news of a 39-inch lake trout is going to be a tough one to beat for the mid-April Fishing Forecast. But then I got the call from a friend who was eye-balling a locally caught 45-inch striper! And this was days after I received another reliable report of two 40-inch linesiders taken on the North Shore! Welcome to the wacky world of 2012, where it seems as if the unusual is anything but.

Massachusetts Fishing Report
The faithful of Wachusett Reservoir were optimistic last year when we began to see signs of recovery of arguably the most important fish that swims in this expansive reservoir – the rainbow smelt. Healthy, robust fish, especially landlocked salmon, were the rule this past season thanks to the surge in this vital forage and we could only hope for a repeat. Early indications are that our hopes have been realized. Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle described the smelt as being “everywhere” and schools have been depicted as “clouds.” Not surprisingly some great catches have occurred including a 39-inch, 17-pound 11-ounce lake trout that was taken by Paul Piergallini on a yellow perch. While some bemoan the culture of the ‘Chu that espouses long walks for big fish, I have a strong suspicion that this fish was caught only a short distance in.  And the salmon and smallies are looking spectacular as several 4-pound class examples of both species have already been caught and the season isn’t even a week old!

The Quabbin cavalry knows that the ‘Chu has a ways to go before it can rival the Commonwealth’s biggest freshwater body. Regulars of the Q’ logged sizes and numbers of landlockeds that almost seem unreal. The standard for excellence this year is likely to be six pounds. And it all begins this Saturday at 6:00 a.m., if you have visions of renting a DCR boat, you had better plan on an all-nighter outside of the Gates 8, 31 and 43, those things are going to go fast. An added benefit this year is the size of some of the stocked rainbows, Rod from Flagg’s told me that many of these “stockies” were 17-inch fish!
Ordinarily the line between holdover striped bass and migrant begins to blur sometime in late April. But it is getting confusing already. First up is the 45” striper that was caught midweek by Anthony Baccio of Weymouth and validated by Russ Eastman at Monahan Marine. Almost everywhere there are herring runs, there’s an uptick in striper catches. Are they holdovers that are increasing in activity because of alewives, coupled with more anglers pursuing them? One hint comes courtesy of Dave Panarello and his good buddy, Carl Vining. They’ve been pounding stripers in the river systems of Greater Boston all winter long, but the fish have been in fresh/brackish water. On Wednesday morning that all changed as herring in the salt had bass on them. And unlike their freshwater counterparts these fish had attitudes and didn’t have to be coaxed to hit with bait but rather they walloped chartreuse Storm swim shads as well as Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows.
Joe Holey told me of a friend who took two 40” stripers just outside of the Salem power plant. These fish fell for black tubes with seaworms and the fish were covered with sea lice! Kay from Surfland said that some are mumbling about stripers in the Plum Island area. American Shad have arrived in the Merrimack River – they are also on the South Shore in the North River/Indian Head River – and the unheralded hickory shad are being caught in Salem and Manchester Harbors. Mackerel are scattered throughout the North Shore as well. In the flounder category, Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics flew back into town from San Cristobal just in time to tell me of a few flatties that have been caught among the mud flats of Winthrop. I’m thinking that this weekend courtesy of my friend Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters, I’m going to finally get that much longed for flounder fix!
Russ Eastman logged a few more hours at South Pond with predictable results, more trophy fish. This time instead of 4-pound brown trout or 6-pound largemouth bass he slammed slab crappie of up to 2-pounds. Just like Quabbin and Wachusett, it all comes down to the bait and South Pond is loaded with landlocked alewives. They also caught numerous brown trout up to 2 ½-pounds. All these fish were taken on shiners slowly trolled behind a 3/8 ounce egg sinker.
New Hampshire
Derek of Suds ‘N Soda told me of striper rumor stirrings from the Lamprey River in Newmarket, most likely these are holdovers wakening with the arrival of alewives! Chad from Dover Marine said that salmon fishing is superb in Winnisquam and Winnipesauke and fish are taking spoons, smelt, shiners and streamers within the first 15-feet of the water column. Sounds as if those landlockeds are not that fussy! There’s some awfully good trout fishing taking place throughout the Connecticut Lakes Region where trophy brook trout rule. Others are anxiously anticipating the 4th Saturday of April when designated trout water bodies are open to fishing once again. The Jeffrey’s Ledge groundfish bite has switched from mostly redfish to a mixture including nice-sized haddock.
Maine
Peter from Saco Bay told me that they are catching mackerel by Cape Porpoise. Closer to shore, the game switches to sea run brown trout at the Mousam, Ogunquit and even Saco rivers. When asked if activity has slacked off after ice-melt, Dylan of Dag’s told me that if anything it has improved! This can all be attributed to the hot fishing for salmon in Sebago, Lake Auburn and Thompson Lake. Smelt have been spawning in the shallows and salmon and togue are hot on them. Trolling sewn or live smelt is popular as is trolling streamers. Two of the more popular streamers are the Grey Ghost and Joe Smelt. The sweet zone is between 20 and 50 feet behind the wash.

Best Bets

The arrival of the striper is imminent if not already here, with the long term weather forecast looking balmy, the next week could be a break-out week, but you’ll never know if you’re waiting for confirmation from others. Stick to rivers such as the North River, Weymouth Back, Charles, Mystic, Danvers, Essex, Little and Merrimack rivers, you’ll find the fish that are seeking the river herring. Bays and harbors such as Plymouth Bay, Quincy Bay, Boston Harbor, Salem Harbor and Gloucester Harbor will be waking up soon as stripers key in on green back or brit herring. Most shops are planning on carrying seaworms, so it might be the right time to look for flounder in Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor, Hull, Quincy, Boston Harbor and Lynn Harbor. Don’t neglect Salem Harbor and Plum Island just outside of the flow of the Merrimack River. Your timing should be perfect for something real sweet as Wachusett is hot and Quabbin opens up this weekend. For north of the border thrills, check out the groundfishing in Jeffrey’s Ledge and the salmon trolling at Winnepesauke and Sebago. The latest Intel on Stellwagen Bank is the cod are mostly in deeper water on the east of the bank and opening day in the GOM is April 16th.