Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 5-3-2012

Mackerel, that most favored striper candy, have moved in en masse. Not surprisingly there has been an uptick in what qualifies as a big striped bass, with fish up to 37 pounds now making an appearance. Water temperatures are finally positioned to bump the 50-degree mark and with that flounder are now feeding with purpose.

 

South Shore

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate told me that he weighed in a nicely proportioned 37-pound, 45” linesider that was taken by local angler Tim Green on a live mackerel in the North River. When asked where one could find macks on the South Shore, he replied “everywhere.” Apparently they have become that numerous! Some busting beach bass have made surfcasters’ outings among Egypt Beach and Peggotty Beach. Some of the fleet that have been flummoxed by the frustrating Gulf of Maine groundfishing have turned their sights toward flounder from Peggotty Beach, Scituate Harbor and Cohasset Harbor and are finding them willing. Shad fishing remains strong in the North River and the Indian Head River.

 

Bob from Green Harbor echoed the comments from his counterpart in Scituate about all the “cow candy” that is around. When asked where to take those macks, he suggested The Gurnet, High Pine Ledge and also between the jetties of Green Harbor and the first green buoy. When we spoke, Bob was admiring a 6 ½-pound tautog that had just been caught by Jim Walsh off the Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury. This was no bycatch, as Jim used green crabs for bait. Thank goodness there are a few of us out there that catch “white chins” north of the Cape. Next week I intend on tackling a few tautog after I spool up with fresh 50-pound mono on my conventional tog tackle. For a few years I was getting increasingly lighter and feeling quite confident until I was pummeled by an unforeseen monster tog that scrubbed me off on a barnacle-caked bridge pilling.

 

Greater Boston

This is bound to be a bust-out weekend for blackbacks. If you’ve been out recently, all the while shivering and wondering why on earth you are bothering with a fish that isn’t cooperating, you’ll find a different sort of fish out there now. Captain Jason Colby and crew took 40 flatties on Thursday morning and not one was foul-hooked, rather, the fish are now actively feeding. Not surprisingly the biggest fish were scoffing down clams but the volume was with the sea worms. Off Deer Island should be good as should Sculpin Ledge, Hospital Shoals, Hangman Island and Peddock Island. The keeper stripers that you are bound to catch will be a nice consolation prize.

 

One of the hotter locations to jig up mackerel has been by the BG Buoy. You should also be able to get them off Hull and from Graves Light out toward Egg Rock in Nahant. I would also check between Long Island, through Thompson Island and out toward Deer Island. What I haven’t heard of yet is big bass shadowing the mackerel schools, but in the blink of an eye that could change; especially with rumblings of bigger fish in our bailiwick. Taking a livewell full of macks into almost any of our river systems remains your best bet for catching a nice cow. Surf fishermen should carry a few mackerel imitators in their plug bag, such as the Daiwa SP Minnow, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow, Tsunami TS Minnow and the blue Sebile Magic Swimmer. But don’t discount fresh mackerel as bait. Many shops are carrying fresh or flash-frozen mackerel and chunks or whole portions of this bait will score stripers often times right from a beach such as Nantasket, Wollaston, Carson, Winthrop, Revere and Lynn. We used to slam some very big bass off these beaches in May with fresh river herring before the moratorium and I have no doubt you would do just as well with mackerel. I asked Rick Newcomb of Fore River B&T, who in addition to being the (grass) shrimp king may just hold a knighted position when it comes to squid, when the first cephalopods should come calling off Nut Island and he replied, “any day now.”

 

North Shore

Noel from Bridge Street B&T in Salem said that some are getting jack mackerel off Salem Willows Pier. Other shore sharpies are finding willing flounder from the Fishermen’s Beach pier in Swampscott and the Beverly Pier. I would suspect that if you were to take a few fresh mackerel to some of these spots you’d have no problem finding stripers. They’re catching keeper stripers in the North and South Rivers in Salem, the fish are hitting seaworms as well as mackerel. The Kernwood River remains a solid bet for striped bass also; through the years the Kernwood Bridge has given up the occasional tautog in May as well.

 

With mackerel around, it’s high time to consider the rocks once again. The ledge that defines areas around Swampscott and Marblehead and especially Gloucester and Rockport should be prime fishing promontories right about now. On my to-do list is jigging up some mackerel from the rocks and livelining them for stripers from the shore. This is very effective and exciting angling; I can’t tell you how often I’ve been around other anglers tossing a smorgasbord of wares out there with little to show for their efforts and within minutes of live-lining a mackerel, a moby bass appears out of what seems like nowhere to massacre that mackerel.

 

The beachfront of Plum Island has been hot for striped bass for awhile according to Kay from Surfland, but the mouth of the Merrimack River has been quiet – until now. Finally, fishermen that prefer this location are getting bass. The time to be at the mouth of the river is within the last two hours of the ebbing tide and the first two on the flood. The fish are taking white bucktail jigs with curly tail grubs as well as Slug-Gos and Bill Hurley Mouse Tails.

 

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Fred from Suds ‘N Soda in Greenland, New Hampshire said there were stripers up to 41” ambushing alewives and blue back herring among the tributaries of Great Bay. The Dover area is fishing best now. Live herring is best but there are fish also being taken with Storm Wildeye Kickin’ Minnows. If you’re unsure how to acquire alewives, the shop sells a Shad Flutter that is equally deadly on alewives, blue backs and American shad. Jamie from Dover Marine told me that he has been hauling in the haddock, up to 30” long, from 170 feet of water on Jeffrey’s Ledge. Clams or clam strips on teasers are working well.

 

At last, Maine fishermen are getting their due as stripers up to 26” long are beginning to infiltrate river systems and estuaries. Confirmation of those first linesiders has come from those fishing the Saco River, but Ken from Saco Bay Tackle Company suspects they are also in the Scarborough Marsh as well as the Kennebec River. Those doing the catching are boasting about the new Yo-Zuri 3D Crystal Minnow Magnum. Its transparent sides over an iridescent backdrop will get you wondering just how they did that. The Bunny Clarke headboat has been getting a gadoid mixed bag south of Ogunquit and on jigs between 14-20 ounces.

 

Best Bets

Obviously your first priority should be the happiness of Dear Mom this weekend, but it would be a shame if you didn’t spend at least some time on the water. Who knows maybe she’d be willing to come along? With mackerel schools in force, if you have your boat in the water, jig a mess up and on the South Shore live line them among the South and North Rivers. Shore-casters should pitch fresh mackerel off Long Beach in Plymouth or the breakwater of the Leo F. DeMarsh boat launch. Check out the Weir River by Worlds End or wet a line below the Fore River Bridge as well as the nearby Town River by Avalon Beach. A fresh mackerel soaked by the yacht clubs off Wollaston should yield a fish or two for you. Mackerel-patterned swimmers and poppers are a casting alternative. The flounder faithful have waited all year for right now and you can get your fix from Quincy Bay, off Deer Island and I suspect Lynn Harbor. On the North Shore, the rivers remain hot in the Salem and Cape Ann areas while the Merrimack has finally woken up. Over the border, 41” bass are busting river herring among the tributaries of Great Bay and at last, Maine bass fanatics are getting their share of stripers in the Saco Bay area.

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