Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 8-16-2012

With common quarry consisting of blue runner, scup, black sea bass, fluke and even trigger fish, it’s enough to make you second guess your whereabouts. Thankfully, the more normal fare of bass and blues is cooperating. Don’t discount bluefish as just soft plastic lure shredders, for in the right context, bluefish just could be the ticket to the fish of your dreams.

Cruises have a way of taking unexpected twists. One has to look no further than Gilligan and his ill-fated cohorts. But, for Captain Rob Green of Elizabeth Marie Charters out of Scituate, a planned whale cruise with family and friends became a date with the biggest bluefin tuna of his life. After sating the wish of his loved ones very early into the trip while humpbacks breached all around the boat, Rob turned to his crew and suggested that they try for a tuna. The skipper had visions of the gang passing around a rod as they dueled with a 50-pound schoolie tuna and figured it would be a nice cap to a good day.

They all consented as Rob began to go about the business of jigging up some bait. It was hoped that a few mackerel or whiting would cooperate. However, most willing on that day were 4-pound bluefish, which of course are candy to tuna. One rod was set with a balloon as a strike indicator and before Rob could rig up another, the balloon went off! What began as a leisurely whale cruise turned into a high-stakes battle with a giant tuna at Peaked Hill Bar. Four and one half hours and two harpoons later, 117 inches and 1000 pounds of tuna were latched to the side of the Elizabeth Marie. The Captain credits his buddy Chris McDonald for stellar support.

The fish turned sideways when it was about 20-feet below the boat, which Green compared to “the bottom coming up.” After this story, I just had to ask, “So when are we going whale watching?” Be prepared, there truly are monsters out there!

South Shore

Dave from TFO in Plymouth told me that shore guys are slaying the stripers on Shimano’s new wonder lure – the Orca! Having not yet seen one, I peppered Dave with questions. He told me it behaves like a “spook on steroids.” In addition to its awesome action, it is built to withstand tuna, so there are no worries about hook and split ring failure. Try Long Beach, the inner Plymouth Harbor, White Horse Beach and Priscilla Beach. The latter has been especially good for mid-teen bluefish. They are getting some good fluke at the channel edge of Clark’s Island.

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate told me that guys trolling the tube and worm are consistently catching stripers. If you want numbers, hit the North River from The Spit past the Herring Rivers, but for size, drag that tube through the ledge and boulder minefield of The Glades. Folks looking to jig bait are encountering blue runner inside of Scituate Harbor! Drop a few blue runner into a livewell and steam out to the SW Corner of Stellwagen where they’re encountering 50 to 60-pound school tuna. The few that are fishing for smelt are finding them off the docks and piers. Cash in while you can for Scituate smelt, these fish tend to be fleeting here.

Greater Boston

There is no shortage of pogies in the Boston area, but finding feeding fish with the forage is no instant guarantee. However, remain patient, because there are some scary stripers around. Pogies are plentiful in Hull, Hingham, Quincy Bay and Boston Harbor. Don’t neglect the river systems either. A live or chunk pogy remains your best bet for catching a cow but keep a trolling tube handy as a back up plan. There is just something about the tube and worm that works in August. Pete Santini has been logging large numbers of linesiders on his namesake tube in black and purple at Faun Bar, Nixes Mate, George’s Island and Rainsford Island. A Quincy Bay alternative is the stretch between Raccoon Island out to West Gut to Halftide Rock and to Veezie Rocks. This area is loaded with black sea bass and scup! The folks at Fore River have astonished customers who fish by boat and off Nut Island Pier and have never seen such numbers of these “exotics.” For black sea bass, jig the bottom during a nice drift. For scup, chum and fish a tandem dropper rig with clams or squid. Just make sure you haul in your catch quickly, there are blues around big enough to chop a 13-inch scup in half in one bite.

Russ Eastman of Monahan Marine told me that the deeper stretches around Stellwagen are holding market-sized cod. For the biggest brown bombers of the bunch, jig up a sea herring and drop it down 160-feet, chances are a big cod will sniff it out. Russ also has a few customers that are targeting fluke on Shimano Lucanus’ between Hull Gut out to Pemberton Pier and into Hull Bay. Some of these fish are 22 inches long.

Captain Russ Burgess is back in the game on his Jerry’s Toy Charter Business and it didn’t take long for him to register a 47-pound striper in the Quincy area on a live pogies. There are some very big bass around in the Boston area because of all that bait and I feel quite certain that there are a few nifty fifties cruising around right now!

North Shore

Noel from Darts Bridge Street B&T in Salem told me that one of the more reliable bass bites is courtesy of the tube and worm off Nahant. And they have been taking fish up to 53 inches this way! Shore alternatives are live squid from the docks throughout the Salem/Beverly area. The squid, while less plentiful than a few weeks ago, can still be found at night. Under the “what’s that doing here” category, lobstermen are finding trigger fish in their pots! In a year where scup have become regulars in Boston and black sea bass are surging all the way into New Hampshire, anything is possible.

Black sea bass are becoming plentiful in Gloucester Harbor. A good looking drift can be accomplished on an outgoing tide just off the Dogbar Breakwater. Joey from TFO in Gloucester has been finding that they are partial to the blue Shimano Lucanus. After surviving the commercial gauntlet, stripers have surged back to the rocks on the North Shore. Look for striper success with top water lures off East Gloucester’s back shore as well as Andrew’s Point and Halibut Point in Rockport.

Surfland’s Liz told me that after a linesider lull, things have picked up off the jetty at the mouth of the Merrimack River. The bite has been on for both blues and bass during the final stages of the ebb as well as the turn of the tide. Boaters are doing well with eels off the ocean front at night, while recently opened Parking Lot 1 on the Parker River Wildlife Reservation is fishing well for the sand spike and bait set.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Jason of Suds ‘N Soda said that the fishing has been more consistent in the Granite State than in over a decade. Squid are still in off the Newcastle Bridges as well as the Rte. 103 Bridge in Kittery, Maine. The volume of black sea bass is big news as guys drifting or fishing bait by the abutments of the old Monument Bridge in the Piscatagua River are picking them off. The Hampton River has also been hot for black sea bass. For those pursuing striped bass, it’s pogy time! A plethora of pogies have taken up residence in Great Bay. If you do not find bass and blues where you find the bait, take a few pogies up to the mouth of the Piscatagua River, by the 2KR can and wherever you find suds off the beaches of Rye and Hampton. Jamie from Dover Marine said that stripers in Great Bay are beginning to key in on river herring fry that are tumbling into the bay from their natal streams. Thin-profiled lures, such as Zoom flukes, Vision Surf Eels and the Tsunami Split Tail Minnow will all catch under these conditions.

Ken from Saco said that the ground fishing is good from Tantas to Jeffrey’s but be weary of the volume of blue sharks that will happily relieve you of your catch. Of course, a whiting or pogy below a balloon could lead to a turning of the tables on the blue dog. There are a few makos and porbeagles around as well. River herring fry spilling out of the rivers are resulting in early morning blitzes at beaches that border nearby river systems. Eel slingers at dark and bait soakers by day are finding fish up to 20-pounds off Higgins Beach, Pine Point, Biddeford Pool and Old Orchard Beach. And there are blues around so keep some steel leaders handy.

Best Bets

Plymouth holds promise especially for those launching top water lures such as Shimano’s Orca from Long Beach, White Horse Beach and Priscilla Beach. The tube and worm is terrific off The Glades as well as throughout Quincy Bay. The pogies in the Hub are a big meal for a big bass. Live line or chunk them off Deer Island, Nixes Mate or Bob’s Bass Triangle for a possible 40- or even 50-pounder. They’re out there! On the north shore, they’re reveling in the black sea bass bite by the Danvers River and Gloucester Harbor. For stripers, stick to rocky promontories as bass will seldom be far. North of the border, the pogies in Great Bay hold promise for big bass and if Maine is more your speed, than soak a chunk of mackerel from Old Orchard Beach.