Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 8-30-2012

Striper Bite Turning On

Monster Blues Showing

Game-on! From Scituate to Saco Bay, stripers that were lazily swiping at bait and plugs are now feeding with ferocity. For much of it, we can thank the almighty pogy. In equal parts however, we can be grateful for dropping water temperatures and the subtle change in the angle of the sun. In the mix are monstrous bluefish that are capable of dispatching a whole pogy in one bite. What you need is to get out there! Thanks to Labor Day, this weekend you get another day to do it!

South Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

“It’s go time!” was the succinct way that Pete from Belsan’s put it as we spoke. Peanut bunker, herring, adult pogies and a host of other baitfish are making for early morning surface shows from Scituate Harbor to Cohasset Harbor. Hot lures right now are 3- to 4-inch Storm Shads (my favorite is chartreuse shiner), as well as 1-ounce blue/chrome Kastmasters, the latter keeping casters sane when the blues start shredding the plastics. Some of the better spots have been Fourth Cliff and the Glades, but most mornings, the vigilant will be glad they woke early, as feeds are likely to pop up almost anywhere.

From the lobster boat piers to the Harbormaster float, smelt fans are limiting out! Halve a Sabiki rig, slip on some seaworm bits and be rewarded with a smelt supper.

Bob from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle echoed the sentiments of his compatriot in Scituate… Things are jumping! Anglers are finding that they don’t even have to leave the harbor, as the bait, bass and blues are right there! The dawn patrol are stretching lines off the beaches on the South Shore while throwing top water lures, slinging eels and chunking…Did I leave any options out? The tube and worm guys are getting bass and blues while cruising from the jetties out to Bluefish Cove. Groundfishing is good, but you will have to bounce your jigs in deep water on the east side of Stellwagen. If you’re in 300 feet of the blue, you’ll be into pollock and maybe some cod.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

My friend Nick Frasso would like to thank everyone who participated in the 8^th Annual Help Hook The Cure Derby, which raised $13,000.00 for the Michael J. Fox foundation. This year was especially festive because the Striper Cup house band “Deep Water Blues” provided the good vibrations. The derby committee would like to especially thank On the Water for donating a generous care package full of goodies that were raffled off. I personally know how “generous” the package was, after having to lug it to the event.

The big bite at the derby was on pogies at Hull Gut. During the last two weeks, this has been the Hub’s hottest place. Jig up some pogies off Wollaston by Marina Bay or Hull, but don’t just target the Gut. Scope out Hull Harbor and Bumpkin Island until you find the fish. Plugs are working, but after a few fish, those bystander bass wise up to the hot plug. When the bite cools down, switch to something they haven’t seen yet and you’ll see the action pick up again. If a pencil popper is producing fish then it cools, switch to something more subtle like a Danny or a spook, then try shocking the fish with a loud popper. Keep rotating your wares and you’ll catch more fish.

Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle goes to painstaking measures to keep fresh pogies in stock, sometimes making the haul all the way to New Jersey! But to have the best bait on hand, many feel it is worth it. Hingham Harbor has been good, including World’s End. Surf fishermen should be targeting the edges of the eel grass on outgoing tides, as stripers cruise the perimeter of the grass waiting for baitfish to lose their shelter.

North Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

Kay from Surfland told me that this Thursday morning, a big slug of stripers up to 41 inches had just moved into the Plum Island Beachfront! The lucky angler who was effusive with his good fortune loaded up on about 30 linesiders on eels. Apparently, the bite is on in the North Shore as well. The Parker Wildlife Reservation is fishing well for the bait brigade and may get refreshed from all those bass just north.

Noel from Darts Bait and Tackle told me that they are seeing peanut bunker, sea herring and even butterfish off the Salem Willows Pier and the Beverly Pier. Some are using Sabiki rigs to catch and others small trebles to snag the baitfish. Some are even catching stripers on-site. Squid are still present and while not of the volume earlier in the summer, there is little difficulty jigging up a dinner’s worth at night. Trollers dragging gaudy colored deep diving plugs outside of Baker and Misery Islands are encountering double-digit bluefish and the occasional cow striper.

Peter from Fin and Feather in Essex told me that the cooler weather has energized the bass and bluefish bite off the rocks of the North Shore. Check out Magnolia Harbor, the backshore of Gloucester as well as Andrews Point, Folly Cove and Halibut Point in Rockport. My buddy Rick Holebrook lost a monster on a blue mackerel Daiwa SP Minnow. He thought he had upgraded the split rings and hooks on this deadly lure, but the telltale straightened hook proved that he was wrong.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Jason from Suds ‘N Soda in Greenland told me that Great Bay is good but the Piscatagua River is better. The trend seems to be that the bigger bass are closer to the coast. You can troll a tube and worm or swimmer or snap a jig all along the river and you’ll catch stripers, but you’ll notice that the fish are larger by the bays that meet up with the river at its mouth. Striper shindigs are shattered by bluefish invasions periodically. Shore guys are doing very well by slinging eels, or clamming or chunking off beaches. You’ll fare better if you soak bait for the “rockfish” by rocks and boulders of any kind off Seabrook, Wallis Beach, and Hampton Beach as well as Rye. Squid are still present off the bridges of Newcastle and Kittery.

Ken from Saco was stoked when we spoke about an increase in striper activity in Southern Maine. While the rivers are dead, the bays can be bedlam. The Camp Ellis Jetty on the ocean side has been good for bait guys during the day and night. First light is best for those tossing top water lures in the wash from Ferry Beach and Higgins Beach. While there are blues around, mysteriously the mackerel have come back. You can jig them up by the islands outside of Saco Bay. A live mack on the hook should not last long. Should you catch some harbor blues on those macks, take them out to Tantas Ledge, Jeffrey’s or Tillies where there are numerous makos, threshers and, of course, blue sharks. If you drop an Oozzie Jig to the bottom in sloping ledge from 250-325 feet, odds are that you’ll catch a cod, but make sure you crank that brown bomber up very quickly!

Best Bet for the Weekend:

The area from Scituate to Cohasset is like a tinderbox ready to combust, and you should be out there at first light looking for busting fish. Swim shads rule until the blues show up and then it’s magic metal time as Kastmasters and other types of tin becomes tops. Closer to the Hub, you have to check out Hull and Hingham with a few pogies in the livewell. The topwater bite has been terrific and you should keep watch for surface activity at the mouths of the Weymouth Back, Neponset, Charles and Mystic Rivers. Your timing is perfect if you live on the North Shore, as Plum Island has been hit by a slug of nice stripers and the early morning tides over the weekend are very favorable. Bring eels or your favorite plugs. If New Hampshire is your preference, then the mouth of the Piscatagua River is the place for you, although surf casters should continue to do well working the rocky sections of the beaches. If you are hoping a Maine moby bass is in your future, sling eels from the ocean side of the Camp Ellis Jetty or jig up a mackerel outside of Saco Bay and see what is lurking below.