Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 8-9-2012

False dawn presents a challenge, but if you’re an early riser then flipping pogies may be your reward. And those pogies have been the key to cows up to 50 pounds! Teen-sized bluefish are around in force so the expiration time for a hooked pogy is usually a brief one. Groundfishing in both the offshore category as well as inshore is good. While recently there has been scant scuttlebutt about sweetwater, some blue ribbon water bodies are really delivering the goods.

South Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

Plymouth Bay has no shortage of pogies according to Dave from TFO in Plymouth. If anything there are more pogies than in the perennially-hyped Duxbury Bay. As is the case most anytime you’re looking for pogies, first light–when the surface is usually calm–is the best time to spot them flipping on the surface. Live-lining this bait on the spot will often produce stripers, and there are some jumbo blues around looking to make fast work out of a pogy. A slug of smaller stripers has invaded the Plymouth/Kingston/Duxbuy Bay area and these fish will slap and give chase but lack the maw big enough to inhale it. For this, have a spinning rod available with a RonZ, Tsunami Split Tail Minnow, Vision Surf Eel or Sebile Soft Magic Swimmer and shoot that in the direction of the harried pogy.

Fluke fishing on the South Shore is hot. Increasingly anglers are switching from the painstaking process of obtaining bait and opting for the 3-inch Gulp! Swimming Mullet; many are finding that the chartreuse and nuclear chicken varieties of these are every bit as effective as a live chub or mummie with the added benefit of lasting on the hook for up to three fish. Look for fluke among the channels of Duxbury, off Duxbury Beach and at the Spit at the North River.

Bob from Green Harbor told me that it is best at the beaches. Rexhame and Berks Beach have been good for boaters trolling umbrella rigs as well as the tube-and-worm. Recently a couple of young kids pedaled their bikes down to the shop and asked how they could “catch a striper.” They didn’t have enough cash in their pockets to cover a Big Mac, so Bob tossed them an en gratis Daiwa SP Minnow and directed them toward the Green Harbor Jetties. A short while later they came back into the shop all excited after catching and releasing a 23-inch fish. I’m wondering if Bob can pull off that trick when queried about catching a 50-pounder!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Russ Eastman and friend steamed out toward Stellwagen recently to see if they could tussle with a tuna. The first stop at a 300-foot drop near the bank for bait resulted in a 10-pound haddock! A little more bottom bouncing resulted in more haddock as well as the targeted whiting. While bluefin were a bust, the groundfishing for a grab bag of gadoids was quite good. A trip inshore toward the B-Buoy revealed acres of fining bluefish and ‘gator-sized ones at that. All those unsuspecting pogies in Boston Harbor have some serious trouble brewing. The pogy ranks are growing with Hull awash with these fish according to Rick from Fore Rive B&T in Quincy. A big blitz recently took place in Quincy Bay that involved some nice stripers and bluefish. As usual the modus operandi for most fishermen is the snag-and-drop method. Start looking inshore as there have been pogy sightings in the Town River, Weymouth Back, Mystic River as well as the Lynn Marsh. Tiny terrors – snapper blues– have begun to show up around marinas and among estuaries. And those 5-inch fish make for one of the best baits of all for fluke.

Live pogies have been the ticket to monstrous stripers in the Deer Island area lately with several 40-pound fish landed topped by a nifty-50 taken by Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics. Knowing that there are bruisers around, now might be a good time to whip some big-profile wooden plugs from the jetties of the island. The inner harbor also has plenty of sea herring. Watch your electronics and hopefully you have a cast net at the ready; one accurate drop should top off your livewell with this deadly bait.

At low tides a few guys have been traipsing among the mud flats of Lynn Harbor and the marsh and picking off fluke, some of which are over 20 inches long. They are wielding Andrus jigs tipped with Gulp! Swimming Mullets and reveling in a fishery most wouldn’t expect to find in Greater Boston. I’ve done this in the past while packing light with an assortment of jigs tucked in an Aquaskinz jig pouch and a pack or two of Gulp. Scout the area for access and pre-plan your excursion, it is a lot of fun!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Noel from Darts Bridge Street B&T in Salem told me that the biggest bass bite in the area is taking place between Nahant and Swampscott and the red Santini tube-and-worm is doing the most damage. Some of the fish have been monsters to over 50 inches! The Beverly area is a black-and-black bonanza, as in blackback flounder and black sea bass. By the Jubilee Yacht Club a handful of guys are picking up a few keeper black sea bass as well as winter flounder on every trip they make. And while squid numbers can’t match the near-epic levels of earlier in the season, it’s still no problem to catch plenty off most any Salem or Beverly Piers.

Jimmy from Fin and Feather in Essex told me that anglers targeting the backshore of Gloucester at first light are finding a few fish close to the edge of the ledge. Boaters are picking off some stripers by slowly trolling pogies close to the shoreline. Cranes Beach is still good for the first light casters who are pitching Slug-Go type baits as well as needlefish plugs.

Are you looking for mackerel? Bob from Elm Street B&T said that patrons are getting them by the Isle of Shoals! And some big stripers up to 44 inches have been hammering those macks that are tossed among the wash by the jetties at the mouth of the Merrimack River. Farther out, there is not shortage of bluefish just off Salisbury Beach.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

August is often prime time for sweetwater delights and both Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs have game and few anglers. Eddie of B&A in West Boylston weighed in an 8-13 laker that took a “kibby” of all things from the Rte. 70 side of the reservoir. Very discreetly, smallie enthusiasts are combing the shoreline with topwater lures and besting a few of the trophy bronzebacks that make Wachusett so special. Landlocked salmon are gathering in sluice ways and runs in the Quinapoxet River. Rod from Flagg’s in Orange told me the few that are targeting The Gap and Curtis Pond at the Gate 32 section of the Quabbin are catching salmon and rainbows up to 22 inches long. Streamers trolled from 40 to 50 feet down are most effective. Rod has developed his own streamer that he calls Quabbin Sunrise and it has proved a winner. If you need a break from the salt, consider these two gems.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Bob from Suds ‘N Soda is hearing whispers of pogies in Great Bay! Not surprisingly there are bluefish up to 8 pounds suddenly making an appearance. Drift a live or dead pogy on an outgoing tide by bridge abutments or at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. There’s schoolie activity by Dover Point and by Little Bay, especially at dawn. Squid fever continues and you will find them most anywhere there is a dock or pier just outside of the main current. A couple considerations are Seabrook Harbor, the New Castle Bridge and the Rte. 103 Bridge. Chad from Dover Marine has been pounding some of the matted up ponds in Southern New Hampshire with scum frog baits and doing quite well. His favorite has become the Kopper Live Target Frog and he referenced the current issue of On The Water and the “Froggin’ the Slop” story for some invaluable tips on this fun and effective way to fish.

Ken from Saco Bay Tackle Company told me that river action has slowed and beach casting has picked up. Chunk mackerel and clams is the key from the sands of Old Orchard, Higgins Beach, Pine Point and Ferry Beaches. Sand eel imitations are ideal artificials such the Bill Hurley Cape Cod Sand Eel and the RonZ Glass Eel. Groundfishing is good off Northern Tantas with cod and pollock the main quarry while only occasionally is a haddock hauled on board. If you chum a lot and toss out a bluefish fillet at Tantas you should draw a few blue sharks into the slick.

Best Bets For the Weekend

You have to give props to Plymouth with all those pogies around and willing stripers and bass. Flatfish fans should focus on fluke in Duxbury and at the Spit at the mouth of the North River. If you’re looking for pogies, they should pose no problem from Hull to Quincy Bay and into Boston Harbor and some of the biggest bass of the year will be looking for those pogies as well. Pound the mudflats of Lynn Harbor for fluke or troll up a trophy linesider on a tube-and-worm off Nahant.

Good-sized bass have just moved into Salisbury with the best bait being a live mackerel, which you can catch at the Isle of Shoals. In New Hampshire you should find schoolie stripers, blues and quite possibly pogies in Great Bay. They still love that squid ink from bridges and piers from Seabrook to Kittery, Maine. And in Downeast, chunk mackerel and clams are rewarding low light casters who are wading the suds of Ferry Beach and Pine Point.