Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 9-6-2012

Peanut Bunker & Herring Fueling Great Striper and Bluefish Fishing

The metaphor could go something like: “well…elephants eat peanuts, don’t they?” Normally, September is when anglers go bonkers over big bait such as bunker with the logic being that big fish prefer big bait. But right now it is small bait that is causing the buzz. Sea herring have stuck it out all season long, peanut bunker have made an appearance, and recent torrents have swept river herring fry into the sea. It might be a good idea to be prepared to downsize your offering.

There’s good reason that surf fishermen pray for peanut bunker since they are the forage most likely to bring bass and blues within casting distance of the shore-caster. There are multiple reports of a lot of peanut bunker out there, but strangely not all that much hubbub from the Hub. But it stands to reason that if both the North and South shores are awash, then the harbor has to have them. If you’ve been super-sizing with visions of big stripers and blues being the incentive, toss in a few smaller offerings with your tackle. One-ounce Kastmasters, Storm and Tsunami shads, 4-inch or 5-inch Sebile Soft Magic Swimmers, Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows and “baby” Waxwings will all dupe those predators prowling for peanuts and other small forage.

South Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

Bob Pronk from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle said that from Plymouth to the North River the striper fishing is fantastic. Smaller forage such as peanut bunker are causing bright-and-early blitzes. Surf fishermen should be out and about at the break of day and searching the expansive Plymouth shoreline for surface activity. Some South Shore hot spots are Rexhame Beach, Beetle Rocks and Farnham Rock. Green Harbor boaters have had action yards away from their moorings, possibly because of a peanut bunker invasion. If you prefer your football at the end of the line at least as much as on the tube, then you’ll be pleased at the school tuna popping up on mackerel, herring and sand eels between the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen and Peaked Hill Bar.

According to Pete from Belsans Bait and Tackle, the entire swath from Scituate to Cohasset is hot primarily because of the presence of peanut bunker and herring. Teen-sized blues and still bigger bass are slamming 6 ½-inch Shankas, 1-ounce Kastmasters and swim shads. Best South Shore bets for surf fishermen are Humarock Beach, Fourth Cliff, Minot and the Glades. Don’t discount the North River, however, especially near the confluences of the Herring rivers where a swollen watershed is washing river herring fry into the main river. Boaters should target Smith Rocks, the Willies and the Shags. And anglers are finding little difficulty reaching limits of smelt in Scituate Harbor. This year there appears to be an unusually strong smelt run but be aware that the bag limit is 50 fish.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Rain is the nemesis of river herring both big and small, but it brings good fortune for the angler. In spring the increased flow provides cover for stripers to move up in force as they pin alewives and bluebacks against upstream structure, shore fishermen that target herring runs early in the season after a rainstorm and especially at night are often rewarded with their first good fish of the year. Conversely, deluges at this time of the year sweep herring fry out of the relative sanctuary of the river and into bays where hungry bass will be waiting. Most rivers in Greater Boston have river herring to some degree and many have herring fry and striped bass at the mouths of those rivers now!

Rick from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy noted an unexpected bounty – mackerel. A good-sized school was recently held up in the stretch between Wessagusset and the mouth of the Weymouth Back River – just maybe they had sniffed out young-of-the-year river herring. It did not take bass and bluefish long to find the forage.

Russ Eastman from Monahan Marine in Weymouth told me that anglers trying a different tact – trolling deep-diver plugs – just may be catching the most consistently. The old standby Rapala CD18 recently rewarded anglers in a local bluefishing derby with whopper choppers of 38 inches! The bite has been best from The Brewsters out to Point Allerton and over to the G-1 Can off Nantasket Beach. There’s been a pretty good schoolie tuna bite on the SW corner of Stellwagen and out to Peaked Hill Bar. Casters are doing quite well with the 3 ½-ounce, 10-inch pearl, tin-head RonZ.

There have been some blitzes off Deer Island with mid-teen-sized stripers. The hot spot has been by the jetties with the best bite taking place on lower tides after dark.

North Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

If squid is on your menu, then you can still find them off the Salem and Beverly piers according to Noel from Darts Bait and Tackle in Salem, but it is strictly a nocturnal affair and they aren’t as numerous as earlier in the season. Conditioned cows that have been chasing the cephalopods since May are easiest to catch when there is squid on the line. The other bait that is numerous in this area is herring, which are leading to surface feeds in the Salem/Beverly harbors most mornings.

Jimmy from Fin and Feather said that there are peanut bunker on North Shore and the area is starting to go off with a lot of catching going on among the crags. At any given time, there could be surface activity from the Annisquam River out to Manchester by-the-Sea. With word of good-sized swells on the horizon and the resultant white-washed shoreline along with those peanut bunker, this place could be a powder keg. Don’t discount where rivers meet up with the beaches, bass should be on the prowl for river herring fry as well as sand eels. Slim-profiled offerings will serve you best under these conditions.

The level of activity of linesiders is on the rise according to Liz from Surfland. Be prepared to be on the move as feeding fish are not staying put along the Plum Island ocean front. Surfcasters are doing well but the boaters slinging eels at night are doing best. Authorities have opened up the sands of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation to beach buggies with mixed reviews on the fishing. If you give it a go, Sandy Point has been the most reliable with sharpies opting for seaworms and clams for bait.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

As has been the case with the rest of New England, the Granite State has had more than its share of encounters with exotic fish this year. The latest interloper is triggerfish as Tim Moore of Suds ‘N Soda took one on bait in the Piscataqua River! For more conventional quarry consider a tube-and-worm for stripers by the channels of the Piscataqua River, Little Harbor and all through Portsmouth. Jason of Suds suggests that you should fish bright tubes during daylight and darker colored tubes during lower light conditions. To drag a tube among the swift currents of the river, be prepared to use a drail weight or other trolling sinker up to 6 ounces in order to keep the tube working in the sweet zone of 20 feet plus. Earlier in the day, fish Great Bay for topwater action with schoolies and snappers. Set sail for a 17-mile haul if your goal is groundfish. Cod, haddock and big pollock are hitting pretty good at The Fingers and The Curl.

Peter from Saco Bay Tackle Company in Maine told me that the best bass bite is occurring with the dropping tide all the way from high to mud-low. Shorter days are leading to longer optimum catching time and anglers are finding the bite is back on during the day. Wells Beach has been a winner for the bait brigade with some preferring seaworms and others bloodworms. Higgins Beach has been pretty hot also as has been Biddeford Pool. Artificial enthusiasts from both boat and shore are catching stripers as well as blues with Ron McKee plugs, Bill Hurley sand eels and 6 ½-inch Shankas. Kennebunk Beach has kicked into gear for the boater and the surf set and trollers are doing well with the tube-and-worm and with swimming plugs by the Saco Bay islands

Fishing Forecast

The South Shore is sizzling as bass blitz baby bunker from Plymouth Harbor to Hull. Small metal offerings and shads to match the bunker and herring forage will work best. Don’t totally discount pogies if you’re in the Boston area; in just one tide a mob of moby bass could invade the harbor and odds are they will not pass up a pogy. Shore guys should watch the rivers for herring blitzes as well as make a trip or two to Deer Island. Peanut bunker, a rolling surf, and stripers go together like peanut butter and jelly in a sandwich and it should be prime time off those rocks of Cape Ann. In New Hampshire, when they’re not puzzling over triggerfish, they’re swooning over stripers hitting tubes in the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor.  Down Maine has become a day time affair as slightly cooler water temperatures have become the impetus for stripers and blues to feed off Wells Beach, Kennebunkport Beach and Saco Bay.