Smelt and Stripers
Superb hasn’t been part of the jargon of smelt seekers in these parts this season but there’s some indication that things have improved. Striped bass that seem exceptionally content to remain in Boston Harbor this year and are beginning to resemble pre-spawn carp probably points to an influx of the little buggers. And speaking of carp, if you’re looking to really test your mettle on some big quarry, check out Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester where the buglelips grow big and nasty.
Surface swirls give hope but sometimes fuel incorrect expectations to longing angling eyes. So it was a few evenings ago as Rick Holbrook strained to make out any sign of life in the ambient light of a pre-New Moon night in Boston Harbor. Sure enough the water dimpled but these pockmarks on the inky surface were much smaller than the hoped for December striped bass but were a pretty good consolation prize – rainbow smelt. A swollen 33-inch linesider, that looked as if it could use a fat farm extended stay, hit a short while later and belied that at least some of those surface disturbances were indeed not just smelt but fish that were a good deal larger.
Rick from Fore River B&T in Quincy is hitting tributary after tributary from Quincy to the Cape in search of that most preferred smelt snack – grass shrimp. Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett has been taken to increased orders of seaworms which depending on the disposition of the smelt at the time can be every bit as effective as grass shrimp and a heck of a lot more resilient. Captain Russ Burgess who keeps his boat in Marina Bay has been seeing his thus far staid electronics lighting up and announcing “fish” below and the marks are showing a variety of sizes which could be everything from silversides to smelt to stripers. My friend Armindo Ramos of Hough’s Neck tallied 25 of the sliver streakers recently, so just maybe it is time to get back into the smelt game.
Rodney of Arlington B&T said that he is dolling out shiners at a pretty consistent pace for those who aspire to hook a trophy brown trout out of Walden or White’s Ponds. Take along a tub of grubs – waxies, mousies or mealies – and fish them below a clear spin bubble. Tiny bait might appear contrary for those looking to tame a trophy but we’ve all heard the “elephants eat peanuts” metaphor. Elsewhere, Enrico Bartellini who has spent decades combing through non-descript tributaries, brooks, streams and sloughs throughout the suburbs of Greater Boston has been finding holdover rainbows and browns in the most unlikely of locations and these fish are colorful and feisty. One of his sources he scouts among is the Aberjona River which carries stockies from Horn Pond in Woburn and distributes them in unexpected pockets of water where he finds beautiful trout willing to engulf garden hackle among discarded tires as well as the occasional errant shopping carriage.
Regarding urban gems, Barry from Barry’s B&T recommends Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester for some crazy-big carp as well as a mixture of salmonids. Soak some doughballs for 15-pound plus carp by the Four Seasons Restaurant or float a wad of green PowerBait of Sunset Beach for a rainbow trout. Barry has been stocking big bait for those who would like nothing better than to nab a nice pre-ice pike. Best bets are East Brimfield Reservoir, the A-1 Site, Lake Chauncy and Lake Quinsigamond. We know full well how little ice there was last season, so the pike in these places were not pounded. The few that fished for these toothies in the summer were rewarded with fish up to 17-pounds. That’s a nice fish through the ice let along while there’s open water. Barry also suggests that now’s a good time to do a little pre-ice fishing prospecting in these places with your boat. Scan likely looking pike lairs such as weed lines, channel edges, sunken timber and underwater humps and commit them to a GPS. If and when the berg takes over then these will be great places to sink your traps.
Closer to the coast if your kayak is not in mothballs or if you have a pram at the ready drift along the Charles, Sudbury or Nashua Rivers and try cranking a saltwater size swim bait such as a rainbow trout Sebile Magic Swimmer or a big gaudy chartreuse spinner bait. You may pick up one of the pike that are not beleaguered now but surely be under siege in the coves of these water bodies when they lock up this winter.
And don’t give up on those stripers just yet; if you are catching smelt or seeing the telltale signs of them odds are there is a school of linesiders not far away.
Fishing Forecast
Pats fans are licking their chops in anticipation of the inclement weather predicted Sunday, knowing full well that their team is snow warriors and odds are that the boys from sunny California are not. But there’s another reason to anticipate precipitation, it should turn on toothies from Brimfield Reservoir in the central part of Massachusetts to the Nashua River in New Hampshire. There are signs that finally smelt are stirring in decent numbers and should you find some off the Summer Street Bridge or Marina Bay or at the Charles River locks along with your slender smelt stuff, bring along something stouter since there could be some wayward stripers that are very interested in those smelt as well!