Cod Season Starts Strong

Wachusett Giving Up Great Catches

After months of gloomy news on the groundfish front, cod crazies are rejoicing in being able to finally bounce a jig or drop bait to the bottom. And the bite has been a good one, especially for those setting sail toward the northern sector of the Gulf Of Maine. Throngs of alewives have descended on many rivers in such densities that some who have decades-worth of observation are referring to it as the most they have ever seen this early!

 

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Reports

Seldom does reality match expectation, but Wachusett is living up to the pre-season billing. And it’s all because of smelt, smelt and more smelt. The current sequence of events reminds me of the late 90s through the first few years after the millennium. Initially, the place was awash with runt lakers that were emaciated and many of us were beginning to lose faith. Fisheries managers eliminated the minimum-size limit for lake trout and encouraged anglers to keep their catch. The fishery soon rebounded and many of us subsequently caught our personal best lake trout—and the salmon bite also improved. Eddie of B&A in West Boylston is hearing of superb salmon catches with many 3- to 4-pound fish released to fight another day. The hope is that there will be a high-5 trophy soon. The shop has not weighed in a double-digit forkie yet, but odds are that will happen any day now. The lakers seem to be averaging 3 pounds or better, and they are all colorful, full-bodied fish. Slab smallies are being taken, and there’s a lot of foot traffic by the Old Stone Church, so the white perch spawning run must be underway.

Unfortunately Quabbin Reservoir seems to be in a downward cycle regarding smelt numbers. Few salmon have been caught, according to Rod from Flagg’s, and the ones that have been taken are thin! Lake trout that have been harvested and examined have warm-water species fry in their stomachs and no smelt. Smallmouth bass, however, are not dependant on smelt amplitude and there have been a number of 5-pound trophies taken already. Believe it or not, one of the better bites is taking place right from the shore off Gate 31 as anglers live-line shiners, cast spoons or bounce bottom with crankbaits and jigs.

Massachusetts South Shore Report

It was good to hear from my old pal Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth, however it would have been better if he gave a report we could sink out teeth into. Herring are present in the Town River, and Dave suspects that seven-striped predators should be making their lives miserable any day now. With burgeoning water temperatures, holdover stripers, which stage all winter in the hot-water outflow at the Pilgrim Power Plant, should be spreading out throughout Plymouth Bay.

Bob from Green Harbor told me that even the vestige herring run in this harbor is improving in vigor as alewives can be seen swimming next to the dyke. The best cod action on Stellwagen is on the northern fringe, and there are hard-pulling pollock in the mix as well.

American shad have already been observed in the Indian Head River, according to Pete from Belsan’s. The skinny water of this watershed necessitates fishing at night; the fish are too skittish by day. Healthy numbers of herring are coursing up the North River, and there are probably a few holdover stripers chasing them down. Soon these local linesiders will be joined by fresh migrants sporting sea lice!

 

Greater Boston and North Shore

Alewives have returned to their natal rivers and holdover stripers in the harbor have taken notice. Lisa from Fore River B&T told me that some are catching schoolies in the Weymouth Back River. While anglers are toting seaworms out to fish for flounder, none have come back with tales of any tallies. When those fish do wake up, you may best some blackbacks from Pemberton Pier in Hull, Nut Island in Quincy, or the Sugar Bowl and Castle Island in South Boston.

Pete Santini from Fishing FINatics told me that shop alumni and Charles River regular Willy Goldsmith can vouch for the return of river herring to the “dirty water.” Not surprisingly, the Charles River’s holdover striper population has awoken. The area around the Hotel Sonesta has been giving them up. It may be unconventional, but a deadly way to get those stripers’ attention is to toss a tube-and-worm in their direction. Dave and Karl continue to crush stripers by the dozens because the scent of that seaworm gets noticed at the end of that tube. Flounder remain a tough catch although sub-legal fish are being taken from the Saugus River along with school-sized bass.

Noel from Dart’s Bridge Street B&T said schoolie stripers are stirring and some are catching them by Ferry Street. Another high-percentage off-season spot is near the Salem Power Plant. Folks are buying up seaworms to catch a nice day and just maybe a flounder, but so far it’s a one-way ticket as no one is coming back with anything in a bucket.

 

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Chad said that the salmon action along the bays of Winnipesauke is slamming! When asked which bay, he replied, “any one that is connected to a creek” – the smelt are running and the salmon gorging. The bite is best with streamers or live smelt worked within the first 10 feet of the water column. Shore slingers are getting salmon by simply suspending a smelt under a float. Crappie are on a tear as well on little tube baits in Willand Pond and Bellamy Reservoir. The haddock haul has been hot, as has the cod catching from The Curl on Jeffreys Ledge.

Tim from Suds ‘N Soda told me that the trout-stocking trucks have been making the rounds, and one of the beneficiaries is the Exeter River, which received good numbers of brown trout. When asked of other rivers that have been stocked, Tim could not recall a single one that hadn’t been stocked. The fish-way at the Lamprey River is now operational, meaning that there are either already alewives present or there soon will be.

Peter from Saco told me that the Bunny Clarke has been into some good mixed gadoid fishing at Jeffreys Ledge. Eastmans, out of Seabrook, NH, has also been doing pretty well, especially with haddock. For brackish brown trout, try your luck for sea-run browns from the Royal River and Ogunquit River.

 

Fishing Forecast

Many charter captains and head boats are setting sail for the cod grounds, and results so far are promising, especially for those bait-fishing and jigging on Jeffreys Ledge. River herring are awakening holdover striped bass, and you may catch a few from the South or North rivers on the South Shore, or the Weymouth Back, Charles or Mystic rivers closer to Boston. Smelt are shoaling near shorelines and inlets, making Wachusett Reservoir and Lake Winnipesauke prime fisheries for those who appreciate the landlocked salmon. Opportunities are slowly emerging in Maine, with Bunny Clarke cod trips and sea-run brown trout fishing heading the list so far.