Stripers Arrive Along the North Shore

Harbor Flounder Bite Improves

South Shore Anglers Catching Keepers

Anglers who are aspiring to catch striped bass are behaving like the anadromous prey of the striper – they are taking it to the rivers. In Plymouth, there are signs of surface action, which hopefully will morph into one of the most beloved spectacles of all: the blitz. There are signs that a decent blackback flounder bite is finally beginning to take hold and I even have word of another “black” fish that has made an appearance – the mighty tautog!

 

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

While hardly in full-swing yet, striped bass are livening up the South Shore from Plymouth Bay through Peggotty Beach. Herring, whether they are of the sea or river persuasion, are a major part of the increase in activity. Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth said that bay bass are not yet plentiful and are on the move; their whereabouts occasionally belied by wheeling birds. A better bet is to target the river herring runs. Almost universally, herring runs have become an environmental success story; they are healthier than in years, and if you snoop around you just may find herring and bass in a run that had gone dormant.

Is it time to talk tautog? You bet it is, especially after hearing of a 7-pound plus fish that was taken from a pier in Hull already. Dave recommends the Powder Point Bridge and Manomet Point as good tog spots. A simple Scotchman-type rig with a seaworm or crab on the hook will do the job, but I’ve been taken to tempting tog the last few years with pill-shaped jigs such as Tidal Tails Jig’z sweetened with bait, and I rarely fish conventionally now. If you have a boat at the ready, consider High Pine Ledge for tautog.

Bob from Green Harbor B&T told me that there are herring “everywhere” in the harbor and bass are pushing them right against the dyke. Macks can be jigged up between the first green can and Farnham Bell. Flounder are being taken off the jetties leading to the harbor and even off boats docked in the harbor. When the talk turned to tog, Bob told me that divers and lobstermen report eye-brow raising numbers of tog in the area. Try Blackman’s Point for blackfish.

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate said that the best bass bet remains the North River and anglers are catching stripers with smallish Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, 6 ½-inch white Shankas as well as live mackerel. Blackback flounder numbers are beginning to bulge in Scituate and Cohasset harbors. For light-tackle delights, toss a shad dart or spinner into the Indian Head River where American shad numbers are peaking. This is small water so you’ll fare better at low light. For a shot at a tog, try the jetties at the entrance of Scituate Harbor, the rocks off Egypt Beach, Minot Light and Black Rock Beach in Cohasset.

 

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Lauren of Hull Bait and Tackle told me of an angler who mistakenly jigged up an interesting catch off one of the piers of Hull recently, namely a 22-inch tautog. The fish struck a Sabiki rig intended for herring or mackerel. Usually that is how tog are taken in these parts. Last year Captain Jason Colby put 29 tog, some of which topped 10 pounds, onto the deck of the Little Sister last year, all the while fishing for flounder! Owing to his conservative make-up, he suggested that patrons release any obviously gravid (egg-laden) females and overwhelmingly the charters complied.

The thus-far sub-par flounder fishing in Hull may be improving as word is beginning to trickle in about limits being taken. By and large, few anglers are out there fishing and many of the shops are getting enquiring calls looking for proof before the anglers wet a line. You don’t have to be reminded that it is finally May – now is the time to make your own news.

Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle told me of a 38-inch striper that was caught in the Weymouth Back River, a fish no doubt hot on the river herring. Russ from Monahan Marine had similar reports.  Fin-S Fish, large Shankas, Sebile soft Magic Swimmers, Gulp! Jerk Shads and Danny-style plugs will all catch the cows that crave herring. While I prefer a rising tide, an awful lot of anglers favor the last two hours of the dropping tide. There are nice fish now in the Neponset, Mystic and Charles rivers. The harbor has thus far been quiet with little blitzing activity, but that should change any day now. There are squid being taken on the North Shore, so I would suspect some should be available from Nut Island.

 

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

While having line spooled up the other day at Fishing FINatics in Everett, Johnny Cherico pointed out to me a picture of a lady who has not only scored stripers off Bass Point in Nahant, but keepers at that. While it’s hardly unusual for someone to prefer the Santini tube with a worm, she casts the thing and catches fish from the shore! They are soaking seaworms from the Red Rock in Lynn and catching keeper striped bass there according to Noel form Bridge Street Sports in Salem. A few squid and flounder have also been caught from the newly refurbished Beverly Pier. Flounder have also been found off Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott as well as Beverly Harbor.

You could file this one in the extreme bycatch category: Mike Dylingoski of Salem, fresh from surgery, was dying for a diversion so he jumped aboard the Yankee Fleet out of Gloucester. Hoping for a few small cod and cautious not to pop a stitch or two, he snapped his jig into the teeth of 267 pounds of porbeagle shark. Somehow he landed the fish and did not land back in the hospital. According to Bill Campbell of the Yankee Fleet, most trips are rewarded with periods of very good fishing for cod, haddock and cusk peppered with slow bouts. But they are finding fish on most every trip! The intrigue of a “deep sea” fishing trip is that you never know when you’ll catch a conventional quarry like a cod or a non-conventional catch such as a halibut or even a porbeagle shark.

Pete from Fin and Feather told me that the rivers are full of river herring and stripers are right on them. Check out the Essex, Ipswich, Annisquam and especially the Little River behind the Nichols Candy Shop. Mackerel are easy pickings inside Gloucester Harbor and just outside of it. For flounder, he recommends the harbor, Niles Beach and Singing Beach.

From Craig of Surfland came a report as fresh as a schoolie with sea lice! Thursday morning on the dropping tide, keeper-sized stripers appeared around the sandbar at the mouth of the Merrimack River. The fish up here show a preference for sand eels so you should do well with NTA Customs needlefish, Bill Hurley’s Cape Cod Sand Eels and Savage Saltwater Sand Eels. There are even reports of stripers upriver in the Merrimack and Parker rivers. The shad bite remains terrific from the North Andover section of the Merrimack to Rocks Village.

 

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Chad from Dover Marine couldn’t confirm a blackback bite but he did say anglers were trying. He recommends drifting while chumming in as little as four feet of water in Rye and Salem Harbors. The chumpot dredges up the bottom causing the curious flatties to come hither to the hooks. He also adds a lot of bling to the rigs with chartreuse/pink blades, beads and hook dressing. Swing by and he’ll set you up! Stripers from schoolies to mid-thirty inch fish are chasing river herring at the mouths of the Cocheco, Squamscott, Lamprey, Oyster and Salmon Falls Rivers.

Top spots near Jeffreys in as little as 170 feet of water are where the cod, pollock, and haddock action is. Look for humps on The Curl, The Cove and also Tillies Ledge. You had better crank in your catch quickly with the regular reports of porbeagles.

No reports on mackerel as of yet but their arrival should be imminent.

Peter from Saco Bay said that schoolies have arrived in the Presumpscott River. There is also shad in the Saco River with most action taking place near the dam. The gadoid grab bag is good at 220 feet of water on Jeffreys Ledge with the action equally divided between bait and jigs.

 

Freshwater Fishing Report

If you want numbers of lakers Quabbin Reservoir is the place to be as anglers tally 20-something outings of trout from the Golf Course section, which is accessible from Gate 31. Shore slingers are still catching plenty of lake trout and also rainbow trout from Gate 35. Landlocked salmon fishing in the Q’ appears to be much better from the deeper water off Gate 8. For stockie action, it is tough to beat Lake Mattawa in Orange, which has been stocked four times already this year. For brown trout, give the Miller River a try. Regarding brown trout, Eddie of B&A near Wachusett Reservoir weighed in a beautiful 5-pound 10-ounce fish that took a worm just below the Oakdale Dam on the Quinapoxet River. The fish was a nicely proportioned, red-orange spotted male! While often taking a back seat to more glamorous species, white perch in the ‘Chu grow huge! Two tanks were taken on topwater plugs of all things by the Gate 13 section of the reservoir. Nick DeVincentis caught a 2-pound 15-ounce perch and his buddy, Hugo Medeiros took a 2-pound 11-ounce white perch! That is world-class white perch fishing if there ever was any! I’ve only caught a handful of these scrappy panfish in Wachusett, but they’ve all been “pin-sized” fish.

 

Fishing Forecast

If the South Shore is convenient, keep an eye on Plymouth Harbor; you may see some busting bass this weekend. For bigger bass, patronize rivers that harbor herring, such as the Plymouth Town and North rivers. Flounder are stirring in Scituate Harbor and Hingham Harbor. If you are closer to the Hub, try drifting by Can 4 or 6 as opposed to the heavily fished Deer Island Flats. Stripers will take seaworms off Nahant as well as Red Rock in Lynn, and there are plenty of macks in Gloucester Harbor. The mouth of Merrimack by the sandbar has just received a slug of keeper-sized striped bass, and there even are a few upriver in the Merrimack and Parker. The tributaries of the Great Bay have river herring and stripers and you might best a few blackback flounder if you drift through the harbors of Rye and Hampton. Downeast has woken up as schoolies have arrived in the Presumpscott River and the cod catch off Jeffreys Ledge improves.