Small talk among the masses lately has often been about how fall-like the weather is. Fishermen can confirm the feeling of fall since in many cases the bass are feeding ravenously, similar to what is expected in September. Sensing the change, some are switching gears from merely catching to focusing on fish that measure in pounds rather than inches.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

You can never discount the luck factor when fishing. A recent example of this comes courtesy of Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate. A 46-inch, 40-pound striper was recently caught from inside Scituate Harbor, which qualifies that fish as one of the best Pete has ever heard of from inside the harbor. The fish gulped down a chunk of mackerel—no surprise there, since for cows, mackerel is what’s for dinner.

Try trolling deep-diving plugs, bucktail jigs/Sea Rind or leadcore/tube-and-worm by deeper ledges such as Davis, Stone, Minot and Collamore. Folks are hardly slaughtering the bass on the South Shore, but sharpies who are targeting deep water by day and slinging serpents close to the shore at night are catching consistently.

I asked Bob Pronk of Green Harbor Bait in Marshfield to toss a few best bets for bass our way. He recommended the tube-and-worm by Berts Restaurant in Plymouth as well as chunk mackerel off Humarock Beach, Burkes Beach and Brant Rock. Those recommendations apply equally to those who wade and those who are at the helm of a boat. For a case of the blues, check out the perimeter around the power plant where there always seem to be choppers. While I’ve heard of some pogies in Duxbury Bay, as of now they can hardly be considered numerous. If you have your heart set on a big bait/big bass scenario, keep on the lookout for hickory shad which often frequent the area and are most active around dawn. These hyper-herring will swirl on the surface, slam a Sabiki Rig and make superb bait for big bass. Just be forewarned, these fish are great fighters and leap out of the water when hooked. You just may decide to keep fishing for the “bait,” they are that much fun!

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

It has often been said that 5% of the anglers catch 95% of the fish. While this may not always be true, it was about right in Boston Harbor Thursday morning. Let me tell you how some of the 5-percenters did it. For experienced anglers, a NW wind is treated with about as much pleasure as a root canal. And even though it wasn’t forecasted, that’s what we got. That high pressure front put the boots to the striper good times and left dozens of boaters who had grown oh-so-comfortable chasing the bird-and-bass show looking as lost as a city-dweller in the desert.

However, Bill Bryant and Julie Silvis of Bill and Jules Fishing Charters had a backup plan and I watched it from afar – they had taken a precious few minutes to top off the livewell with mackerel. While most of the fleet ended up frustrated and filed the outing under “lost and definitely not found,” these two skippers trolled the macks around the flotilla and took 20-pound class fish! And one more tip, I noticed that they eschewed the more conventional “chum until you drop” mentality and instead trolled up the macks off of Nahant in record time.

A dozen bins of new-fangled lures may be cool, but with mackerel still swimming in the harbor, you just have to take advantage of it! Just when you thought it was safe to put away your Sabiki rigs, mackerel have come storming back. Not only are the regular spots producing such as by the BG Buoy and the 2 Can off Nahant, but there has also been word of some mackerel in Winthrop Harbor and all the way into East Boston. Some are even talking in hushed tones about pogies! And with the pogies are much bigger bass, in the upper-40-inch range but neither will come easy.

I asked Maria of Fore River B&T in Quincy for the scoop on the scup because so many anglers have been inquiring about them. She told me that in just the past few days three or four anglers who fish Nut Island caught them from the pier and didn’t know what they were. She did not know for sure if they were the legal minimum size of 10 inches but assured me that she would remind patrons who fish there of that fact. Two places you will find “keepers” are Avalon Beach and Hull Gut, both of which featured big bluefish blitzes recently. Down a bit on the blue scale are the snapper blues that have invaded Black Creek. Some consider the snappers sport, but the stripers consider them prey. A few are floating the snappers under a bobber and catching bass up to 35 inches.

Cooling water temperatures have also turned on estuaries that were practically baking from the heat wave at the end of July. Rick Holbrook saw waves of stripers slamming small, broadly-shaped baitfish that he swears were peanut bunker. The problem was that the bass ignored other offerings, even eels, and would only fall for small metal-lipped swimmers. Fortunately Rick had with him a Salty Crazy Bugger that fit the profile exactly. Some estuaries to keep in mind are the Ware River, Neponset River, the Belle Isle Marsh and Rumney Marsh.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Pogies in Lynn, Nahant and Essex have big bass shadowing the schools. You’ll need a trained eye and an early start to spot them, but the rewards are definitely worth it. I’ve heard from three different individuals who know of upper-40-inch stripers that have been caught on pogies within the last week!

Squid continue to be prevalent off more docks and piers on the North Shore than can reasonably be listed. But there’s a dark side to the new found squid bounty and it is leading to loss of access for sportsmen. There is nothing new about slobs leaving trash, tackle and bait cartons, and line strewn about at popular fishing locations. It’s been going on for generations. Just ask any old salt that used to fish marinas for smelt and he’ll be able to list the marinas that used to be open to the public but access is now denied because of angler abuse. But in recent years it has gotten far worse as some monopolize locations, seem hell bent on keeping everything they catch and leave the place far worse for the wear after all night outings. The only course of action a sportsman can take is to keep your cool, try educating them, and if you suspect that they don’t have permits or breaking other environmental laws call the Green Police! For me, that number is a click away on my phone. (800) 632-8075 or (617) 626-1650 (24 hours, 7 days per week).

Laura from Ippi’s in Lynn knew of some pogies in the Lynn vicinity with some slob stripers with them. Chunkers off Lynn Beach and King’s Beach are picking up stripers by day while the eel-slinging crowd is more inclined to catch cows between dusk and dawn. Laura just sponsored a kids derby at Flax Pond and while the bass fishing was swell she said that what was most enjoyable was that everyone had fun!

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that anglers that are putting in the time off Saturday Night Ledge are getting mackerel and there’s bass with the schools. In preparation for continued craving of calamari, Tomo’s shop is stocked to the rafters with the king of squid dupers – Yo-Zuri squid jigs. Some are live-lining squid from Salem Willows and the Beverly Pier and catching bass on the spot. Swarms of snapper blues continue to infest Salem and Beverly Harbors making for fast and furious action for the kiddies.

Pete from Fin and Feather in Essex told me that dipping temperatures have brought more bass back into the rivers such as the Essex River. There have even been pogies around on the North Shore. Some rock-hopping sharpies have noticed an increase in the catch rate off the crags such as the backshore of Gloucester as well as nearby beaches. The Ocean Lures SP has been killing them. Manchester has also been hot.

The buzz around Newburyport has been the reports of false albacore in the area. As shocking as that sounds, it is nothing new. In past years they have been caught in Boston Harbor and last year Joe Holey sent me a photo of mackerel-sized bonito that he took on a Sabiki rig off Nahant. These are wacky times we live in with scup in Boston Harbor, false albacore on the North Shore and the biggest black sea bass north of Cape Cod coming from New Hampshire – but more on that last species in a bit. Kay from Surfland told me that finally the ocean front has kicked up some nice stripers. The drill is nighttime eel-slinging off the “new” sandbar. Dropping temperatures have even brought some bass back into Joppa Flats.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

A few years back I would have thought the likelihood of reporting of throngs of squid and 18” black sea bass from the Granite State would be similar to scuttlebutt on scup in Boston Harbor – well, welcome to 2013. Chad from Dover Marine said that those bouncing Spro Jigs, Crippled Herring and Shimano Lucanus jigs over humps in the Piscataqua River are catching 16” – 18” black sea bass! I wonder if it is the squid that is luring in all the black sea bass. Some are tallying 200 squid nights off of lit bridges and piers throughout the New Hampshire coast. For stripers Chad recommends live-lining those omnipresent snapper blues over the same structure where you’ll find the black sea bass.

The Granite State groundfish game continues to be spectacular by Jeffreys Ledge at “The Islands” as well as “The Prong” but the dog show has arrived. Chad suggests a little trickery if you’re hot for haddock but can’t fish through the dogfish. Try tying a dropper loop 6” above the sinker and tying a plain gold hook on the loop and leaving the sinker resting on the bottom. The dogs will often ignore the plain hook but the slight movements you impart to the hook is often all that is needed to stick a haddock. Fred from Suds ‘N Soda told me that squid have swarmed well into Great Bay and they have even been caught from the railroad trestles at the mouth of the Squamscott River.

Nick from Saco Bay suggests that anglers take it to the beach for bass. Clams and chunk mackerel are working well from Pine Point, Biddeford Pool and Camp Ellis. Artificial aficionados tossing the modern classic SP Minnow are also scoring stripers. The fish have been hitting best on an incoming tide from dusk to dawn and many of them are mid-thirty inch fish. Bluefish and mackerel remain sporadic.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Thank goodness the mackerel didn’t get the memo that they are not still supposed to be swimming in these parts this late in the summer! Rather than wonder why, go with it and Sabiki-up this most striper-friendly bait source off the South Shore by the “21 Can”, Davis Ledge and Stone Ledge. Closer to the Hub, it’s snapper time among most every estuary and marsh and odds are there will be keeper bass not far off. Equip yourself for a mack attack by trolling some by Nantasket Roads, Hull Gut, the North and South Channels and Broad Sound. Lynn has shown some pogy love and the result has been upper 40-inch stripers in the harbor and the backside of Nahant. Plum Island holds promise for those casting eels at the edges of the sandbar off the beach. In the Granite State they’re checking their GPS, bewildered that they are actually catching humphead black sea bass and squid all along the Piscataqua River. Nights are just right among the Saco area beaches where a chunk of mackerel, a clam or a bone-colored SP Minnow is the key to a Downeast bass.