If there was such a language as “Stripernomics,” September would be defined as the month for big fish. For proof, you don’t need some imaginary vocabulary but rather cold, hard numbers such as 38, 48 and 53 – pounds that is! That is the size of some of the striped bass which have been landed over the last week in Bay State waters! For a total flip but one that is every bit as satisfying, there’s mixed-bag mayhem waiting on Jeffreys Ledge.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

When we spoke on Thursday morning, Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth had just finished with a customer who had experienced non-stop catching of stripers on eels and spook-type lures from Long Beach in Plymouth. When asked for other choices, Dave laughed and said, “name it.” It looks like September has dawned on Plymouth. Anglers are having heady action around Clarks Island, Saquish Rip, the Gurnet and High Pine Ledge.

Pete Belsan at Belsan Bait and Tackle of Scituate had kind of an interesting morning on Wednesday when they weighed in the largest striped bass in the 12 years the shop has been in existence! The 52 ½-inch 53-pounder just happened to be caught by a friend of mine, Captain Walter “Pete” Peterson who keeps his 26’ Fortier Valkyrie in Marina Bay and is a wielder of wire line and bucktail jigs. In fact, you can read all about his methods in August’s issue of OTW. As you can imagine, Pete is keeping a tight-lip on just where he took the big bass, but it was bested closer to Boston Harbor than the South Shore.

The handful of fifties that I’m aware of that were caught north of the Cape this year were all taken on old-school offerings: metal-lipped plugs, live pogies, live mackerel and bucktail jigs. And of the anglers I know of, none of them crossed another angler’s line, crowded others out of a spot or otherwise acted rude or unethical while out there. These guys are solo artists and don’t follow the lead. Maybe there is something to that karma thing?

I would like to give an honorable mention to my friend Mike Dumais of Northborough who took his personal best bass last Saturday, a 50-inch 48-pounder, in Cape Cod Bay on a wine-colored Hogy Perfect Tube. Mike said that this tube has incredible moves and when paired against other very well known tubes, it out-fished them 6 to 1 and was responsible for Mike’s beast of a bass!

It bears repeating: look for the birds all you want and chase after the chasers, but the guys that keep catching the cows will have other plans!

Scotty Sinclair of Green Harbor Bait and Tackle told me that the best bass fishing is happening right inside Green Harbor as close as the dyke. The reason is that for big bass in these parts, hickory shad is what’s for dinner!

Which begs the question, how would this prime bait fare by Beetle Rocks, Farnham Rock or Blackman’s Point?

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle told me that the inattentive are cruising right over the heads of pogies in such places as Wollaston Beach and wondering just where the bait is. Attentive anglers, however, are paying attention to clues such as slicks, dark patches and “nervous peaks” and are topping off their livewells with this cow candy. A good place to take those pogies, or eels for that matter, is by Seal Rock, Veezie Rocks or Moon Island. An artificial alternative is to tube the area or unleash the deadly Cape Cod Spinner/seaworm combination, which Fore River hand ties and specializes in! Shore folks need not fret because the rivers are teeming with river herring fry and this is attracting all manner of mid-30-inch stripers along with blues that rival the linesiders in size. Try chunk bait for the blues and bass and opt for clams if you want to focus solely on stripers.

Ordinarily now would be the time for little fish and big grins – AKA smelt – but some are nervous because of the plague of snapper blues this season. I believe our worries are unfounded because prior to the fall, smelt suspend in relatively deep water in bays and just outside of estuaries, while snappers conduct their search and destroy missions close to bridges, marinas, inlets and prominent structure. By the time those smelt surge inshore, the blues will have beat it out of town – we hope!

Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle told me of a possible remedy for the seaworm drought that sent shockwaves throughout the bait fraternity – squid strips! One woman who patronizes the shop has been tube and “squidding” her way to 36-inch stripers! The tube has been the ticket by Toddy Rocks, Nantasket Beach and the shoreline by Jerusalem Road in Cohasset. “Rock climbers” off stony Point Allerton have been taking big bass up to 49 inches on chunk mackerel. The fishermen are casting their offering in the direction of Boston Light. Hull Harbor has not been as hot as last week, but a few folks who are soaking clams report keepers on most every outing.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett told me that bass are busting the black and the honey mustard Santini tubes by Hangman Island in Quincy Bay. The combo of tube and worm is also doing the trick by Georges Island and Moon Island. Big blues are prowling close to shore by the Amelia Earhart Dam and the Saugus River no doubt lured in by the promise of a herring fry entrée. Another tube-and-worm hotspot has been the swath from the Belle Isle Bridge through the Orient Heights Yacht Club and out to Jeffreys Point Yacht Club. Birds, bass and blitzes have been random around Spectacle Island and between the East Point of Nahant and Egg Rock.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

I was tiring of hearing the glowing reports of groundfishing off Jeffreys Ledge so I decided to sample it personally with pals Rick Paone of Medford and Captain Tom Ciulla of Stoneham, and this was one example of reality exceeding expectations. As much as we like to credit the outdoor experience with camaraderie, the fresh air and other such niceties, the simple truth is we want to catch fish. And the most significant days of our fishing lives usually involve catching a lot of fish. On Saturday aboard my friend Tom’s 28’ McKee Center Console T Sea, we crushed cod and kin for 12 straight hours! It was unbelievable and seldom was the bait on the bottom for long before an interested party wolfed it down. After each bump it was like a game of roulette to determine what was on; the action was equally dispersed between cod, cusk, pollock and haddock with even a couple of redfish thrown in the mix. The bite was in only about 150 feet of water and clams and pink teasers were king, with the fish all but ignoring the jigs. A pink teaser – a Redgill or Gulp swimming mullet – would not sit undetected on the bottom for long. And only one tiny dogfish interrupted our fun! If you’re looking for a way to get out there and enjoy this world-class fishing (and that is exactly what we kept calling it) then I have a solution. I did notice that the Yankee Fleet had some boats working nearby and even though it was a Saturday, there were was plenty of elbow room aboard!

From Tomo’s Tackle in Salem came news of an inshore cod bite just outside of Bakers Island and among the various humps and contour lines in deeper water. Kayakers are scoring mid-30-inch stripers off the Marblehead coast from the harbor through Salem. There’s even mackerel just outside a bit and some are jigging them up and using them as bait. After a brief down cycle, squid action has increased off Beverly Pier and Salem Willows, the latter pier also often has mackerel.

Pete from Fin and Feather in Essex said that there were some peanut bunker encounters off some of the Cape Ann beaches over the weekend. Even though I knew the answer I just had to ask if there were any bass on them and it indeed was explosive. Swim shads, Kastmasters, bucktail jigs will all do the trick when the stripers are teeing off on peanuts. Cows are off Cranes Beach slurping up sand eels as well as hitting convincing lures such as the Ocean Lures Sand Eel. The Essex River has fish that are beginning to gather, meaning if you’re timing is right the bite is great and if you just miss a wave it’s not so good. Halibut Point delivers the occasional bluefish for those trolling plugs or umbrella rigs.

Just this Thursday morning, Surfland in Newburyport weighed in a 38-pounder taken from the surf! Far from a lone linesider, teen-sized fish were also caught. Plum Island is looking good! Mugsy who gave me the good news recommends the Parker River Wildlife Reservation particularly by Parking Lot 3. The shop is anxiously awaiting the new Daiwa suspending Salt Pro Minnows which are due to arrive soon. Meanwhile you can’t beat eels from dusk to dawn and worms and clams when the sun is up.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Because of hands-on experience For once I didn’t have to base my Jeffreys Ledge report on the Dover Marine folks, but it didn’t hurt to get their perspective. Chad also felt that the jig bite was unexpectedly off this year for some odd reason and he also recommended that teasers, even un-baited ones, be occasionally left on the bottom with a slight bow in the line. For him, white had been the color and Old Scantum the section as of late. One thing we thankfully did not encounter was blue sharks. However, not everyone is so lucky; Jamie who works in the shop had a swarm of what he estimated to be about 20 around the boat recently. All you can do if that happens is to pick up your stuff and try elsewhere.

Tim from Suds ‘N Soda, who is the local panfish guru, told me that big ‘gills and crappie are suspending at 15-20 feet down in 30-40 feet of water. They are bunched up and a ball to catch on small jigs. Some favorites are Turkey Pond, Bellamy Reservoir and Greenwood Pond. Black sea bass are still hanging in there in good numbers in the Piscatagua River watershed in spite of them being a “southern species” and this being September! Oozie jigs are doing the most damage with the white-skirted 1 ½-ounce version especially hot. The wick in these jigs is designed to sop up BioEdge potion for added appeal. Tim recommends the squid and herring potion. One trick is to let the jig lay on the bottom for just a few seconds before you pick it up. The black sea bass can’t resist hitting the “injured” prey. Stripers are schooling up on the beaches and the bays, with Little Bay and the rocky sections of the beaches fishing really well.

Ken from Saco Bay Tackle said that there is a change in the air with trees beginning to show their autumnal splendor and stripers are feeding ravenously along the beachfronts. Blitzes are now the rule rather than the exception with the only caveat being that most of the fish are schoolies. Bait is best and you can almost name a beach and odds are there’s been someone catching bass there: Camp Ellis, Old Orchard, Biddeford Pool, Ferry Beach, Higgins Beach and Pine Point all have good action. Horse mackerel are pounding heavy duty Sabiki rigs around the islands, especially Wood Island. There’s no word about predators on the mackerel but these macks are so big and fun to catch, who cares? There has been an inshore groundfish bite randomly at Tantas Ledge.

Fishing Forecast

For once, air temperatures have paralleled the fishing – it’s all been hot! Lob a mackerel chunk off the shore from Long Beach in Plymouth for a South Shore cow. Closer to the Hub, Point Allerton has been kicking it for the shore set and treating chunkers to bass up to 49 inches. Proven old-school techniques will always pay off when targeting those old school fish so try a tube and worm along Veezie Rocks or Constitution Beach or perhaps a chunk from the Weymouth Back River. If you have a bucktail jig and some Sea Rind at the ready, try jigging this tandem wherever you find moving water and plenty of structure in the harbor. On the North Shore, kayakers would do well jigging up some macks off Marblehead and live-lining them by Chandler Hovey Park or near ledge in the harbors of Marblehead and Salem. Farther north, keep on the lookout for Cape Ann peanut bunker blitzes or chunk from the Parker River Wildlife Reservation. Just past the border they are reveling in outstanding groundfishing off Jeffreys Ledge, and off the coast of Maine the bass are schooling and feeding.