It’s hard to imagine a more fortunate forecast than the one we have. Water and air temps are stuck in mid-September euphoria, proven spots are largely barren of other anglers, and some are calling the current striper fishing the best all season! If that’s not enough, on Wednesday there was a bluefish blitz in Boston and the haddock haul east of Stellwagen is very promising.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

A few are finding pogies and hickory shad in Duxbury Bay and not surprisingly finding big bass feeding on this out-sized bait. Jake from Belsan’s Bait in Scituate said that the striper fishing has definitely improved over recent weeks. Kayakers are making a cow-killing by trolling tube-and-worm rigs throughout the North River watershed. Boaters jigging up a mess of mackerel out beyond the New Inlet Buoy, Minot’s Light or the “21 Can” should try drifting on an outgoing tide by Fourth Cliff. Other mackerel-as-bait options are the seawall off Peggotty Beach, the rockpile off Egypt Beach and the jetty at the mouth of Scituate Harbor. As water temps slowly cool look for more cod to be caught within a few miles from shore.

Bob from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle in Marshfield said that Berks Beach went off recently with a bass and blue feeding frenzy. Patrons of the shop are pounding 40’–50’ humps in 80’-100’ of water and catching cod. One crew reported black sea bass, cod, stripers and bluefish all over the same structure. The catches are coming courtesy of diamond jigs and Butterfly jigs.

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

Wednesday in the Harbor featured a good old-fashioned bass and bluefish bonanza, the likes of which haven’t been seen very often this fall. Dave Panarello and mates had to work hard to find mackerel, but once they did the 20 macks they had in their livewell did not last long in the middle harbor. A sliding egg-sinker presentation worked best as they drifted over drop-offs catching 33-inch blues and 38-inch stripers. Bluefish in Boston Harbor in mid-October is a surefire indication that we have some ways to go before anyone plays “taps.”

As always, the skinny water of marshes, estuaries and rivers are top options at night, and you can’t beat a lively eel. On Wednesday night, I took in the top of the tide in a favorite slough and landed 6 fish between 15 and 25 pounds in an hour’s tide. The bad news was that seconds after my first cast, I tied into a beast of a bass that slowly and without alarm ran my line into a bridge pilling, scrubbing me off. I wouldn’t mind, but I was prepared with tackle tough enough to handle a school tuna and was still no match for this fish! Now is not the time to give up on big fish!

If bait is the key, then it’s going to be a good year for smelt, according to Rick from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy. Rick is finding a degree of quantity and quality of grass shrimp this year that is a big improvement over last year. One customer had tallied a quick 35 silver leapers until striped interlopers crashed the party and scattered the smelt. We have found that the best smelt fishing does not occur until the vast majority of stripers have migrated to more southern haunts.

While Rick Paone of Medford has been looking for smelt, he is finding everything but in the glow of his fishing lights at his slip in Winthrop. On Wednesday night, he tallied a tiny tautog as well as immature flounder. I also received word of flounder hitting Cape Cod Spinner/seaworm combinations at the mouth of the Mystic River. Obviously this bodes well for the blackback future.

North Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

When we spoke Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told tails of peanut bunker a bit south of his shop. The most consistent striped bass fishing on the North Shore appears to be in the Gloucester area as mackerel jigged up between the Dog Bar Breakwater and the Groaner Buoy are resulting in stripers up to 37 inches long.

Good news regarding the gadoid game as inshore cod catches have improved particularly at cascading drop-offs in 55 to 80 feet of water off Manchester as well as Magnolia by The Sea. If you’re considering making a farther haul for cod and their kin, opt for just east of Stellwagen where some have tallied double-digit hauls of keeper haddock with some fish topping 7 pounds!

Kay from Surfland in Newburyport told me that the best fishing, ironically, is on the southern end of Plum Island which fishermen had not been able to access because of the federal gridlock that closed the Parker River Wildlife Reservation. Boaters were having the easier go of reaching the shoreline by Parking lots 6, 7 and Sandy Point. There are still schoolies in the Merrimack River and sporadic action off the ocean front, especially for those with bait. Kay said that the anglers who are still catching are relentless and not dissuaded by the inevitable skunkings.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

While not a whisper has been heard regarding stripers, the awesome haddock fishing on Jeffreys is making up for it according to Chad of Dover Marine. The bite has been best on the backside of the ledge in higher spots. White teasers have been the most effective on haddock with some approaching 10 pounds!

Ken from Saco Bay Tackle told me that striped bass are still swimming in the Saco River as they feed on dropping river herring fry. While most fish are schoolies, the river as well as nearby beaches occasionally give up a slot-sized or bigger bass. Ken suspects that some are seeking sea-run brown trout with crustacean-imitating flies as well as gold spoons from the Mousam and Ogunquit rivers.

Freshwater Fishing Report

If you want the enviable combination of knock-out foliage and super sweetwater fishing, then consider the Quabbin area. While the big res’ is closed for the season, many water bodies have received a recent stocking of rainbow trout. Rod from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange recommends Lake Mattawa, and for holdover brown trout try streamers or stick baits at night along the Miller River, Deerfield River or Swift River. Again, the key is nighttime when the stealthiest of salmonids go on the prowl. Forget the infinitesimal patterns, instead, opt for something large such as a Wooly Bugger or Muddler Zonker. A customer of Rod’s who is a trout guide fishes this way exclusively and last summer took a 27-inch rainbow from the highly pressured Swift!

Speaking of spooky bows, Eddie of B&A in West Boylston spotted some of the most beautiful bows he’s ever seen in the Quinapoxet River the other day. The fish were 20” to 22” trophies that were skittish and ignored his offering. Landlocked salmon can be found in the “Quinnie” also. The Thomas Basin has staging salmon that are waiting for the spark of a significant rainstorm to spur them onward into the Stillwater River to eventually spawn. Meanwhile some are catching salmon in the basin with a simple bobber/worm combo. Now is the time to pack some casting spoons and maybe a tube lure and run and gun the shoreline where you’ll pick up lakes, smallies and perhaps a white perch or even a salmon.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Your best bet for a big bass could come courtesy of a pogy or hickory shad in Duxbury Bay. Another alternative is to swim an eel at the Fourth Cliff or troll a tube-and-worm by the Herring River for a Scituate striper. Those lucky enough to fish the harbor mid-week found 10-pound plus blues and stripers twice that size willing to hit a mackerel drifted among the inner harbor. On the North Shore, periodic pop-ups of peanut bunker are resulting in blitzes, but the biggest bass have been taken around the Gloucester area and not surprisingly on mackerel. In New Hampshire, they’re happy to be hauling in haddock from high points on the backside of Jeffreys Ledge, but the Saco Maine scuttlebutt still is about striped bass.