Angling pressure may be dropping like leaves, but there’s no let up on striped bass. And even though we are in the late stages of October, there are reports of black sea bass on the South Shore as well as bluefish on the North Shore. But for something with choppers every bit as impressive as a blue, check out the whitechin tog bite just out of Westport, where the fish are big and aggressive.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Just this Thursday morning, big tautog went on a crab-chomping tear just outside of Westport. Captain Jason Colby impaled a big green crab on a 1-ounce Tidal Tails Jig and proceeded to whip a 30-inch, 14.75-pound tog. It was one beast of a blackfish, and I should know since I put the net to it! Far from an aberration, five minutes prior I lost one of similar size, and we along with friends Gil Valentine and Glenn Verdini kept nothing under 5 pounds and we released a ton of fish! Rare are the times that you get a chance to jump aboard a happening bite, but this thing has kicked off just now!

Bob Pronk of Green Harbor Bait and Tackle told me that while temperatures may be dipping, the striper fishing is heating up! The beaches are fishing best with Duxbury Beach getting a special nod. One accomplished customer of the shop is jigging up hickory shad (typically of shad they hit best at night) and live-lining and chunking them in the bays and off the beaches and catching cows! That “other” saltwater bass, the black sea bass, is still hanging in there among mussel beds and rockpiles just off the South Shore and is falling for an old friend of mine – the Tidal Tails Jig! I’ve always considered that jig a tautog killer, but in retrospect we do seem to often catch black sea bass as bycatch and oddly didn’t make the obvious connection.

Cod are still being caught in close among ledges such as Scarlet and Stone Ledge. Farther out, Scituate skippers such as Captain Rob Green and his Elizabeth Marie are finding haddock mixed in with cod just east of Stellwagen but steer clear of the bank itself for it is corner-to-corner dogfish.

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

The brief mackerel snub is over at least for the time being, since they’ve reappeared off Martin Ledge and off Nahant. Bass up to 20 pounds are falling for the macks from Nixes Mate through President Roads and out to the Alford Street Bridge at the mouth of the Mystic River. Dave Panarello and Carl Vinning, however, took a non-bait tack and for the better part of a week recorded double-digit landings of both stripers and bluefish on Crippled Herrings and Spro Bucktail Jigs. The fish were tending bottom at the edge of the shipping lanes. There have also been some hickory shad around which are most active at dark, make excellent bait and are fun to catch on their own right.

As I spoke to Rick from Fore River Bait & Tackle in Quincy on Wednesday, he was just fielding a phone call from an ill-equipped angler who could only ogle a blitz by the Germantown area of the Town River. There has also been striper action in skinny water between Grape and Slate Islands. Rick said that anglers are beginning to pick up smelt from the Weymouth Fore and Back Rivers, piers of Hull, the Summer Street Bridge as well as piers in Winthrop. Russ Eastman of Monahan’s Marine in Weymouth said that anglers chunking and live-lining mackerel off Hull by such areas as Harding’s Ledge have even tied into brown sharks! Should you catch one, make sure you release the fish as quickly as possible since this species are protected.

North Shore Massachusetts Fishing Report

We received a photo of a personal best 51-inch striper that was taken off Revere Beach on Monday. The big bass socked a Sebile Stick Shadd and bottomed out the 30-pound Bogagrip before the fish was released. Joe Holey received word from a friend on Wednesday morning that Red Rock in Lynn had gone off with a surface show as proof. Bailey’s Hill off Nahant has been the scene of bass busting mackerel, which they’ve corralled within the cove.

Believe it or not, there are still blues in the Beverly/Salem area according to Noel from Bridge Street Sports in Salem. Mackerel aren’t that hard to get in the Willows area and some are even connecting from the pier and getting chomped by the blues. The shop is seaworm central in these parts as they keep a steady pool of diggers so Noel can gauge where the bite is depending on where the flats of worms are being taken and there is still a lot of interest in Red Rock and he is even sending them out to folks targeting smelt in Winthrop. Noel also heard of football tuna which have arrived just east of Salisbury.

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that Forest River Park has been the scene of some schoolies as well as hickory shad. He recommends fishing seaworms from the beaches of Swampscott and Marblehead. Cod have moved in closer and can be jigged up or “baited” not far from the shore.

Skip Montello, who is a contributing writer for On The Water, told me that Cape Ann has seen better fall runs than this year but what is noteworthy is the 20-inch pollock that are bashing streamers, soft plastics and even plugs.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Fred from Suds ‘N Soda said that some are finding smelt in the harbors of Rye, Hampton and Kittery. Groundfishing continues to get good grades among Jeffreys Ledge and occasionally as close as the Isle of Shoals. Not a whisper of any striper action in the Granite State, but Nick from Saco Bay Tackle in Portland said that the few stalwarts that seeking stripers are finding them among the Saco River as well as nearby beaches.

According to Dylan of Dag’s Bait Shop in Auburn, your most consistent action in Maine might be courtesy of brood stock brookies, rainbows and browns which were recently stocked in a number of nearby water bodies. Some of these fish top 24”! Best bets in these parts are Norway Lake, “The Ranges” and Little Androscoggin. For flowing water consider Cobbosseecontee Stream.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Live or chunk bait in Duxbury Bay or Green Harbor can be the ticket to an October trophy striper. Bass continue to blitz in the Town River as well as among the inner harbor Islands. Jig up some mackerel off Martin’s Ledge and live line off Nixes Mate or at the edge of the harbor shipping lanes. On the North Shore you’ll find bass still hitting off Bailey’s Hill, Devereux Beach and plugs may stir up some pollock off Cape Ann. In New Hampshire they’re in hot pursuit of smelt from Rye and Hampton Harbors, while in Maine broodstock salmonids are swimming in Norway Lake as well as the Ranges.