Massachusetts Fishing Report 6-5-2014

And along came the 30-pounders! There has been a fair degree of hand-wringing among the striper-obsessed across the Bay State coast because of the lack of big fish. Well if fish up to 37 pounds meets your standards of a big fish, then for you it is game-on! Among the bump in bigger bass there’s even tales of a toothy presence in our midst. But not all the euphoria in these parts has to do with fish that fit the typical fusiform mold… some of the most fun has to do with something much flatter.

Massachusetts South Shore Report

Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth said that the striper bite is beginning to segue from rivers, marshes and estuaries toward more open water locations such as beaches. It all comes down to bait and usually in early June bait abundance begins to shift outward. Chunking is a good bet by Sandy’s Snack Shack on Long Beach. Boaters would be wise to jig up some mackerel, which are plentiful by the H1 Can, and drift/troll them along Warrens Cove. Another spot which is equally effective for the boater or “boot-er” is the mouth of the Eel River. Shop artificials that are jumping off the shelves are the Savage Sand Eel and Manic Prey Minnow.

Dave recommends the new anglers view the extensive flats that define Plymouth/Kingston/Duxbury from a low-tide perspective. Look for the “guzzles,” which are intersecting channels in the flats that concentrate bait as the tide ebbs. Commit to memory or save the coordinates of these guzzles and fish them later and you will find more stripers now and fluke later.

Bob from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle in Marshfield told me of patrons who are producing big bass off P-Town at The Race. Some are drifting/trolling live mackerel, while others are trolling swimming plugs and bucktail jigs/sea rind combos. Closer to Green Harbor, there has been a surge in mackerel numbers and you should have no problem getting your fill; begin random jigging as soon as you clear the Green “3” Can. A regular of the shop took a 30-pounder off The Gurnet with a live mackerel. A few black sea bass and blackfish are being caught among inshore structure. A few possibilities for these unsung heroes of the South Shore are Howland Ledge, Brewers Ledge and Offer Ledge. Things have been quiet in the tuna front, but with the panoply of bait between Stellwagen and Cape Cod Bay, it could be a tuna tinder box ready to combust this weekend!

Timing was good for my phone call to Belsans Bait in Scituate on Wednesday as erudite skippers Tom King and Rob Green of the Elizabeth Marie had just walked through the door. Robbie told me that groundfish had definitely improved east of Stellwagen with most outings resulted in 25- to 30-fish trips with the catch rate weighted toward haddock verses cod. The bite is best around 250 feet of water and with the plentiful forage around consisting of sand eels, sea herring and mackerel at any given time, there is always the possibility of getting into a pile of fish. Pete Belsan said that jigging up mackerel is no problem between the Tar Pouch toward the SA Scituate bell. The rivers reward those who take a few live mackerel upstream especially by the Union Street Bridge in the North River. There are a number of 36-inch stripers now lurking around in the Scituate/Cohasset area.

Folks are finding limits of flounder no problem throughout the two harbors and there is some action by the rock wall at Peggotty Beach. When I asked Pete about tautog, he told me of a clandestine customer who says “nothing” but loads up on seaworms and is slamming those tog in the Scituate area. The hunch is that tog territory can be found among most any rockpile from Cedar Point up to Minots Light. Spend some time picking around all that structure. What shouldn’t require much time is terminal tackle selection. I do a lot of togging later in the fall and we’ve switched to jigs – specifically Tidal Tails Jig’z – and we are not going back. In water of less than 25 feet of water, the “bean” design of these jigs will enable you to slice through to the water column and hang up a lot less than cumbersome conventional rigs. It’s more effective and more fun! Worms will work but should you know of a stash of green crabs – oh boy!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Earlier in the week, there was an inkling that things were about to change when our Sabiki rigs were getting torn to smithereens in the midst of the mackerel mob. The culprits were sea-lice-shorn striped bass full of mackerel and seemingly headed inshore with a bead on sea herring, fall-back river herring and, of course, mackerel. Thankfully, the size fish in our midst has changed dramatically!

The first news of 30-pound class of cows came courtesy of my friend Russ Eastman of Monahan Marine in Weymouth whose tale is a textbook example of the value of stick-to-itiveness. He and Tommy Golden of Hingham spent the better part of 8 hours having little so show for their efforts even though they had the livewell of Tommy’s Pursuit lapping with mackerel. Taking a cue from an angler they observed catching keepers on clams among the shallows near the Brewsters, they cut a close course with those mackerel up against structure and subsequently put a 28- and 32.4-pound striper in the boat!

Wednesday morning, Dave Panarello and sidekick Carl Vining, who log more time than anyone in the pursuit of linesiders in the harbor, were the beneficiaries of a hot tip from “Maggie Mae Jack” that bigger fish were feeding among contour lines among Bob’s Bass Triangle, the North and South Channels, President Roads and Sculpin Ledge. The result: Dave nailed a slab 37-pounder on a mackerel – game on! And that was not a lone linesider as they had a ton of action and nearby anglers tallied mid-40-inch fish. Other harbor hotspots have been the Five Sisters off Winthrop, Little Faun Bar and the breakwater off Revere Beach.

Ironically I felt no regret missing out on the Boston big bass because on that day I was flounder fishing. Flounder fishing aboard Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister today bears no resemblance to what was par for the course during what is considered the heyday of the species in the harbor years ago. Fun was all about numbers, now the fun is in hooking a drag-pulling blackback “balloon” which leads to a cry of “get the net” from the lucky angler. At any given time there is the very real possibility of hooking into a 3, 4 or maybe a 5-pound blackback. On a lightweight rod filled with braid, the fishing is a hoot! And they seem to be scattered all over the Boston, Hull, Quincy area with troves being discovered almost daily. Drift until you find them, the set up anchor and chum like crazy!

Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy echoed the epical flounder fishing with solid reports of good catches from Peddock Island, Rainsford Island, Hospital Shoals, Sculpin Ledge and Deer Island Flats. It’s lonely fishing away from the fleet, but if you aspire to catch those special fish, experiment a bit at swaths of sand/mud in between live bottom of weed and ledge which hold grass shrimp: a favorite forage of the bigger flounder. From Fore River comes news of the first “chew-off” as a bluefish relived an angler of his wares in the Weymouth Back River. Great Eskers has been good for shorebound anglers looking for linesider love. Webb State Park produced a nice 42-inch fish recently for a customer who uses clams. Squid are in short supply off Nut Island but not all is lost there since the black sea bass and flounder they are catching are making up for it.

Massachusetts North Shore Report

According to Noel from Bridge Street Sports in Salem the North Shore could almost be nicknamed “Togtown”! A customer who was a years-long commercial fisherman took a titan of a tautog from the Kernwood Bridge area that was so big he enquired about just how big the state record fish was. I’m trying to track down the tail of the scale to see just how big the white chin was. That aside they are picking up tautog from the Beverly Pier, Salem Willows and the Kernwood Bridge, usually while targeting flounder. Kayak anglers are specifically targeting them successfully among rockpiles of the Salem/Beverly area. There are even a few small black sea bass being caught by accident. This bodes well for the appearance of bigger black sea bass once water temperatures rise in July. Stripers in the mid-30-inch range are falling for the tube-and-worm by the Jubilee Yacht Club as well as the stretch by Endicott College. Tinkers Island off Marblehead has buzz of bass also.

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me that inshore producers have cooled down a bit and beaches seem to be better. North Shore best bets are Preston Beach, Phillips Beach, Devereux Beach and the always red hot Red Rock in Lynn. The most prolific catchers are getting the bass, up to 42 inches, on plugs such as Smack-Its, the 24-7 Pocket Rocket (featured in this month’s On The Water), SP Minnows, Red Fins and the Ocean Lures SP. Tomo has also heard of tog being caught, and one of the places has been Red Rock, where they are also catching flounder.

Pete from Fin and Feather in Essex feels that warmer North Shore water temperatures are resulting in a more consistent striped bass bite. While he has no specifics, Pete’s predicting that the green can right near the shop has to have some fish by the looks of the gaggle of guys which are hitting it daily. They’ve been making a killing in Manchester Harbor. The action is all in tight and white lures rule. One of the lures that is making a difference is the Rapala X-Rap. When I asked which version of the original “Slash Bait,” he had been ordering so many that he answered without hesitation: “the SXR12 in bone and olive/white!” The live bait alternative is to jig up mackerel in Ipswich Bay, which are plentiful, and troll or toss them among the structure of Manchester Harbor.

Things are getting serious at Surfland according to Martha. The “point” in the Merrimack River by the Captain’s Fishing Charters has had a lot of schoolies which have been hitting all manner of soft plastics which look like a sand eel. The biggest bass weighed in so far – a 19 and 20 pounder – have fell on the Plum Island ocean front for a bucktail jig and an SP Minnow respectively. Bait soakers are catching at Sandy Point and the boat brigade has no problem topping the livewell off with mackerel at the Speckled Apron and Breaking Rock. Mackerel are money from Joppa flats out to the mouth of the Merrimack River.

Fishing Forecast

A live mackerel is pretty much a striper slam dunk on the South Shore from Warrens Cove in Plymouth to the Union Street Bridge on the North River. Groundfishing has improved east of Stellwagen with haddock limits easily attained with a few cod in 250 feet of water. However, the Harbor is living up to its status as The Hub with balloon blackback flounder providing fast paced sport among flats of Boston, Quincy and Hull. Mackerel are easy pickings for anglers with a Sabiki rig of Boston Light and by the BG Buoy. Target shallower structure outside of Nantasket Roads, the North and South Channels and President Roads for a chance at a cow – which is a very real possibility now! On the North Shore the talk is of tautog by the Kernwood Bridge and bigger bass off the ocean front of Plum Island.