Massachusetts Fishing Report 8-14-14

It the sweetest of ironies that it sometimes has to get cooler to get hotter but in some cases that’s exactly what has happened. While no-one is likely to refer to 2014 years from now as a striper season for the ages, there does seem to be more bass cruising close to the coast. And with mid-August feeling like September, it’s kind of fishing like it!

South Shore/Westport Massachusetts Fishing Report

Easy there, keep your click-it finger off the trigger. I know Westport is technically not part of my designated area, but considering that it’s barely more than an hour away from Boston and I’ll be spending a lot of time there between now and December, I’m hoping you’ll find it interesting what’s happening there. I haven’t “eeled” in what seems like ages but last week aboard my friend Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister I came up to speed real quick. It was what you might call a 20/20 outing. Twenty seconds into the first anchor drop downstream of a fishy-looking rip, I was into a 20-pounder. Subsequent casts led to similar-sized stripers and it rekindled my love affair with eels. And this was the first exploratory outing! It looks as if there is no shortage of fun-sized stripers throughout Westport Harbor/River and it will only get better as water temperatures drop and their activity level increases. Bouncing light Spro Bucktails tipped with a chub or Gulp Swimming Mullet revealed plenty of willing fluke throughout the area also. While most of the fish were sub-legal, we did catch keepers and whiffed on two 5- to 6-pounders!

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate said that finding mackerel is no problem but the bass search remains a struggle. If anything, mackerel are more numerous and larger and can be found in shallower water often as skinny as 30 to 50 feet. Some are scoring stripers by trolling or live-lining macks off High Pine Ledge, the Cliffs and the Glades. The fishing is not easy and it is often an hours-long pursuit resulting in one chance at a good fish! Good toothy fish were recently encountered in deeper water finning up top among the still surface of last week. Finning blues are often fussy, but I’ve found that usually there are more below and those tend to be more aggressive. If a topwater plug won’t cut it, try ripping a jig below. It’s worth the effort; these blues were purported to be 36 inches long! Cod continue to provide consistent action for the few who are targeting them inshore. Most of the fish are bright red rock cod; there are enough keepers to make things interesting and a few anglers are even catching limits.

Bob from Green Harbor in Marshfield told me that the area is receiving rave reviews and even the inexperienced are catching. New anglers are chunking mackerel inside the Harbor and scoring numbers of low 30-inch bass with no problem. Also on the no-problem category is mackerel availability as jigging up a tides worth is usually not difficult. Bigger bass offshore a bit are more of a struggle but the big blues, which can be found near offshore ledges, are making for one heck of a consolation prize. Patrons of the shop also found schools of jumbos finning on the surface. Some commercial fishermen are finding a better bunch of bass while trolling umbrella rigs, Rapala X-Raps and live mackerel by Browns Bank and throughout Plymouth Harbor.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Rick from Fore River B&T in Quincy gave me some encouraging news on black sea bass in that there are more keepers in the mix than in recent weeks. You can bait the black sea bass with clams or squid or try jigging them up with a Crippled Herring, Spro bucktail or Shimano Lucanus. Rick suggests trying the Pemberton Pier area, Hull Gut, West Gut and around Nut Island. An elder flounder fisher who has decades into the pursuit has been finding them near Grape and Slate Islands. It’s amazing that in mid-August we still have winter flounder that shallow. River herring fry continue to gather at the Weymouth Fore River, Weymouth Back River, Neponset, Charles and Mystic Rivers and from dusk to dawn there are usually stripers up to 36 inches preying on them.

Pogies are no problem and I received a recent account from an acquaintance that had schools present from Deer Island to Dorchester Bay. If there appears to be a lack of bass with the bait, try trolling them out beyond the outer islands such as Green, Calf and the Brewsters. Conversely, try inshore along the Nahant/Lynn area by Egg Rock, Bailey’s Hill, Short Beach and Lynn Beach from the Kerry Club through The Tides Restaurant and out to the Halfway House. Kayakers working the graveyard shift have been crushing impressive cows with Slug-Gos, RonZs and Bill Hurley’s here. I would not be surprised if there is more of a cod presence among the lumps, bumps and clumps between Graves Light, the BG Buoy and out to the B Buoy. With a South Shore/North Shore bite, cod can’t be far from the harbor.

Paul from Bob’s in Winthrop said that Deer Island has become a hit or miss location but the hits can be home runs. Eels from the jetty, whole pogies or mackerel from the edge of the seawall and plugs worked from the Yirrell Beach side to the water tower bars are all proven methods. Consider Coughlin Park for bait and plugs, especially on an outgoing tide. Bass and blues often make sorties into Crystal Cove in Winthrop and they must cruise by here to feed.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Noel from Bridge Street in Salem said that flounder fishermen who are catching by the Jubilee Yacht Club in Beverly as well as Salem Sound are keeping his stable of seaworm diggers busy. Schoolies are present in good numbers in the Danvers River as well as the inner Salem Harbor and where the Forest River adjoins. Folks looking for mackerel off Salem Willows will usually catch up to a dozen on any given000 tide while boaters out by the islands are doing far better. A few blues greeted anglers trolling mackerel beyond Misery and Baker Islands. Pogies can be found flipping, especially early in the morning, by the mooring field in Salem Harbor.

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me of multi-species enthusiast Joe Holey who found a few flounder by drifting seaworms throughout the Manchester area. Joe scored some windowpane flounder as well, but appreciating how rare these flatfish are released all hoping that they will make more flounder. The gin-clear water of such areas as Singing Beach add a unique dimension to flounder fishing as the fish can actually be observed following the bait before they strike. Boston Harbor may be much cleaner than 15 years ago, but you’re not likely to find anything comparable to that! There’s a huge Kayak/striper tournament this weekend which Tomo’s Tackle is a prominent sponsor. Call or swing in if you’d like to get in on the fun. Squid as well as flounder can be found off Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott as well as Marblehead.

Tom from Surfland in Newburyport said that a 37-pound striper was recently weighed into the shop. The surfcaster beached the bass form the parking lot 1 area of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation. Word has it that by the end of the month the entire reservation will be much more accessible by boot and by specially permitted “beach buggy”. That 37 typified the state of striper affairs this season because that was the only fish landed by the guy as he was chunking. Prepare to work, and if you put in the time you’ll catch.

Fishing Forecast

On the South Shore, top off the livewell with mackerel and buzz Brown’s Bank in Plymouth. For schoolie to small keepers, keep an eye out for surface feeds in Green Harbor. If you’d prefer a real battle, duke it out with the big blues that are mashing mackerel just outside of the South Shore harbors. If you’d like to sample a whole new world, consider Westport Harbor. Eels at night should catch stripers while a jig hopped along the bottom by day may attract a fluke. Blackback flounder continue to hang in there among the inner Boston Harbor islands with the latest catches coming from Slate and Grape Islands. Deer Island should be your destination if a striper from the shore is what you’re after. Up north flounder fishing is fine in the Manchester area, but if you’d rather pull in a striper than put in the time off the Parker River Wildlife Reservation.