Massachusetts Fishing Report 8-28-14

It’s been posed a million different ways that the ultimate “hook” to fishing is the mystery factor, how on any given day, during any given cast, there is the hope that that special-something will hit. Well if you’re into mysteries, then 2014 is reading like a James Patterson novel, with even the most dogged of fishermen shrugging their shoulders over what they’ll find out there. However, a recent tournament resulted in a boat load of big bass and there are lessons to be learned about how they were caught.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

According to Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth, the waning days of August have been giving a hint of a productive September. Beach casters are picking up keeper bass off Duxbury and Long Beach. Mackerel are sporadic with one angler touting their return and another shrugging as to where they’ve gone. Above all, chumming and an early start matters. Snapper blues are plentiful by the Plymouth Marina as well as most areas inshore. They should be numerous by the breaker inlet at the boat ramp. In addition to the fun factor, snappers are a premier big fluke bait. After all a fluke that scarfs down a 6-inch snapper usually doesn’t even need a measurement. Increasingly anglers are turning to the toothier version of our flounder and Dave suggests you give the snapper/doormat technique a go at the deeper channel edges such as what you’ll find at Browns Bank.

Bob from Green Harbor B&T said that catching stripers in the area is no problem. Chunkers casting clams and mackerel off the beaches are usually scoring stripers as are tube-and-worm boaters/kayakers in the harbor. The graveyard gang pitching eels from the jetties are quietly going about their business and even though they are tight-lipped the odds are that their rewards are more than fresh air and exercise. Bob touted the super cod fishing in 60 to 80 feet of water where some of the fish are quality 28- to 30-inch brown bombers! Well, technically reddish-brown bombers since most are rock cod. The cod option becomes all the more special since federal regulations prohibit cod fishing in the GOM after the end of August while current DMF rules allow a 9 fish at 19-inch-minimum bag until the end of October in state waters! Just jig those cod — don’t even consider bait unless you want to unleash the fury of the dog pack!

Joel from Belsan’s in Scituate said that one of the steadier south shore picks is blues from Minot’s Ledge out to the 21 Can. This is trolling country and the weapons of choice are the Rapala CD 18 and deep diving X-Raps with the preferred colors being the redhead, orange/gold and anything resembling a mackerel. Chunkers pounding Duxbury Beach, Humarock Beach and The Glades have been enjoying a steadier bite for bass with some drag-pullers thrown in as well. The night shift is tossing serpents among the rockpiles off Egypt Beach, at Damon’s Point and at The Spit and doing very well. I can’t help but think that eels crawled along the shadow line of the North River Bridges at night would result in a cow. And I’d target those spots at the turn of the tide!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle told me that she goes through great lengths to procure the king of striper baits – pogies! In fact she is “sitting” on about 1,000 pounds of clear-eyed “crunchies.” Increasingly finding a shop north of Cape Cod that stocks pogies is getting rare and there is no better big bass bait than a pogy! The Point Allerton bluefish/bass massacre of last week is pretty much over, but it was nice to hear that surf anglers casting from Nantasket Beach were able to get into the free-for-all. At any given time, we could have massacre part 2! And the catalyst to that just might be a bit of a mackerel resurgence since a patron of the shop just recently lugged in some fresh macks for the freezer which he took by Martins Ledge. Meanwhile anglers are catching mid-30-inch stripers off Gunrock and Black Rock Beaches, Steamboat Wharf and off James Ave.
Rick from Fore River in Quincy touted the latest escapades of two of his steadier patrons – Bobby Pike and buddy Donny – who have been showing him pictures of stripers that they are catching up to 47”. These guys are not topping off the tanks of some tri-powered sport fishing boat and heading for parts unknown but rather putting along with a tube-and-worm in skinny water of Quincy Bay and they catch all the time! Best bets are Nut Island, Raccoon Island, Wessagusset Beach, Jackknife Ledge, Wreck Rock, Halftide Rock and Veezie Rocks.

Of course one cannot discount the rivers where hordes of herring fry are staging. There are good reports coming from the Weymouth Fore and Back Rivers and a friend of mine is still seeing the same cars parked night after night at the mouth of the Neponset River as well. I had to type this with what looked like over-caffeinated hands because all the while I was being peppered by pals Carl and Dave who were racking up double-digit numbers of stripers gorging on hapless herring fry at one of the more reliable riparian Greater Boston honey holes. I’ve also heard of loads of herring fry well upstream of their natal watersheds in bigger volume than in memory – this bodes really well for a late fall massacre as the herring attempt to migrate into a very hungry sea.

There were rave reviews all around for the 10th Annual Help Hook The Cure Striped Bass Tournament held last Saturday at the Elks Club in Winthrop. I expected the event to be fun, philanthropic and festive but what I didn’t see coming was the size of the stripers that were caught. The top fish was taken by M. Dela Porta at 41.6, second place went to Bobby Hittinger and his 40.8 and the third place fish was a 37.6 bass caught by Russ Burgess. The first two guys fished together and took their fish on fresh pogy chunks at the turn of the tide late morning. They also excelled in stick-to-itiveness since they had nothing to show for their efforts for hours until a slug of cows moved in somewhere around Winthrop. Russ’ also took a 34 with his 37½, and they were caught under a surface feed by Thompson Island. What was funny was that I had heard from another contestant that there were nothing but smalls under the feed but undaunted Russ broke out the monel/bucktail combination and slammed those two cows about 20 feet under the smaller fish.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

I had the pleasure of visiting Tomo’s Tackle at Pickering Wharf in Salem the other day and was very impressed. If the premium gear and range of bait doesn’t get you, the artwork by his partner Joe, who crafts amazing fish prints, surely will. There has been some schoolie blitzes in the Danvers River with occasional big fish providing the shock component to guys that are downsizing. One of the more consistent catchers is the bone Shimano Waxwing “Boy”. Tube-and-wormers have been catching them up among Nahant Bay. Shore slingers throwing chunks, eels and soft plastic stick baits are beaching stripers off Lynn Beach as well as Kings Beach when they can find a seam in the infamous weed.

Pete from Fin and Feather in Essex said that for schoolies the Essex River is among the most consistent. For larger but less fish check out the backshore of Gloucester. The talk is certainly not about epical catch rates but rather it’s a case of most putting in long hours for brief periods of catching. Blues have invaded Ipswich Bay and there seems to be two distinct classes – the 6- to 8-pounders and then the double-digit devils. Either way look for surface feeds and toss out an Ocean Lures “SP” when they are aggressive. The other option is to troll just outside of Thatcher’s Island, Andrews Point and Halibut Point with a deep diver plug such as the venerable Rapala CD 18 as well as the X-Rap. Cod are being jigged up with 6- to 8-ounce hammered Bead Diamond Jigs outside of Thatcher’s Island in 60 to 80 feet of water and also near Saturday Night Ledge.

The big news in Newburyport according to Martha from Surfland is that the Parker River Wildlife Reservation is completely open to the public and that includes “beach buggies”. Many wait all year to enjoy this unique fishing experience but you’ll need to contact authorities to obtain a permit to access the reservation. Already there is bass buzz coming from the Parking Lot 7 area. Chunking and worms by day and eels at night seem to be the winning combination. Fishing off Plum Island Beach is a gamble and unpredictable. Some are having stellar outings while others are keeping company with the skunk. The south side jetty has been among the steadier spots. The shop is selling a lot of those Jetty Ghost Sand Eels as featured in the Field Test Favorites section of the August OTW. Sand eels are a striper staple in these parts and this thing is catching them; according to Martha that keel feature is no bull!

Fishing Forecast

Thus far, finding the bait has not translated to catching the fish, but that may be about to change. The closer we get to the end of summer the more likely bass and blues will be lurking near forage and the one prey above all that is most likely to call in the cows is pogies! An early rise in the Plymouth/Duxbury area may tip you off to the tell-tale flips of pogies. Snag away then! Some snag and drop and to each his own but I prefer transferring the bait to meat stick with a 9/0 octopus or circle hook which often gives me the option to catch and release. Recently in Boston Harbor the pogies have been plentiful at Marina Bay, Thompson Island, the Lower Middle and Deer Island. Hit it early before boat traffic puts them down. And even then keep one eye on your electronics, recently some have been jigging them from 15’ plus of water! Sink a chunk to the bottom or rig a livie with a weight, the bass are often belly down to the bottom and below the pogies. Blues are good bet off Thatcher’s Island and the Rockport shoreline with a competent trolling plug such as an X-Rap being the ticket to a toothy. If you don’t mind getting a little sand in your treads than permit-up for the Parker River Wildlife Reservation in Newburyport. Odds are once you do it, you’ll be a repeat customer.