Massachusetts Fishing Report | September 11, 2014

It would be hard to apply the “great things come in small packages” adage to a more fitting fish in the Northeast than the peanut bunker. While it’s been a while since we have had much in the way of these mini pogies to speak of, anglers still refer to the resultant blitzes with reverence. History just may be repeating itself as recent blitzes have been a result of the collision of bass/blues and peanuts!

Rivers, estuaries and marshes remain you best bet for a fish-filled outing. With mixed sizes of fish, and provided that you’re fishing at night, you never know what sized striper is going to inhale your offering. But odds are slim that upstream areas in skinny water are going to reward with a really big striped bass. An anglers chances of catching a 50-pound striped bass are never very good, but they are significantly better if you factor in the night game with the open ocean.

A North Shore tackle shop owner guardedly told me of a couple of hard-core patrons who have been pounding the surf incessantly since May—they were rewarded with a few on a recent night that were all north of 50 pounds and one was significantly better! These guys aren’t spiking rods in the sand and then taking a snooze but donning wetsuits and shooting serpents into the surf until they can barely raise their arms, and obviously they have been duly rewarded for their perseverance. It all comes down to timing because the next night those fish were gone! It’s September and time to access what you want from the last waltz of the season. It can be a lonely, chilly pursuit looking for that fish of a lifetime, but the payout is pretty high.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Green Harbor said that you don’t need a calendar to remind you that it is September. Some are bird-watching and finding feeding fish, which just might be binging on bunker off Ellisville Harbor, MaryAnn Rocks, White Horse Beach and Priscilla Beach. When those fish are feeding on peanuts, I’ve found the blue/chrome bucktail Kastmaster to be deadly, and this is the time to dust off your soft shad stash. Long Beach has picked up and with morning ebbing tides upon us the turnaround at the beach deserves some attention.

Bob from Green Harbor B&T told me that some patrons have been plugging up big blues, which have made a return appearance close to the coast and for a few even off the beaches! Chunkers using mackerel are catching jumbos at low light off Rexhame and Berks beaches. Try eels off the Green Harbor jetty just as the tide begins to ebb over the next few mornings. You get two shots at very different striper habitats at Rexhame Beach with the beach and the South River both accessible from the same parking lot. The deep-water elbow in the South River is often a fish-holder.

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate said that anglers who are putting the time have been taking some slab stripers from Peggotty Beach, Egypt Beach and The Glades. Not surprisingly, eels have been the big bass magnet. Other options are outgoing tide from The Spit through the effluence where the North and South rivers mix all the way through Fourth Cliff and out to the New Inlet Buoy.

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

Peanut bunker appear to be plentiful and just may be the reason for recent feeds by Hull Gut and off Winthrop. Lisa from Fore River B&T told me that the top striper was a 46 ½-inch fish that fell for a tube and worm by Moon Island. Others have been doing well by live lining and chunking pogies on both the Moon Island and Long Island sides of Long Island Bridge. Some who were snagging pogies recently off Wollaston Beach and by Spectacle Island encountered bluefish. Chunk under the choppers for a chance at a cow. One customer commented that he was catching legal-sized scup while chumming in Quincy Bay. And keeper black sea bass can be found from Hull Gut through Pemberton Pier. Surf folks are finding keepers gorging on herring fry at the Weymouth Back River. Anglers are already enquiring about smelt; fingers are crossed that this year will be a good one!

Paul from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop said that a regular took a 43-inch striper recently off the main jetty of Deer Island on an outgoing tide with fresh pogy. Fresh pogy is what this shop specializes in and is reloaded with this bait of choice several times a week! Other bass options are Coughlin Park, the remnants of the old railroad tracks in Crystal Cove, Fisherman’s Bend, Pico Beach and Corina Beach. The jetty on the south side of Winthrop Beach has been a solid chunking spot.

As usual the rivers run hot! Herring fry are beginning to pile up which in turn attracts piles of stripers of most every size. Check out the Weymouth Fore and Back Rivers as well as the Neponset, Mystic, Pines and Saugus Rivers. The tube and worm is deadly as is the 4- and 5-inch “ghostescent” soft Sebile Magic Swimmer as well as pearl Queen Cochahoe Minnows.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Pete from Fin and Feather in Essex told me that anglers can catch all the schoolies they could possibly want in the Essex River and the fish are not fussy! And then to borrow a line from Paul Harvey, “there’s the rest of the story!” Out of respect for some of Pete’s loyal customers, specifics cannot be mentioned but a few of the shop’s sharpies recently caught and released almost improbably large striped bass on a recent magical night. Pete ogled the jaw-dropping pictures and the poundage number he put on the biggest is almost fantasy material, but let’s just say it was huge! While I don’t know these taciturn surf hounds, I do know a mentor who took 35-pounders from the same spot the previous night. My gut tells me that it was at a spot where a river meets up with a beach, and it was most likely on an ebbing tide! The hot lure was the white Ocean Lure sand eel and the bait was eels with the biggest bass caught on a fresh-dead eel!

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle told me that schools of peanut bunker have been the conduit of some surface action in Lynn Harbor, off Lynn Beach, Red Rock and King’s Beach. My friend Joe Holey told me of suit-cladded friend who saw a bird/bass show off Nahant, kicked off the shoes and waded out to find willing bass between 30” and 35”! Some of Tomo’s customers are beaching bigger bass from the Lynn/Swampscott/Marblehead surf while casting 24-7 Flipping Mullets and Super Strike Little Neck Poppers. There are plenty of schoolies in the Danvers River and you’ll also find them in the North River. Not everyone is catching in Salem Sound but there’s enough random success to make attempts worthwhile.

Martha from Surfland said that there were a few 40-inch-plus fish recently taken in Plum Island Sound on spook-type lures. The Middle Ground has been especially productive. The mouth of the Parker River is worth a go for eel-casters as is most anywhere throughout the river, especially wherever you find the shadowline of a bridge. The buggy brigade is catching them up off the sands of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation with a special nod going to the Camp Safe Haven area and Emerson Rocks. Boaters casting eels and trolling the tube and worm are finding bass off Breaking Rocks.

Fishing Forecast

On the South Shore, target the outflow of Ellisville Harbor in Plymouth or Beaver Dam Brook on White Horse Beach; eels are a given with Slug-Go types a nice substitute. Hull to the Pemberton Pier has been hot in the Hub as bass prey on peanut bunker. A fresh pogy chunk off Moon Island or Deer Island is always a good bet. There have been some moby bass caught and released from North Shore beaches recently and odds are that there are more where they came from. Spend some time after dark working eels where rivers/marshes drain into beaches such as Crane Beach, Coffin Beach and by Emerson Rocks at the mouth of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation. It may be premature to call it “the run,” but the pace is certainly picking up!