Massachusetts Fishing Report | September 18, 2014

Any trainer worth his or her sweatshirt would advise you to warm up before you run. Well that is exactly what resident striped bass are doing as fish are on the move—and the same could be said for anglers giving chase. Those bastions of bass reliability, marshes, estuaries and rivers, have in many cases gone cold as resident fish flush out and begin to hug the coast in search of as many calories as possible. While the bite is best now among the open ocean, once the migration is in full swing the bass you have found inshore in the past will come calling again this fall.

South Shore/Westport Fishing Report

As much as we tout the total experience as to why we fish at the end of the day, we fish because we want to catch. The Westport side of Buzzards Bay has variety that would rival a smorgasbord. Resident stripers are still in the river, and from dark through first light will have a hard time passing up an eel. What I’m finding aboard Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister is fast-paced action for good fish if not great fish up to about 25 pounds. Look for an “upgrade” to those resident fish once the run is under way and fish from up north fill in.

Meanwhile, you might say it’s a formal affair as rockpiles, reefs and wrecks just outside are filled with black sea bass and are starting to harbor blackfish. I recently had the pleasure of dueling with a black sea bass as well as an 8-pound class tautog on the same top/bottom rig. The bite is no deeper than 30 feet; what’s working for us is drifting over irregular bottom and I’m employing a blue Shimano Lucanus on the bottom and a 3-inch Gulp! Squid on the top hook. In my estimation, there is no better black sea bass offering than the Lucanus. And you don’t have to be fancy with it, just drop it to the bottom and quickly crank back up about 5 turns of the handle and then repeat the movement; the jig will do the rest. A conventional reel rules here. Remember that black sea bass has closed as of September 15.

Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth told me that big blues are quick to make short work out of soft plastics just outside of Plymouth, especially in the vicinity of the power plant. Anglers are reporting fast-moving striped bass, which could be at Cripple Rocks one minute and Clarks Island the next. But when found, the fish are hungry! If you don’t see obvious feeds, stick to the channels and pound the edges with soft plastic stickbaits such as the Bill Hurley Mouse Tail or a SPRO Jig, the mistake anglers make is to go too heavy; often times you’ll need no heavier than a half-ounce. A keen eye can pick up pogy flips from Plymouth out to the Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury; live lining a pogy is not for those with a short attention span but when a linesider shows some love, it’s going to be a doozy!

Bob from Green Harbor B&T said that the going for giants is as good as it has been all year. He knew of 6 different big bluefin catches over the last few days. The one constant is that it has been live bait that has been the undoing of these monsters. Try floating a mackerel, whiting or small bluefish under a balloon at the edge of contour lines close to deep water at first light. Tuna often hunt at night in deeper water for squid among other prey and rush up from the depths to surprise forage in shallower water from pre-dawn to dawn. Bait is often easier to ball up and capture when light is low because the superior eyesight of tuna give them a huge edge which is somewhat mitigated as the sun rises. Another option is to troll a squid bar along those same contour line edges during the same period.

When I spoke to Bob, he just finished ogling a photo of a customer’s 50-inch striper that he took off of one of the local beaches on a Lemire needlefish plug. Mackerel can be caught almost as soon as you clear the inshore. While the cape gets the buzz on sharks from the shore, some anglers very quietly go about turning the tables on these apex predators off Duxbury Beach. The quarry is usually sand tiger sharks, which have some pretty gnarly dentifrice, the time is usually night and the bait is a big chunk or an eel. And the size can top 6’ in length! It’s not for everybody, but it’s a cool thing knowing something like that swims that close to shore!

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

The rivers/estuaries which remain hot are those that have river herring fry. It’s pretty obvious why bass would be in abundance with all that bait. Those river systems that don’t harbor a good herring run are hit or miss at the moment, although you can pretty much always count on a schoolie or two. While it’s hard to gauge when things will change, they most certainly will. When the run gains momentum, bass and big ones at that, will cruise into skinny water, usually at dark, and expect to find something to top off the tank with such as eels.

If rivers are letting you down don’t discard them for the season, just keep at it and keep to the dark. Waves of bass will enliven such insure watersheds soon enough and often into the final stages of October! Meanwhile the game is that bass and blues are on the go! Blow-ups are here one tide, gone the next, and it can be maddening if you miss it and you can miss it by minutes. Here’s an example: Wednesday morning there was bass/bluefish bedlam from Lynn Beach and almost as soon as it began the fish moved off to Short Beach, and no sooner did the anglers settle it took off at East Point. Shortly after, mayhem ensued by Shag Rocks. And then– it was over by mid-morning. Johnny-come-latelys felt short-shrifted but not the ones earlier who were fortunate enough to have cashed in on the cows up to 36 pounds. Such is life in September. There have been recent surface feeds off Thompson, Spectacle Island, Hull, as well as Governor’s Flats.

Skip the outer islands or North/South Channels, all the activity seems to be confined close to the coast as well as the inner islands. The spring migrations brings bass via deep passages but not now—those fish are inshore and often close to shore because that is where the most reliable sources of food are. This is awesome news for the surfcaster because for once it puts that guy on almost even playing field with the boat brigade. Blitzes have been the order of business at Lynn Harbor with schoolies by day and much bigger – up to 36 pounds – in the evening. To increase your chances of catching a cow top off the livewell with mackerel which have recently been found off The Shags, Flip Rock and out to the BG Buoy.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Some of Tomo’s customers who patronize Tomo’s Tackle in Salem, slammed sizeable stripers on Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows by the old Coast Guard Station in Nahant. Those looking for squid can find about 8 to 10 most nights off the Commercial Street Pier in Marblehead. Schoolies are feeding aggressively in the Danvers River and the action is usually far upstream of the Beverly/Salem Bridge. Unlike past years, you cannot count on cashing in on guaranteed September action, there is simply less striped bass, instead with less competition the schools of fish are moving from school to school of baitfish. It all comes down to perseverance, timing and a goodly dose of luck!

Schoolies are the main draw among the Annisquam, Little, Essex and Ipswich rivers. At the moment, there are few larger among that skinny water but they deserve another nod beginning next month as migratory bass should re-load these habitats and with often bigger bass. The backshore of Gloucester has been going off in spurts, Niles Beach is also worth a look-see as is Singing Beach. Other north shore spots worth noticing are Pebble, Cape Hedge, Long Beach and Flat Point.

Liz from Surfland said that the Parker River Wildlife Reservation is getting the most attention and catching. Anglers in over-sand vehicles are occasionally chasing roving bird/bass blitzes resulting in mixed sizes of fish. As usual, the graveyard shift is having a better go of it and slinging serpents often rewards in the best fish of the night. Give Emerson Rocks a try on an outgoing tide. A few have been finding good fish at Sandy Point at the effluence where the Parker River meets up with Plum Island Sound. Even Joppa Flats has been jumping with the Salisbury side of the river fishing best.

Fishing Forecast

All bets are off this September and angling fortunes quickly shift from stellar to the skunk more so than just a few short years ago. If you’re looking for the most reliable action around, then the Westport side of Buzzards Bay is it. In a recent outing we caught 15-pound stripers, 8-pound tautog and a smattering of black sea bass and scup. Stick to the river with serpents for stripers, bounce a Lucanus among rocks and wrecks for black sea bass and just maybe a tautog. Plymouth through Duxbury has been most productive when targeting channel edges bordering flats and structure; should your snag hook gain purchase in a pogy, then by all means chunk or live line this premium striper bait. Boston bass have been found in Hull, Thompson Island, Spectacle Island and Governor’s Flats, but be prepared to stick and move. Lynn has been lucky with bass on the feed up to 36 pounds in the harbor and the ocean front out toward Nahant. The biggest bass on the North Shore are prowling among the kelp canopies of the backshore of Gloucester and among the sands of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation, a four-wheel drive can be your best friend.