Massachusetts Fishing Report | October 23, 2014

Let’s get it out of the way, as much as it hurts – most striped bass have scooted for more southern environs! However, that reality proved irrelevant the other day as I spoke to Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem, who was reduced to a stammering shadow of himself after witnessing a big blitz behind his shop! The inshore cod catch continues to please, and with encouraging reports of smelt and even flounder, in some ways this fall is fishing like yesteryear!

Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate said that striped bass relations have been reduced to schoolie-fests. Of course, the raging Nor’easter has not exactly been conducive to attempts. Just prior, however, the cod craze continued with locations just inside of federal waters producing the most action. Smelt effort has been lacking, but considering catch rates up north it might be time to revisit the Plymouth Public Pier as well as the Scituate Harbormasters shack dock. Odds are good that if you put your time into local estuaries while fishing eels at such places as the Herring River, you will catch bass. You just have to realize that it is late October and expectations have to be checked at the shoreline. After hearing very encouraging news about flounder in Boston, I can’t help but wonder if there are a few flatties hugging the bottom of Green Harbor and Scituate Harbor.

It took Captain Jason Colby two hands to heft his crab trap up Thursday morning, which is good news for his blackfish bait stash but just as importantly good news for you if you’re in the mood to catch some crab crunchers. Previously the crabs were spread out, random and not very willing to enter a trap in significant numbers to chow down on a yummy fish rack. But plummeting water temperatures have the crabs gathering and on the move for some green crab grub. Predators rarely waste an opportunity to dispatch their prey, and like clockwork tautog can be expected to be schooling up and feeding much more aggressively from now until nearly December! Additionally expect the nastiest blackfish to be on the prowl in water of less than 30 feet on the Westport side of Buzzards Bay.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Rick from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy has been suffering from the “kid inside on a rainy day” syndrome. And it’s not that he’s been told not to go outside, it’s just that the torrents have washed his prized grass shrimp out of their estuarial lairs so they are harder to locate. And demand is up! A regular of the shop had a limit of smelt the other day at the Summer Street Bridge in South Boston! Just remember, DMF rules limit anglers to 50 fish per day. Smelt are being taken among numerous piers, docks and wharves throughout Hull, Hingham, Quincy and Winthrop in relatively impressive numbers. Smelt are fecund and fast growers, in fact a two-year-old smelt is a spawner so it doesn’t take long for these fish to rebound. If you’ve fancied fishing at the winter smelt camps in Maine and were disheartened by the catastrophic fishing last year, be aware that authorities there are going to be addressing what might be part of the problem. Dip netting for smelt among Maine estuaries/rivers may soon be a thing of the past since some authorities feel it removes too much of the stock and interrupts spawning. I’ll be paying attention to that end and I’ll pass along whatever I find.

As good news as the smelt was, the fine flounder fishing may be even better. Rick told me that one of the few patrons of the shop who is looking for flounder is finding limits in Hull Harbor! In fact she bested a blackback the other day which was a shade under 4 pounds! I’ve heard of “bycatch” blackbacks at the mouth of the Mystic River and even heard of a few at Deer Island Flats.

I would be very surprised if there are not some Boston Harbor bass blitzes this weekend, but the downside is that they most likely will be schoolies, although you’ll never know!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in the Pickering Wharf Area in Salem has been seeing more folks dressed as zombies than anglers lately owning to the area’s appeal as a magnet for Halloween revelers. That is a shame because the undead are ill-equipped to handle the blitz he witnessed just behind the shop on Wednesday morning. Tomo was unsure of the size of the fish, but the surface display was impressive.

What Tomo is sure of is the squid action since he can hardly keep jigs in stock. Squid are being found off Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Beverly. One competent calamari catcher tallied 150 squid on one outing! With the smelt scuttlebutt in the Boston area, it might be time to take a box of seaworms and bait up with bits on a sabiki rig to see if smelt numbers are up on the North Shore as well. Find a pier that is lit at night in a bay/estuary and you may find some hungry smelt.

Those blitzing bass off Salem could be off Devereux Beach in Marblehead or Lynn Beach by this weekend! Kay from Surfland in Newburyport said that there is talk of good smelt fishing among the Parker River in Newbury. You may want to give the Plum Island River a go as well. The beach buggy bunch are beaching bass among the surf of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation and the Crane’s Beach crew is catching the occasional bass but they are working for it. Liz said the shop has a full display of the prize-winning StormR line of outerwear.

Freshwater Fishing Report

The drenching rain was just the tonic needed in Wachusett Reservoir and its tributaries according to Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle. It is expected that the increased flow will bring a mixed bag of salmonids into the Quinapoxet and Stillwater River. Already a 4-4 rainbow fell for Power Bait in the Quinapoxet! With landlocked salmon surging upstream look for rainbows and brown trout to be looking to scoff up eggs, making salmon eggs a best bait bet. If you do a little snooping around to find tributaries of the tributaries than you’ll find native brookies as well. A blown-up worm of the Route 70 side of the reservoir could result in a 2-pound white perch or a 4-pound smallie! Bounce a spoon into the deep holes on the Gate 30 side of Wachusett for lakers which should be sporting spawning colors about now.

Russ Eastman of Monahan’s Marine had a hot tip about South Pond from a source, near and dear to him – his mom! Mrs. Eastman has developed an eagle-eye when it comes to spotting hatchery trucks and one just dropped off, presumably brown trout, in this water body known for its production of out-sized brown trout. Russ recommends that you keep it simple here by trolling medium shiners behind a ¼- or 3/8-ounce egg sinker and target points where shallows meet up with steep drop-offs. One of the things which make this central mass waterbody so special is that it has a forage base consisting of landlocked alewives. Another option would be to use a small sabiki to see if you can jig up a few of the herring and try trolling them around for pike. There aren’t a lot of pike but they occasionally cruise in from Quaboag Pond and the ones which stay become huge! Big bows are belting firetiger Kastmasters at the Cold Stream portion of the Deerfield River.

Fishing Forecast

With the waning Nor’easter, the last legs of the striper run should be underway. Be on the lookout for bass off Duxbury Beach, White Horse Beach or Shifting Lots Preserve on the South Shore. If you care for a keeper cod or three, try jigging up the stretch from Minots Ledge to the end of state waters. Smelt success is one of the big surprises this fall and the catching has been encouraging off Hull, Hingham and Winthrop. Squid are a smash off Salem, and with recent news of striper blitzes the beaches should be prime time for drive-by surfcasting. Give the Gloucester State Pier a go for smelt and if you have a boat at the ready there’s cod to be caught by Kettle Island off Cape Ann.