Massachusetts Fishing Report – March 19, 2015

Like the mythical desert-walker stumbling through the sands, legions of anglers who have had all the ice they can handle are mumbling, “water… need water…” – as in open water! I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is there are some open-water prospects, but the bad news is that with 20” of ice in Greater Boston, you’ll have to be patient.

The hardcore hardwater cadre is still loving it, but increasingly shops are telling me that those guys are the minority. One owner said that one of the local bait distributors managed to fulfill his deliveries in just one day, and that was throughout all three southern New England states! For the ones who are still wringing this epic ice-fishing season for all it’s worth, the fishing is great. Snowmelt, along with “brighter” water, is the catalyst for nymphs and other invertebrates to start stirring. Combine this with the pre-spawning urges many species are experiencing and you can easily understand why those in the know view last ice as among the best ice.

Regardless, a healthy dose of caution must now be packed along with your traps, spikes, and sounders. No longer is it wise to just rush out there; some shorelines are shot, especially those that have a southeast face. In one day, in spite of the cold, a Greater Boston water body featuring 20″ of ice developed a “floater” right next to just such a shoreline. Had you stepped on that panel-sized chunk, you would have went in! Time to break out the picks and be careful, especially around any sort of moving water.

While talking with Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate, I was reminded that March 17th for some stood for something more than corned beef, cabbage, and green beer – it stood for flounder. Without a doubt, winter flounder are in bays and estuaries right now and they are spawning! The problem is that with water temperatures still south of 40 degrees, their need to feed is greatly diminished. Regardless, should you soak some clams or seaworms on muddy estuarial bottom, you might interest a flounder. More than in many years, catching a flounder outside of the May-to-August window is now a real possibility because there are simply more of them around. Unfortunately, winter flounder stand alone as the Mass Bay groundfish success story. Along with my friend Captain Jason Colby, we stopped fishing for flounder last year in late July because his boat the Little Sister shifts focus toward Westport and the diverse buffet of species that live there. But the reports kept on coming. The last I heard was that a few who continued to focus on flounder took them all the way into November last year! It comes down to numbers. When a stock is healthy, they expand their geographical range and open their feeding windows, and that is what we are experiencing now.

Places to consider are the Scituate and Cohasset harbors. A nod has to be given to the swath between Dorchester Bay and the Neponset River, as well as the mouth of the Weymouth Fore River. The Sugar Bowl in South Boston was perennially an early-season flounder producer. I would target a late morning/evening ebbing tide, which is exactly what we have at the present. Bycatch blackbacks were taken late last fall between the Alford Street Bridge and the commuter rail bridge at the mouth of the Mystic River. The area between the Belle Isle Bridge and the East Boston Yacht Clubs could yield an early season flounder. The Lynn Marsh/Lynn Harbor area could be worth a shot, especially the Pines River and Point of Pines. There are few that will target flounder in early spring off the Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott. Incidentally, the guy who told me about the last location was Noel of Bridge Street Sports in Salem. This shop is the last business standing that employs a stable of seaworm-diggers. I have buddies who are counting the days until they can get their tin boats out to target holdover stripers and they already have flats of worms spoken for from this shop. If you call ahead, Noel will probably take care of your seaworm fix also.

Meanwhile, open-water options in fresh water will be here soon. The Charles River is a place to keep watch of. Two places that come to mind are the effluence where the Muddy River empties into the Charles River on the Boston side and the hot-water discharge between the Longfellow Bridge and the Hotel Sonesta on the Cambridge side. The list of species that swim here is nearly endless and ranges from white catfish to holdover stripers. Where the Mystic River transitions between its tributaries, the Upper and Lower Lakes, as well as at the Amelia Earhart Dam, are where open water options occur first. I even got some sizzling news regarding the Stillwater Basin from Eddie in B&A: it seems that is opening up as well.

In the meantime, don’t put away that auger just yet! Earlier in the season, Jim from Barry’s in Worcester was sounding like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime as he was talking in terms of 300 and even 400 pounds – of bait orders that is! Now, he sounds more like Olive Oyl as he is taking in only 50 pounds. Angling interest may be down, but the black bass bite is way up! Smallies are smacking shiners, jigging Raps, blade baits and small Storm WildEye Live Perch swim baits at Singletary Lake. Webster Lake has been a bronzeback winner as well. For a lunker of a largemouth, check out Chauncy by the hospital. Guys who would prefer pike are having their oversized shiners inhaled by big bass here! Jim suggests you look for the weedline edge by the pump house.

If you’ve ogled the 31-pound pike featured on-line at On The Water, you may have asked yourself just where you can get one like that. Jim from JCB just might have the answer. His bailiwick could almost be called, The Pike Place. Cheshire Reservoir, Lake Onota, Lake Buel and Pontoosuc Lake all have northerns – big northerns! And now more than any other time of the year those fish are active. Look shallow, look for weeds and reeds and inlets. The more you compound this structure, the more likelihood you’ll have action in spring.

Dave from Merrimack Sports said that it is trout time! A few are still being pulled out of Plugs Pond. A better bet for bows is Baldpate and maybe Pleasant as well as Round. Recently some mammoth pike up to 24 pounds have been caught among the slovenly stretches of the North Andover stretch of the Merrimack River. This is obviously moving water so be extremely careful but this place does have monsters.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

If you’re expecting to wet a line in open water this weekend, then as Al Pacino said in Donnie Brasco, “Fuhgeddaboudit!” However it’s not unrealistic to keep one eye peeled for prospects. Masswildlife certainly is—the Southeast District should be snooping around next week for stocking opportunities, but as for the rest of the districts, access and ice are delaying dates to at least the beginning of April – yikes! You could be fortunate enough to find a flounder or two. They are close enough to reach from bridges, piers and jetties near the places I previously mentioned. Of course, in the end, the beat continues! Your best bet remains hardwater. That point was driven home to me late Thursday morning as I heard my neighborhood pond booming! I thought, “Imagine that, still building ice and tomorrow is supposed to start spring!”