Massachusetts Fishing Report – May 14, 2015

The magic with May is how quickly striper stories turn from rumors, to schoolies, to keepers—and it often happens in just one week! The South Shore has recorded its first teen fish, but that’s been bested by a 25-pounder taken in Boston Harbor! The North Shore has reports of the first keeper-sized fish, and flounder fortunes have finally taken an uptick.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Scotty from Green Harbor Bait & Tackle gave the green light that stripers were indeed back. Anglers are catching them in the harbor as well as the North and South rivers. No corkers to speak of yet, but a hint that they may be on the way comes courtesy of the swarms of sea herring and mackerel from Race Point out to The Gurnet. If you’re hoping to bump your fishing from schoolies to something that could pull drag, you could do worse than troll/snap parachute jigs off The Race. Expect by this weekend to have mackerel as close as Farnham Rock and with them stripers big enough to pull drag.

Flounder fortunes have improved in Green Harbor as well as just outside of the jetties. I would not be surprised if flounder were also stirring off Duxbury Beach as well as Brown’s Bank. Some patrons are taking advantage of the swell shad fishing in the South, North and Indian Head Rivers. There’s also word of shad being found in Green Harbor River.

Not only have stripers showed up in Scituate, but there have even been a few 15-pounders taken in the North River! Spooks are a good choice on an incoming tide when stripers will shove river herring against upstream structure. The effluence of the Herring River is a good place to start. A few stripers have been caught off Cedar Point and now might be a good time to pack a light surf bag and hit area beaches at first light such as Mann Hill Beach, Egypt Beach and Peggotty Beach. Anglers are doing that on the North Shore and doing quite well. Swarm is the best word to describe shad in the Indian Head River right now. With striper-mania preparing to take off, now might be a great time to fish for shad as interest has shifted elsewhere. The skinny water here makes this a dusk-to-dawn fishery. Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait in Scituate is reporting near-limits of flounder now in both Scituate and Cohasset Harbors.

Boston Harbor Fishing Report

Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle said that stripers have invaded Hingham Harbor into World’s End reservation and into the Weir River. Surface activity has been observed from Gunrock Beach through Nantasket Beach and out to Point Allerton. Gunrock Beach has habitually harbored good numbers of flounder. Lisa from Fore River said that some are catching squid off Nut Island Pier already! The Weymouth Fore River, Back River, the Town River and the Neponset River all have schoolies! The best bass of the year she has heard of so far is a 32-incher that gulped down a clam from the Weymouth Back River. Look for that top fish to tumble soon.

I don’t ordinarily expect to hear of a report of Boston Harbor from Pete of Belsan’s B&T, but he saw a picture of a 42-inch, 25-pounder that was taken by a lobsterman in the harbor. He suspects the fish fell for mackerel. While aboard Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister on Sunday, I nearly salivated as I saw a bait/bird/bass show going on at Nantasket Roads. We were flounder fishing, and I so badly wanted to tip someone off who was hoping for bass, but the harbor was whisper quiet. Incidentally the flounder fishing is finally taking flight with Jason’s crew boating limits of flatties on Wednesday.

C-MAP Boston Harbor Flounder Hotspot Map

Ordinarily, the mantra for mackerel is Mother’s Day to Father’s Day so this could be a breakout weekend for both macks and stripers. Expect the first volley of mackerel to hit Martin’s Ledge soon as well as the BG Buoy. The Charles River locks, the Amelia Earhart Dam and the Belle Isle Marsh all have schoolies. I’m certain they can also be found inside of East Boston between the airport and the East Boston Yacht Club.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me that customers are catching flounder from the shore behind the Walmart on the Lynnway. Some are experiencing interesting bycatch of stripers while they are soaking seaworms. Red Rock has been hot for bass with seaworms being the best bait. Just this Wednesday Tomo got a number of tips from shore guys who witnessed busting bass from Swampscott out to Salem. Fish are being taken near the Beverly/Salem Bridge as well as farther upstream in the Danvers River. The Ocean Lures Swimming Baitfish has been deadly. Mackerel are being jigged up by Misery Island, Bakers Island and Children’s Island. A few flounder have been found by the Jubilee Yacht Club, Manchester Harbor and at Niles Beach in Gloucester. The first schoolies of the year have appeared in Gloucester’s Little River by the Railroad Bridge.

Kay from Surfland in Newburyport said that the normally hot early-season spot, the sandbar at the mouth of the Merrimack River, has been taking a backseat to the beachfront. A few anglers wading and casting have been into keeper striped bass on the incoming tide. The SP Minnow remains one of the most popular lures here, but there are many who prefer “throwbacks” such as jig/curly-tail combos and Charlie Graves Tin Squids.

Shad are more sporadic now from Rocks Village to the Lawrence Dam. Back in the day when river herring were considered a necessity, the stretch of the Merrimack River from the Chippendale Dance Club in North Andover to the Lawrence Dam consistently gave up the earliest cows of the season. Odds are that fish will be there soon and I would bet they’d be interested in a 9” Magic Swimmer or maybe one of those new Surf Pro Tackle swimmers.

Fishing Forecast

If there ever was a time when fishing success could be called dynamic, it is now. Look for waves of schoolies to be augmented with bigger fish in Plymouth and Duxbury Bays. Herring will be the draw, which will attract migrating, famished stripers up through the North River from Damon’s Point up through the Norwell stretch. Flounder have finally woken up in Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor, Cohasset Harbor and Boston Harbor. A Sabiki rig fished by Martin’s Ledge might reward you with a livewell full of mackerel. Live line the macks by Quarantine Rocks or take them to the headwaters of herring runs such as the Charles River locks and the Amelia Earhart Dam. Busting bass have been observed from Nahant through Devereux Beach in Marblehead. Salem Sound has mackerel with odds good that stripers will be nearby. Farther north, schoolies are slamming SP Minnows in the Plum Island surf, but odds are that bigger bass are cruising the Merrimack River in search of a herring snack!