Massachusetts Fishing Report – July 30, 2015

The big news is blues – big blues. From Plymouth to Plum Island, choppers rule, making for happy anglers and some sorry tackle. Anglers who have logged decades into the pursuit of stripers feel that it is eerily similar to the 80s with the lack of big bass creating a portal for bluefish to enter. Regardless, you can still catch the occasional cow—just be prepared to combine equal parts patience, a lot of different spots, and a lot of fuel.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Scotty from Green Harbor Bait & Tackle said that the best bet for action is big bluefish, which you should have no problem finding from the Plymouth Power Plant out past Green Harbor. The best locator is to troll with X-Raps, Rapala CD18s, and SP Minnows. Nighttime “ninjas” tossing mackerel chunks or eels up against Beetle Rock, Humarock Beach and Burkes Beach are doing best for those chasing stripers. With water temperatures well above 70 degrees, daytime pursuits of striped bass are a fool’s errand.

While a courteous guy, Scotty’s telling some anglers to “go fly a kite”! However, the tuna chasers are not taking it personal but rather suspending live mackerel, whiting, herring or most anything else live and legal that they can jig up, and hooking up to bluefin along the Southeast edge of Stellwagen as well as the Southwest Corner.

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate agrees that your best bet for action will most likely come courtesy of bluefish hunting down juvenile sea herring as well as the anything they can take a chunk out of by the “21 Can”, Minot’s Ledge as well as other slightly offshore ledges. Once found, the blues seem more than willing to thrill with topwater action. For a linesider or three, sink a mackerel chunk below the blue bedlam. The most successful striper fishermen have been heavy on effort and light on winks as darkness remains your best ally. Fresh chunks and eels by the Cliffs, Man Hill Beach, Sand Hill Beach and Black Rock Beach in Cohasset are all worth a shot.

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

For consecutive days, big blues have reigned over greater Boston, especially from Broad Sound out to Graves Light. Trolling lures and topwater plugs are all getting mugged, as are mackerel. These fish are all topping 10 pounds! It’s the hordes of small herring that are attracting all the action. There have been a few decent stripers taken from Deer Island out through the Standpipe and toward Seal Harbor, but be prepared to put in your time and donate a lot of mackerel to the cause. All those blues have pushed panicky mackerel in close, with some finding them by the Anchorage where the mackerel adopt a bit of a role reversal as they chase herring right to the surface.

I’ve been ogling a steady stream of impressive pictures of bass taken aboard Captain Rob Savino’s CJ Victoria out of Winthrop. Always free with tips, Rob recommends making a mackerel grab and then laying out a course of several deep ledges to troll by. Possibilities are Strawberry Ledge, Harding’s Ledge, Ultonia Ledge, Thieves Ledge and the ledge by the BG Buoy. Seldom is Rob finding the fish at the same ledge the following tide. His belief is that the cornucopia of bait combined with fewer stripers means that the fish are not staying put and travel from bait school to bait school. Your mission is to find the magic bait ball of the day.

Laurel from Hull Bait and Tackle told me that the tube-and-worm trollers are working for their bass, but they have been catching keepers from Gunrock Beach out toward Toddy Rocks and Point Allerton. Chunkers casting off Hull Gut have reported getting bitten off, no doubt the handiwork of bluefish. Pack steel leaders with you if you surf fish and every once in a while cast out a noisy topwater to seek if blues have come calling in close. This is a big year for squid! Odds are good that if you find a lit pier or rock in most any local bay there will be squid to some degree at night. Like any sort of fishing, there is a bit of a learning curve with catching consistent cephalopods. I’ve done well with pink SeaWolfe slow-sinking squid jigs, and the preferred method has been to spot the squid first and then give them two twitches followed by a freefall. It’s that fall which gets them every time.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

According to Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem, Nahant Bay has been home to impressive blue blitzes as well. A regular of the shop slaughtered 6- to 9-pounders on 247 Mullys. There were a few bass in the mix also. The “gut” of Egg Rock has been good with jighead/Slug-Gos working well. Lynn Harbor and Salem Harbor have had bass blitzes of mostly small fish. Some better bass have been trolled up closer to shore off Lynn Beach. Squid are still plentiful throughout bays with lit piers and access such as the Beverly Pier and Salem Willows. The Marblehead Pier off Commercial Street has been steady but difficult access makes it helpful to have a kayak or boat.

Matt from CAPEFISH outfitters in South Hamilton said that those seeking light tackle/fly rod action are finding it at both dusk and dawn throughout Salem Sound. Predominant forage consists of sea herring, making Flatwings and greenish Deceivers good matches. Extracting bass from the crags of Cape Ann is tougher now with water temperatures up but remains a solid bet for a bigger bass.

Joey from The Fisherman’s Outfitter said that squid is the great news out of Gloucester and elsewhere on the North Shore. Almost any lit pier, wall or dock at night seems to feature squid on the hunt. In addition to the Granite Pier and State Pier, they are being caught just off the boulevard in Gloucester. Some are live-lining squid on sight and catching stripers! The backshore of Gloucester has been home to schoolies with a few bigger mixed in. The same can be said for Good Harbor where beachgoers are seeing mixed sizes of stripers roaming right in the surf especially the inlet and Salt Island. The most steady tuna action is on Stellwagen but occasionally a school is spotted as close as Thatcher Island!

Tom from Surfland told me that in spite of soaring water temperatures (73 degrees) a few guys are picking off 40” fish of Joppa Flats. They’re scoring come dark with the purple/black SP Minnow. Once the sun is up, some are reporting frustration at seeing surface-cruising fish which are skittish. You can still find mackerel by Breaking Rocks with those live-lining the bait getting occasionally bit off by bluefish. Trolling deep-diving plugs out a bit should even the score with those bluefish. Occasional early morning blitzes off the ocean front of primarily small fish are making pre-dawn risers glad they got out. Boaters casting/trolling eels along the Parker River Wildlife Reservation are doing well. It’ll be at least until the end of August before the shore guys get their shot at it.

Fishing Forecast

The best bet this week is easy – bluefish, bluefish and bluefish! Over by the Power Plant in Plymouth as well as the 21 Can off Scituate have been consistent for choppers. The usual suspects in Boston Harbor are worth a go: jig up mackerel and pound the ledges off Hull as well as the outer harbor. On the North Shore, some are swooning over squid in Beverly and Gloucester. Meanwhile beachgoers in Good Harbor Beach are looking for their rods and the sun to set so they can have at the fish they are swimming among the surf.