Massachusetts Fishing Report - August 20, 2015

If you were out during the last week, you probably noticed that anglers weren’t the only ones feeling the heat – their striped quarry wasn’t feeling too chipper either! After one of the finer stretches of the season, bass activity ran inverse of the skyrocketing mercury. Not all was lost however, as the canyons continue to be on fire and the buffet of species which call the southeast portion of the Bay State home weren’t affected by the rising temperatures in the least.

South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report

Anglers tooling around the South Coast area of Massachusetts have a problem we all should have. Namely what to fish for? With the virtual extirpation of cod from the Gulf of Maine, inshore fishing for most of Massachusetts consists of winter flounder, striped bass, and that’s about it! But little more than an hour from Boston, the Westport side of Buzzards Bay is a veritable buffet of species, and for many it is prime time right now. During a recent five-hour excursion aboard my friend Captain Jason Colby’s Little Sister we landed 20-pound stripers, bluefish, keeper fluke and black sea bass and for a few heart-pounding moments we put a cast or two into a fast-moving school of bonito. And when the season winds down for the other species, tautog are the cherry on the proverbial sundae right up into Thanksgiving. For stripers target rockpiles in Westport Harbor with eels at night. For fluke and black sea bass, ride a nice drift and unleash on them one of the most versatile lures on the market, Shimano’s Lucanus! For black sea bass free-spool and rapidly reel (“squidding”) up the Lucanus over rockpiles and wrecks and for fluke embellish conventional fluke rigs by swapping out the sinker with a Lucanus and see your strike rates surge!

Scotty Sinclair of Green Harbor Bait and Tackle told captivating tails of the canyons when we spoke. Friends of the shop did very well in the recent Nantucket Anglers Club tournament where the proceeds were donated to help fight MS. The hot bite has been at Hydrogapher Canyon while trolling Joe Chute Heads/skirted ballyhoo baits as well as Carlson Fuku bars. The plethora of pelagics consists of not only a variety of tuna but blue and white marlin as well as swordfish at night.

Closer to the coast chunk, fresh mackerel have been the key to a red hot beach bass bite. Duxbury, Rexhame, Humarock and Burke’s have all been good. The shop is selling bags of sand eels and tube and worm trollers have been replacing seaworms with the sand eels and not missing a thing. For blues troll deep-diving swimmers at the outer reaches of state waters or play it simple and toss topwater plugs to “horsehead” beasts by the Power Plant in Plymouth. Keep one eye out for pogy schools in the area: as the summer wanes the likelihood of large linesiders busting up that bunker increases a lot.

According to Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait in Scituate, while mackerel are the key not everyone is able find to open the door. Many are complaining that mackerel have done a disappearance act but the few that are on the water at dawn, aren’t afraid to chum and sometimes troll until they find the fish are getting mackerel. Live and sometimes fresh dead mackerel have resulted in 20-pound-class fish by the “Cliffs”, the New Inlet Buoy at the North River, Egypt Beach and The Glades. For the best bluefish bite be prepared to haul out to slightly offshore ledges such as Flatt Ledge, Davis Ledge and Stone Ledge. The hazy, “greasy” conditions have been ideal to mark tailing blues right on the surface.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Big bass were still present during the initial phases of the heat wave but once inshore water temperatures cooked to nearly 70 degrees, the superb shallow striper fishing went away. With it went many of the charter captains who resumed their offshore ledge-trolling maneuvers with mackerel. Mackerel are hit or miss but recently have been found at Harding’s Ledge, Martin’s Ledge, the BG Buoy, the East Point of Nahant, the 2 Can and Flip Rock. Chumming and trolling are essential components of a successful mackerel search. Some anglers are flipping over to the graveyard shift and catching squid throughout Nahant and catching stripers by Egg Rock, Lynn Beach, the Halfway House, Short Beach, Bailey’s Hill and the entrance to Lynn Harbor. Never discount the perennially consistent stretch from Deer Island through Short Beach in Revere. For the most action the Boston Harbor schoolie blitzes continue with the epicenter the Lower Middle of the Harbor. The trend has been that the feeds have begun at the start of the incoming tide, which negates the need for an early rise. In fact the bite has been better late morning. Forage has consisted of 5” brit herring so match your artificials accordingly.

Laurel from Hull B&T said that the tube-and-worm has been the ticket for stripers well into the upper 40-inch range off Blackrock Beach, Gunrock Beach as well as both the Hull and Hingham sides of World’s End. Stick-to-itiveness and keeping on the move is the key to topping off the livewell with mackerel off Hull. Lisa from Fore River recently joined Quincy Bay’s tube “dynamic duo” Donny and Bobby on a trolling excursion and they treated her to fish up to 26 pounds! The tube has been terrific by Bumpkin Island, Spinnaker Island, Jackknife Ledge, Veezie Rocks, Sunken Ledge, Toddy Rocks and Hull Gut at slower stages of the tide. Nut Island remains a multi-species producer with squid, black sea bass and flounder rounding out the catch. Recently the tables were turned on a squid with an angler live-lining a squid to the tune of a 40-inch striper! The few that are fishing for flounder are still catching them off Rainsford Island and George’s Island. In fact Lisa recently sent me a picture of a monster flounder which looked as if it would have been a shoe-in for its category in the state Saltwater Fishing Derby.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Matt from Capefish Outfitters said that surging water temperatures have made striper fishing spotty. Your chances are best for getting into surface feeds at dawn and then again at dusk in Salem and Beverly Harbors. Mackerel matter. If you believe bigger is better, haul out to Halfway Rock for a mackerel fix.

According to Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle anglers putting in the time to catch squid are catching bass more consistently than those using live mackerel! Tomo suggests that you hook squid through the mantel with a 6/0 or 7/0 octopus hook and drift or very slowly troll (in and out of gear) from 6’ to 11’ off Nahant, Lynn, Swampscott, Marblehead or Salem and Beverly Harbors. Squid are usually a slam dunk but numbers vary from night to night. Regardless if you find a lit pier, wharf or bridge at night from Swampscott through the State Pier in Gloucester than chances are really good you’ll find squid.

For blues, anglers are reporting finning choppers right on the surface as far out as 6 miles! The most shocking catch of the week is smelt which have been hitting Sabiki rigs intended for mackerel off Peaches Point in Marblehead. Some mackerel have been taken off Andrews Point where there have also bluefish hot on their tails. Anglers trolling Rapala X-Raps and Rapala Magnums are finding blues off Halibut Point.

Good news from Brandon of Surfland, beginning this Friday the vast majority of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation will be open to the public once again and permits will be available for over-sand vehicle use. The timing for this is good since there has been a brief flurry of activity. A few fish have been taken at the mouth of the Merrimack on eels at night during the outgoing tide. Eels have also been the trick for fish up to 20 pounds from the ocean front. Mackerel are a tough find with a few turning up at the usual haunts such as the Speckled Apron and Hampton Shoals Ledge.

Fishing Forecast

If you prefer your drag singing as you sing the blues than toss a topwater toward the busting ‘gator blues by the Power Plant in Plymouth. Keep your eyes peeled for pogies, chances are big bass will be shadowing the forage. For the fishing version of a bouillabaisse beat it toward the Westport where bonito, black sea bass, fluke as well as stripers and blues makes every tug on the line a “whodunit”! Boston’s best bet is the harbor blitzes which have been occurring late morning at the turn of the tide. Squid are still steady throughout the North Shore and make fine table fair as well as superb striper bait throughout Lynn, Nahant, Salem and Beverly Harbors.