Massachusetts Fishing Report – June 9, 2016

Pictured: Fishing FINatics weighed in this 43 pounder caught by Mark D’Angelo on a seaworm.

If predictions can be made based on the past, then the next two weeks are your best chance to catch your personal-best striper. Do I have your attention? While there are signs that this season may be different, recent fall runs have lacked pogies and a run without pogies is a short sprint at best. But there’s no need to worry about that now; like offshore eddies saturated with life, waves of big bass that had been feeding in deep water are cruising closer to the coast.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Speaking of offshore life, Scotty of Green Harbor Bait and Tackle in Marshfield said that tuna have been tormenting anglers east of Chatham between the BC Buoy and the Regal Sword as marked fish have been reluctant to rise to offerings. The belief is that the bluefin are feeding on groundfish and reluctant to move. Maybe those groundfish are haddock, which as water temperatures rise are dropping off Stellwagen Bank and drifting off to deeper water. You can still catch on and around the bank, but it no longer is a “one drift and you’re done” affair as it had been. If Scotty had to pick one place on the bank, it would be the Southeast Corner. Not surprisingly, this may also be your best bet to bust a tuna!

Striper fishing is superb off Race Point, as anglers are vertical-jigging Daddy Mac Elite Jigs as well as trolling and catching from the mid-30-inch range through the upper-40s. The action has been from the rip to the bathhouse.

Shops across the Bay State are talking up the appearance of pogies, and while I have no confirmation about Green Harbor, this place habitually is a spot that gets them when they are numerous. The harbor out to Farnham Bell has been good for bass with those trolling mackerel catching best. Acquiring mackerel should be no problem and you should start your search as soon as you clear the harbor. High percentage mackerel spots have been High Pine Ledge as well as Mackerel Rock (!) off The Gurnet. Incidentally, fisherman are having an easy go of catching 5- to 9-pound cod all through here. Another active striper spot has been the wall between Marshfield and Duxbury Beach.

Pete Belsans Bait in Scituate said bass are having no problem finding all they want to eat from Duxbury Bay pogies to hordes of pollock around Scituate. The anglers doing best with the pogies are fishing the live bait close to the school. This is important since there are not a lot of bass with the bait just yet and no bluefish to leave massacred remains for a cow clean-up crew. Snagging is only part of the story; the rest is to keep watch of the rest of the school.

The cod cadre is crushing nice white-bellies in 50 to 70 feet of water by jigging near structure and depth breaks. Mackerel remain numerous and increasingly the larger linesiders which were the province of the offshore fleet are being caught in close. One example is a 47-inch striper taken just off Egypt Beach. This beach features one-stop-shopping since you can catch your bait – pollock – on site and find your bass there as well. Mac Daddy Baby Vipers and Bill Hurley Squid Jerk Baits have been catching fine fish throughout the marsh at the mouth of the South River. The flounder fishing remains good in Scituate Harbor, especially at channel edges. If you’re looking for that state derby winner, hit less harried water off Egypt Beach and Peggotty Beach.

Greater Boston Harbor Fishing Report

Part of my awareness of the cows that come calling every year at this time comes courtesy of Pete Santini’s Boston Harbor Striper Shootout! This is the harbor’s longest running one day striper tournament in Greater Boston – 18 years and counting – and never fails to feature jaw-dropping big fish. In addition to the competition, camaraderie, eats and prizes you’ll be rubbing elbows with some of Boston’s best and after the event they are often in the mood for giving up invaluable tips. A generous donation to the Soldier’s Home makes the derby a winner all around. The captain’s dinner party is June 17th, followed by the tournament which begins at midnight and ends 5:00 p.m. on the 18th. I’ll see you there! Over the weekend Pete sent me a barrage of torturous photos of stripers he and crew were catching up to 50 inches long as if to put a big exclamation point that big bass are indeed here. Some of the pics clearly showed the shoreline of Winthrop in the background. Slowly-trolled mackerel were the ticket along Winthrop. If you don’t find them there, never ignore good-old Revere Beach.

With all the mackerel around, not surprisingly tinkers are the top draw from the 24-7 vending machine at Hull Bait and Tackle. Black Rock Beach, just outside of Cunningham Bridge, Gunrock Beach, Point Allerton and Hull Gut have all been productive. While mackerel account for mixed sizes of stripers pogies cull out the cows. While it’s early, there are more pogies off the Bay State coast than in years. Two local spots where they are snagging them are the Town River and Wollaston Beach. Other perennial pogy hot spots worth a look-see are the Lower Middle of the harbor, Constitution Beach, Crystal Cove, Revere Beach, Lynn Harbor and off Nahant.

The flounder fisherman are beginning to show signs of fatigue. May they always be so lucky! It’s been a stellar year for ol’ blackback, but don’t quit now, since history shows us that the baddest blackbacks of all are caught from now through July! In fact, Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters has been hauling 2½- to 4-pound slabs onto the Little Sister with regularity. That state derby winning winter flounder is lurking out there somewhere and if you stick to it, it might be you at the award ceremony.

Darlene from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop told me that surf fishermen are still catching flounder by the Native American and Irish American memorials by the harbor side of Deer Island. Lisa from Fore River B&T in Quincy said that the shop’s scale is getting an unprecedented workout this year thanks to the awesome striper fishing. Point Allerton and Webb Park have been great for shore-casters, kayak anglers and boaters with chunk mackerel and clams accounting for 25-pound-plus fish! Don’t discount the herring runs in the Weir River, Weymouth Fore and Back, as well as the Neponset rivers. While the runs are petering out, big stripers will remain looking to pick off hapless, spent blueback herring as they fall back from upstream spawning habitat.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

The big news is pogies from Manchester Harbor through Magnolia Harbor and also Plum Island Sound. I have no scuttlebutt on Salem Harbor, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they are there too! With the arrival of bigger bass try short-circuiting your route to a cow with a live pogy. Snag them up and stick with the pogy schools; the bass will not be far from the forage.

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that some are jigging up mackerel by Misery Island and finding feeding bass up against the wash of Bakers Island. Others are getting fish up to 25 pounds by trolling mackerel from the mouth of the Danvers River up to the Kernwood Bridge. That bridge has been hot for shore fishermen as well. Bridges and bucktail jigs go together like stripers to an eel. Bridges seem to really kick in once the water temps crest 60 degrees. The bridge shadow line at night is where the fish will often lurk and if you have a trained eye you can often see them meandering in the shadows as a bass’ back is darker still than the black of the shadow line. At the turn of the top of the tide is when I’ve done best and it helps to spot the fish first and then drag that jig at an angle just in front of that bass so it won’t have to travel far to strike. Soon, if not already, eels will be the great equalizer. While stripers may not move far for an artificial they will “run” to the splat of an eel as it slaps the surface upon touchdown.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester backed me up on my assumption that the next two weeks are the odds-on best for a personal-best bass, and with pogies arriving, the ante is upped further. They’ve been confirmed in Cape Ann harbors just south of Gloucester but by now they may even be there! The biggest bass weighed into the shop last year – a nifty-fifty plus – was taken by a guy who regularly fishes pogies and regularly fishes Magnolia Harbor as well as the backshore of Gloucester. Mackerel are in Gloucester Harbor and out through the Groaner and are the go-to bait for those catching bass up to 30 pounds. Trolling helps by depth edges and over structure but some are catching by simply anchoring and live-lining. Squid and flounder from docks and piers as well as the Dogbar Breakwater are probably the most consistent quarry for the shore folks.

Kellen O’Malley of Connemara Bay Fishing Charters out of Gloucester reported excellent fishing for haddock on middle-bank, with even a few juvenile halibut muscling their way onto lines. An added bonus is that the dogs haven’t been yapping yet.

When Martha of Surfland refers to the fishing in Plum Island as excellent it might be time to make plans! Most promising is the appearance of pogies in Plum Island Sound! I’d watch the Parker River for signs of pogies there; the smaller water cuts off escape routes for the baitfish and has balled up the bass on them in the past. A mackerel mob has been shoving sandeels up against the shore and stripers have been lurking behind like some multi-level feeding frenzy! Anglers are snapping up Sabiki rigs and in turn catching and live-lining mackerel from the shore as well as the jetties. Not surprisingly, a number of 20- to 25-pound stripers have been weighed into the shop. The mouth of the Merrimack has woken up also, and the schoolies of last month have been supplanted by the keepers of right now! Boaters are loading up with mackerel from Breaking Rocks, Hampton Shoal Ledge and the Speckled Apron and tolling by the South Side of the Island, especially by Emerson Rocks and Sandy Point and doing very well.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The next two weeks could prove to be the most productive of the season for those looking for their personal-best striped bass. On the South Shore, offshore trolling live mackerel by Davis Ledge as well as Minot Ledge will result undoubtedly in some very big stripers. But there are inshore alternatives such as live pogies by Powder Point Bridge and live pollock or mackerel off the beaches of Scituate. Boston B&T shop scales should get slimed with plenty of stripers over the foreseeable future with some of the better places Point Allerton, Hull Gut, Webb Park and off Winthrop. Pogies are the big news for big bass on the North Shore with Magnolia and Plum Island Sound getting the nod for snagging and dropping this bait toward a cow. Offshore the haddock are hitting, the dogs quiet, and there’s even the prospect of pulling up a halibut.