Our striper pie can roughly be sliced into three parts: There’s rivers, estuaries and marshes, which have the potential for the fastest action but you can mostly count on small fish. Seasoned striper chasers continue to pursue larger fish among offshore structure with a live mackerel as the primary offering. And finally, there are those night stalkers who are putting in the time in when their quarry are most active – at dark!
Regardless of your inclination, the simple fact is that these are hardly the best of times for Boston (and beyond) bass. Success is usually the result of perseverance. An example of this is a kayaker in Lynn who found a pile of pogies and stuck with them for three nights. Mid-way through, he hit pay dirt for fish up to 30 pounds. It was hardly a pattern, since the very next night the bait was still present but the fish were gone! There are usually no shortcuts to striper success but especially so in 2016!
Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report
Scotty from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle said that decent blues have been pounding baitfish by the Plymouth power plant. There are plenty of pogies by Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury and a toothy presence running amok through the schools, namely sand tiger sharks! Green Harbor has been hot for stripers from inside the harbor out to the jetties as well as the Beach. The fish aren’t generally that big, but they’re hitting bait and artificials. While usually stripers are adored, anglers trolling squid bars as well as mackerel east of Stellwagen in 200 feet of water for obvious reasons regard even 30- to 40-pounders as nuisances. We can only hope that those fish push eastward soon, where they will be much more appreciated.
Tuna are present from the Southeast corner of the bank out through Murray Basin and Wildcat Knoll, but they are fussy! Haddock, however, are far less fussy and willing to take a jig/teaser. Underline that jig/teaser combination because the volume of dogfish will make you miserable should you opt for bait! Anglers who are targeting tuna are sticking with a lively jack mackerel below a balloon, which usually will keep the baitfish out of reach of the dog pack.
Some patrons of Belsans Bait and Tackle in Scituate are talking about the solid striper fishing among the offshore ledges, while most others are struggling. Still the photos of 40-pound bass are proof that it’s worth the effort. In addition to the usual ledges such a Minots, irregular bottom is proving successful east of Egypt Beach and the North River. Some are catching with mackerel and pollock but are few sharpies are sneaking out at dusk with eels and really upping their chances for a cow.
Even though it’s July, anglers are still limiting out on flounder! While Scituate Harbor, Egypt Beach and Peggotty Beach get the spotlight, there are doubtless countless patches of soft bottom surrounded my mussel beds/hard bottom, which hold flounder and odds are those blackbacks are big! Speaking of big “flounder,” another halibut was caught near Stellwagen Bank. This time angler Ed Norton hauled in a 52.4-pounder aboard Captain Stan Glaskin’s Polar Bear. The big flattie inhaled a Butterfly Jig in 245 feet of water.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
During most summers as the season progresses, the water temperatures get warmer, but not always. Captain Jason Colby during the last week has seen the steamy lower 60-degree temperature plummet to mid-50s! This has had a strange effect on fishy comings-and-goings. Jason was into a nice little black sea bass bite off Hull with keeper to short ratios of about 1:1! The bite has paralleled the water temperature – they both dropped. Conversely flounder which appeared to be on their way out have returned within a short distance of the shoreline of Quincy Bay. And these fish are getting fat as their feeding window has expanded. Still an “offshore” trip for flounder is a worthwhile endeavor out to the Brewsters, the Calfs, Devils Back, the BG Buoy and beyond. Not only have there been flounder there but “accidental” cod up to 25 pounds! Jessica Heil from Duxbury jigged up one that size that whacked a jig on the bottom of a Sabiki intended for mackerel.
Lisa from Fore River B&T said that the striper fishing in the Weir, Weymouth Back, and Neponset rivers is steady if not spectacular. Anglers searching out mackerel and trolling ledges such as Thieves, Three-and-One-Half Fathom, Minot and the BG Buoy are catching quality bass. This is hardly lock and load stuff but there’s enough action to make it worth your while. The size of the mackerel matters! If you’re finding nothing but tinkers as much as it may pain you, move on for bigger. Those big bass will only move far for a big meal. There have been lock-jawed big blues tailing on the surface of the water by the B Buoy. Should you stumble upon this, try erratically retrieving a bucktail jig just below the school, sometimes fish below inactive surface fish are ferocious!
Pete Santini from Fishing FINatics has a group of “urban patrol” patrons who poke around unlikely looking Greater Boston city spots and they find true gems. The Chelsea Creek may not look like much, but some of the stripers that anglers are catching there on chunk bait are impressive indeed. Pogies seem to be playing hit or miss with the Amelia Earhart Dam. If bait has pulled a no-show, try trolling a Santini tube between the dam and the Alford Street Bridge. Carl Vining of Somerville has been having some of the more consistent striper success in the harbor day in and day out while working a red tube. The key to Carl’s success is to tinker with weight so that the tube is slithering just above bottom!
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
Kayakers putting in their time and fishing “the right way” between dawn and dusk have been catching 40-inch bass on pink Slug-Gos and pogies! There have also been pogies according to Tomos Tackle in Salem in Marblehead Harbor. If you’re not scoring slab bass with the pogies, Tomo’s tip is to chunk or live line them by Tinker’s Island, Chandler Hovey Park, Castle Rock, Phillips Beach and Preston Beach. Squid have surged in numbers among piers in Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Beverly. Trolling a tube-and-worm at the mouth of the Danvers River is a high percentage method when the weather turns hot. Live mackerel can be deadly by Halfway Rock, Salem Sound as well as Saturday Night Ledge.
Tina from Three Lantern Marine told me that double-digit blues have chopped their way into Cape Ann. On Tuesday the shop weighed in a 13.4-pound gator and they’ve been encountered by Lobster Cove, Smith Cove, Goose Cove and Halibut Point. Beyond the Groaner, anglers are trolling them up with gold/orange Rapala CD18s and brightly colored X-Raps. Mackerel are on the move and tough to get a bead on. Some report a limitless supply while on the next tide they’re a tough find. Cod and even a few haddock have been taken just beyond Thatcher Island while flounder fishing remains fantastic with Lanes Cove especially getting a lot of love.
Surfland’s Martha said that thanks to mackerel, magic has returned to the Merrimack. It seems a new batch of bass have moved into the mouth for both the boat and boot brigade. Some of the stripers are topping 20 pounds especially for those drifting macks. The ocean front as well as Sandy Point have also rewarded anglers with 20 pound plus fish which have hit chunk and eels. Plum Island Sound as well as the Parker River had a pretty good nighttime eel bite last week but have cooled off. Joppa Flats has cruising stripers of all sizes but they are not always feeding!
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
You could do worse than to troll mackerel by Minots Ledge, but you’ll be better off still if you skip on the small bait and can find big macks for the livewell. Pollock by day and eels at night among inshore structure outside of the North River is a neat inshore alternative. Cooler harbor temperatures have pushed feeding flounder back into Quincy Bay but should temperatures spike again be on the lookout for black sea bass by Toddy Rocks, Hull Gut and off rockpiles near Nut Island. A red tube by the Amelia Earhart Dam is a good alternative to bait. Blues have been biting their way through Cape Ann while the Merrimack has been reloaded especially to those drifting with live mackerel.
I was wondering what is the best way to hook a pogie to live line it, if lucky enough to snag one? I’ve tried a few different ways but just wanted to see what is recommended. Thank you
Through the mouth and out the nose. Bait bridles work well. Here’s a picture of a diy bridle, but they make bridles just for live-lining now.
http://www.skimmeroutdoors.com/store/p14/Striped_Bass_Clip_Rig.html
Hit up the three bays yesterday for the afternoon tide, little choppy at first, but after the tide flipped , things turned on- as the wind let up. The big girls who where around tuesday were still there, but not as active. Plenty of 24-26 healthy stripers for the fly or LT. Tight lines.
please consider tossing back the females (the males have a pronounced hump before the dorsal) and be sure to only keep what you’re going to use the harbor stock is very limited. good luck all
My boat is slipped in the South River. Can anyone describe better the location of the ledges when I come out of the mouth of North-South River? I’ve been out almost 3 miles getting Mackerel, but not seeing any bass. I’ve gotten a few in the river, but small.
The falling tide around Plymouth has been very hot lately. A white Fin-S rigged with a white one ounce arrow jig head has produced well as of late! Tight lines.
Nice fish