Massachusetts Fishing Report – September 15, 2016

Could we possibly be at the point where the stellar striper/bluefish catching is blasé? A shop owner this week had one customer who was on a quest for “something different”! May we always be so lucky. I did hear from a fellow writer that a slug of big stripers has made it all the way into Downeast Maine, so it looks as if we’re going to have to suffer through the superb striper monotony for a long time to come!

Massachusetts South Coast Fishing Report

Just in case you are looking to shake things up, cod are still cooperating in Rhode Island Sound, which you can access from Westport. On a recent trip aboard the Little Sister, we found “steaker” brown bombers hunkered down among rock piles in 100 feet of water. The game was to drag 10 ounces of lead with two dropper loops with pink teaser/clam cod sandwiches through snag-filled pits and hope that a cod whacked the bait before you hung up. In fact, several times we had bottom and a fish on at the same time! More than once, we slacked off the snag and the cod swam the terminal gear out of harm’s way. An occasional donated rig to Davy Jones locker is a small price to play for a cooler of cod. With water temperatures now dipping into the upper 60s, no longer are there prospects of gazing at a cooler full of both mahi mahi and cod, but it was sure sweet while it lasted. In the varied fishbowl of that side of Buzzards Bay, it’s simply a case of one fish gone the next fish up, and in this case the talk is turning toward bushels of green crabs, which means only one thing – tautog, very soon!

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

If you want to test your spinning tackle on more than just 25-pound stripers, Scotty from Green Harbor Bait and Tackle has the answer – footballs! Recent reports from the SW sector of Stellwagen out along the western edge of the bank toward the site of the old BE Buoy are extolling 6 shots a day excursions where anglers are able to put a Shimano Popping Orca or RonZ into the line of fire of fast moving 50-inch fish! Crunch time has been the last of the incoming tide into the first phase of the outgoing.

The giant hunters are dropping live mackerel below junior and his friends in the hopes of hooking something which will test a Shimano Tiagra! Your odds off hooking a giant or two may be better if you make a more southerly trip. Boats have been spotted packing ice and heading out increasingly over recent days prompting some to think that there may be George’s Bank giant bite.

The Bryant Rock/Bluefish Cove area has featured some explosive topwater action for bass up to 30 pounds. Those catching have been throwing throwback tackle such as Danny plugs, Polaris Poppers and wooden pencils.

CJ from Belsan Bait in Scituate sampled the local linesider action last Sunday at Third Cliff and came away with fish up to 30 pounds for his efforts. The magic was provided by mackerel, which are thankfully back inside as well as outside of Scituate Harbor. The South Shore may not have the pogy numbers of Boston Harbor, but they do have the junior version – peanut bunker – and they have been responsible for some serous surface feeds off some of the beaches such as Minots. Anglers catching cod just before the 3-mile edge of state waters are also trolling up blues with Rapala X-Raps and Magnums. If you’d like to target something toothy a little closer, blues are making occasional runs into Duxbury Bay.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

It’s strange, but the bigger bass seem to be coming from the south side of the harbor, twilight eel slingers notwithstanding! The tale of the scale from my friends at Monahan Marine, Hull B&T and Fore River bear this out. Russ from Monahan’s Marine is steering patrons towards the Brewsters (including the Spit), the east side/rocky shore of George’s Island, Point Allerton and Toddy Rocks. Laurel from Hull seconds the ever-promising Point Allerton but also has customers clobbering the cows in Hull and Hingham Bays. Lisa from Fore River is seeing remarkable results from Rainsford Island, Sunken Ledge, Hull Gut, Sheep Island and Bumpkin Island. Always the equal opportunists, the shops are sending shore fisherman to Point Allerton, Hull Gut, Hull and Hingham Bays, Great Bare Cove, Webb Park and Wollaston Beach and in many of these spots landlubbers are able to snag pogies and catch nearly as well as the boat guys!

Pogies remain plentiful from the gateway of the inner harbor between Deer and Long Island all the way into the Alford Street Bridge and Crystal Cove! And there is no shortage of big blues and 20-pound-plus stripers rushing the bait. The trickiest thing may be getting the bait past the aggressive blues. A chunk on the bottom is the simplest and most effective way to cull out the bass from the blues. Some worry about steel leaders spooking bass. This is a legitimate concern when fished with live bait; I’ve seen situations where a shadow is cast by the steel leader and it has definitely put off stripers. On the bottom there is no worries, bass do not notice the difference.

Don’t forget, there’s a Greater Boston bass/blue tournament scheduled for this weekend (September 17/18). The #Field4Hull tournament looks to be a winner on a number of fronts in addition to dovetailing nicely with the best fishing of the season. All the proceeds are slated for the future Hull Athletic Turf Field and the prizes run the gamut from trophies to a cool $1500 cash. There are still a few spots left for interested boats, or you can join the shore division for a $25 donation – check out this worthy cause at fish4field4hull@gmail.com!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Pogies remain a fixture among Lynn Harbor and 25-pound-plus bass can be counted on being not far away. Not only boaters and kayakers are getting in on the fun, but shore-casters from Lynn Heritage Park and various access spots off the Lynnway are as well. The boat ramp by the causeway which leads to Nahant as well as off the causeway itself during the minus tides of the foreseeable future allow the surfcaster to put his offering into the channel which is where those big bass forage.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine told me that mackerel have returned to Gloucester Harbor and thanks to them the bass fishing has picked up. Chumming is your best option to find the macks and once you do fish them around rockpiles as well as channel breaks. The bass are heeding the call of mid-September off beaches such as Niles and Good Harbor and the action has vastly improved. The suds of the back shore has been good also. Staff at the shop have been amused at the size of the stripers which have been prowling around the dockage right behind the shop! These fish are “educated” however, and tend to show little interest in most offerings.

The tuna fishing is terrific from Stellwagen to Jeffreys, with the caveat being that there are no shortage of blue sharks around so you had better stick to live mackerel and do not chum!

Kay from Surfland said that the mouth of the Merrimack from the Captains Fishing Charter dock out to the jetty has been remarkably good on an outgoing tide even if the fish are mostly schoolies. A better bet for bigger is to pound the Parker River Wildlife Reservation at night with eels. Other “eeling” alternatives are the Plum Island Sound, Emerson Rocks and the mouth of the Essex River. While I have no confirmation on local mackerel my gut tells me that they are back because they have reappeared in parts south.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

If you’re looking for a diversion from the striper sweepstakes, consider cod, which are wolfing down clams in Rhode Island Sound (and can be reached out of Westport). Peanut bunker and mackerel are the key ingredients to catch in Scituate. The harbor remains hot with the Hull side seeming to hold the larger linesiders. Lynn is a solid option for the boater as well as the shore fisherman with accessibility not a problem. Mackerel have reappeared in Gloucester Harbor and like magic willing bass have taken notice.