Massachusetts Fishing Report – October 27, 2016

If you’re one of the dwindling diehards who are determined to catch that last striper, you know full well why the last stanza is called “the run”! Not only are those bass moving fast enough to give a false albacore pause, but anglers are considering swapping out their Orvis-Wear for Nikes! The flip side of that is appearing ever more attractive: something can be said for catching a face full of sun while watching a bait rod in freshwater.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

If there was anything lacking from the Wachusett portion of last week’s forecast, it was any smallie scuttlebut. That’s fixed this week thanks to Mark Mahoney who topped off his pail with pike shiners courtesy of B&A in West Boylston and then proceeded to catch and release 4-4, 4-12, and 5-5 pound smallmouth bass from the Scar Hill side of the reservoir! Recent rains, with more to come, have lured in landlocked salmon throughout the Stillwater River. Recent sightings have occurred by the railroad bridge, the S Turns, as well as Muddy Pond Bridge. Those who really appreciate the Bay State’s only self-sustaining salmon phenomenon suggest that those who marvel at this unique fishery handle it with care. Preserve this environmental success story by not only practicing catch and release but opt for barbless hooks and stick with artificial offerings only. Some are content with merely spotting the salmon in runs and pools and reveling in that it even exists.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

The game is still on according to Green Harbor Bait and Tackle. The nearly season-long rolling striper bite from Farnham Rock through Duxbury Beach and into Plymouth is more-or-less still into play according to Scotty from Green Harbor B&T. And there is still an occasional 25-pounder in the mix! Most are bird-watching and assaulting the mayhem with an arsenal of artificials. It almost doesn’t matter what you’re wielding this time of the year since the fish are feeding ferociously! A few are jigging up pollock or mackerel and trolling tight to structure. The last word on Duxbury is that there are still pogies in the bay and blues and bass with them.

Inside of Stellwagen throughout Cape Cod Bay is where you want to be if you have medium bluefin on the brain. The same bait which is working for the stripers is doing the trick for packs of pelagics averaging between 50″ to 70″! Flounder have returned to inshore and can be found throughout Green Harbor. Pete Belsan said that the Scituate shoreline looks as if it’s raining birds, there’s so much blitzing going on. Most of the fish are schoolies so opt for single-hook offerings and consider crimping the barbs to avoid harming these cows-in-the-making. Latest hot spots are Doherty’s Cove as well as Egypt Beach and Peggotty Beach. The other alternative is the trout ponds, such as Little and Long Ponds in Plymouth which have received scant attention during the bass/blue bedlam of the last 5 months!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Despite the bluster, the properly dressed surf fisherman can find the late morning sun-swept surf a very comfortable place! With water temperatures still in the upper 50s and blitzing bass from Lynn Harbor through Nantasket Beach, something can be said for the waning days of October! The caveat for Harbor homies who were spoiled by the seemingly limitless 25-pound stripers from August through September is that the size standard has shifted from pounds to inches! You may be able to cull out keepers from the micros if you target watersheds which sport healthy herring runs such as the Weymouth Back River, the mouths of the Charles and Mystic as well as the Saugus River. If you’re wondering what to use you might consider the tube and worm as Steve Langton recently towed behind his Hobie Revo 13. Among a local estuary he plucked out a dozen plus fish to 26″ on a frosty morning! The Harbor’s never-say-die duo, Carl Vinning and Dave Panarello, jumped aboard Mike “K”s boat and found a schoolie-fest among the inner harbor. According to Lisa from Fore River shore fishermen are scoring from Hull Gut, Webb Park and Wollaston Beach.

Increasingly it’s looking for an up year for smelt. The shop is even supplying grass shrimp to Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop! The latest limiting out place is the Town River!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

The best news from the North Shore has to be the flounder off Swampscott. Tomo of Tomos Tackle as well as Noel from Bridge Street told of limits achieved in as little as an hour’s time! The key to the catching is the availability of sea worms, with so little demand you had better call up before hand and reserve a flat for you and your buddies. The always serviceable seaworm has also been responsible for some of the most consistent catching off King’s Beach, Nahant Beach, Phillips Beach and into Cape Ann! Overwhelmingly the action is due to the ubiquitous 15″ striper but there are bigger bass foraging below junior and the gang, you just have to be patient. A patron of Tomo’s bested a 40″ while plugging the Bass Rocks section of Gloucester.

Noel of Bridge Street said that there have been a few mackerel taken off Salem Willows and even a few cod!

Tina from Three Lantern Marine tallied quite a few schoolies inside Gloucester Harbor recently while dragging a tube-and-worm close to depth breaks and other types of structure. The better bass are falling for mackerel and pollock, the latter which is very easy to obtain. Regarding pollock, the Yankee Fleet is still setting sail for the pollock grounds and usually does until the Thanksgiving period. Often this fishing takes place in 300′ of water and when the bite is on doubles of double-digit fish are common resulting in one heck of a day and a very restful sleep that night.

Kay from Surfland said that schoolies are the order of the day now that the end of October is at our feet. For a chance at something bigger stick around the Parking Lot 6 side of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation. I was hoping to hear of some midnight eel runs into local estuaries but the blustery cold conditions have dissuaded all. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the fish are not there!

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Striper fishing on the South Shore has shifted from the “pounds” standard to “inches” now but it’s hard to find fault with catching non-stop schoolies at Doherty’s Cove and Egypt Beach. The bigger bass best bet might be a pogy from Duxbury Bay live-lined and chunked off Pine Point. Most at the harbor are heaving metal towards schoolies on the run off Revere Beach, Winthrop Beach or Wollaston. If you’re looking for larger fish and you have a boat or kayak at the ready, consider the tube and worm in Lynn Harbor or at the mouth of the Charles and Mystic Rivers.

There was once a time when dropping temperatures in late October had some thinking of winter – flounder that is! That reality is taking place off Swampscott right now!  There have even been a few cod taken off Salem Willows Pier! If you’re not ready to mothball that bass gear just yet, give the southern end of Plum Island a go where schoolies have been giving way to keepers. Some are however heading the call of freshwater now and it’s hard to knock the landlockeds of Wachusett and rainbows of Little Pond in Plymouth.