Massachusetts Fishing Report - May 18, 2017

Just as the temperature surged from near-winter to summer, so has the state of striped bass fishing improved. Last week’s keepers have been bumped from relevancy by fish up to 25 pounds. The only question posed by the cow-obsessed is, “How big will the bass be this week?”

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Seldom does the South Shore have this much bait this early. Pogies, harbor pollock, herring and mackerel – oh my! The biggest news has to do with the biggest bait, the beloved pogy. Snag one by the Powder Point Bridge section of Duxbury Bay or off Egypt Beach and you may find a willing 25-pounder. If a live one doesn’t cut it, well then, cut it! With big blues just south, stripers will be looking for a chunk sandwich. The guy with the 25 caught it on the legendary bone Cotton Cordell Redfin; personally I can’t imagine a surf bag without one.

Although just a bit player in these parts, mid-May is tog time. Pete from Belsan’s Bait in Scituate has been hearing of a few blackfish taken as bycatch by blackback flounder fishers in Scituate Harbor. Look for ledge, bubbleweed and mussel beds by Maryann Rocks, Manomet Point, Peggotty Beach and Third Cliff. The white chins have been solid at about seven pounds.

Finally, the folks targeting flounder in Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor and Cohasset Harbor are achieving limits. The flounder have been there, it’s just a case of plus-50-degree water temperatures triggering them to feed more often. While mackerel make occasional inroads closer to the coast, they are more dependable near Stellwagen. However, an inshore mack attack is most likely imminent.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Not to be outdone, Lisa from Fore River sent me a shot of a surfcaster with a 21-pounder. The beaches have been a ball as has other shoreline destinations. Top southern harbor spots have been Nantasket Beach, Hull Gut, Webb Park, Wessagusset Beach and Jackknife Ledge. Now that the shop is carrying eels, sharpies are slinging those serpents. Of course, chunk bait as well as clams are close contenders. The Weir River and the George Washington Bridge have given up stripers to 33 inches.

With water temperatures finally north of 50 degrees, quality and quantity of flounder have increased. Limits are now being achieved and one patron of the shop cranked in a 19 ¾-inch flattie near Rainsford Island. One indication how vastly better this bass season is looking compare to last year is the “bycatch problem” aboard the Little Sister Charters. Captain Colby and crew are having to contend with numbers of hungry stripers while flounder fishing, the likes of which he has not experienced in years. If you’re grappling with a bait choice for stripers consider the following. Jason employs a two-hook rig with a clam on one hook (the top) and a seaworm on the bottom. The ratio of flounder caught is usually two to one in favor of the worm but the biggies invariably opt for the clam which is a bigger meal. Those bycatch bass overwhelmingly choose the clam over the seaworm. He’s predicting limits of flounder most every time he ventures out now.

Darlene from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop said that the shop is carrying eels for the nighttime crew who are looking to catch large. Shoreline flounder have been found off Deer Island, Yirrell Beach, Winthrop Beach, Short Beach and Revere Beach. It’s time to resurrect your gull eyes, because pogies are in our midst. With famished, fast-moving migratory bass cruising the coast, a live pogy or chunk should prove irresistible. And if it takes mackerel to get you motivated, you should fill up your livewell with no problem if you poke around between Graves Light and the BG Buoy as well as Boston Light. The last I checked, anglers fishing those mackerel inside the harbor are having poor results with surface runs generally the handiwork of small fish. It’s a haul but if you live-line those mackerel wherever bass are feeding on river herring, odds are bigger bass won’t be able to resist the alternative snack.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Noel from Bridge Street in Salem has to look no further than his tired stable of seaworm diggers to know that flounder and stripers are hitting. Regarding squid, Noel received word from a for-hire diver that he is seeing swarms of squid throughout moorings in the harbors. It may be a really good year for ol’ loligo! A steady customer of the shop limited out on flounder off Salem Willows recently. It’s not all lock and load, however as a nearby guy only caught frustration. The devil is especially in the details when it comes to flounder fishing and “bling” matters. Load up your leaders with gaudy beads and blades and keep pounding that sinker on the bottom. I prefer about 4 or 5 lifts every ten seconds: the curious flounder can’t resist a stirred-up bottom.

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me of an enterprising angler who caught a mackerel off Salem Willows Pier and then “fed” it to a keeper bass. Big blitzes opened up in Beverly Harbor over the last few days with most fish small but a few legal linesiders in the mix! The bigger have been busting paddle-tail swim baits. Flounder are feeding in close in Lynn Harbor as well as the Beverly Pier. One guy of the pier caught a 3.75-pound flounder as well as a keeper tautog.

Nick from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester took his kayak on a tour around Ten Pound Island and found willing flounder and stripers on a tube-and-worm. Stripers are also in the Little and Annisquam rivers. Mackerel make occasional sorties into the harbor and a few have been caught near Crippled Cove Landing as well as the State Fish Pier. There have been squid taken at night from those places as well.

Surfland in Newburyport was buzzing over the weekend thanks to a 25-pound striper which was weighed in. The fish fell from the front beach on a Shimano Coltsniper Jerk Bait. The buzz is on about these plugs and the shop is moving an awful lot of them. Martha Moulton nearly tore the phone away from her sister to tell me about the legend of “Lefty” Al Gonzalez. This guy is nothing if not hardcore! In just one day, Lefty loaded up on linesiders from Parking Lot 1 on the reservation, he then buzzed over to Rocks Village to wreak havoc on the shad. That was not enough for Lefty, however! Next, he mixed it up with big pickerel at the Artichoke Reservoir and for desert he crushed a few more stripers by the mouth of the Merrimack. No word on what Lefty’s doing now, but there’s little doubt he’s fishing. With the energy he’s got, maybe they should have him guard LeBron James.

We have a new contributor to the forecast – Captain Chris Valaskatagis of Manolin Charters! He’s a North Shore skipper based in the Newburyport area and will add a boating perspective. Thus far, Chris is putting patrons into a schoolie-fest. In fact, a recent outing in the Merrimack River tallied 80 fish! What has been working are 3- and 4-inch white paddletails. The fish are on the move, so catching consistently means covering a lot of water.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

For a shot at a South Shore slab of a striper, put a pogy on the line by Duxbury Bay or Egypt Beach in Scituate. Alternative baits are pollock and mackerel, which you should find off The Gurnet. Flounder limits have been no problem in Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor and Cohasset Harbor. The beaches have been best in Boston with bait – eels, chunk and clams – proving too good to pass up for famished migrating bass. A mob of mackerel has just moved into Boston Light but there have been no bass with them – yet! On the North Shore Beverly Harbor has been hot with Plum Island and the Merrimack River fishing well also. (Just get out there quickly before “Lefty” gets them all!)