The change agent for those who live to play the striper game is big bait. Across our coast mackerel appear to finally be pushing inshore and with them bigger bass. The only other rival in the big bait factor is pogies and it looks as if we have a lot more of them now also!
Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish out of Scituate came up to speed pretty quickly this past week as he sampled fine striper fishing in two exact opposite environments. The first foray was the North River where the crew found fast paced, albeit if a little on the small size, stripers willing to gulp up tinker mackerel which they found just outside of the New Inlet Buoy. The second trip allowed the captain to unleash a few of the horses residing in the stern of his 32′ Whaler Outrage as they pointed the vessel to race point. The action there was just as good but the fish far bigger, topping out at about 40″! The principal forage there consists of mackerel and sand eels. With the macks the living is easy, just feed the fish what they want. When the fish are on sand eels a green Deadly Dick danced in front of their noses should do the trick!
Pete from Belsan’s Bait in Scituate said that pogy schools are pretty impressive in Duxbury Bay and odds are that big stripers have noticed. Inshore mackerel closer to the Scituate area have not materialized as of yet quite like other years which may explain why the catching among off shore ledges, such as Minot’s, isn’t quite as good as past years yet. For a more consistent live bait bite jig up mackerel, sea herring (make sure they aren’t river herring!) or pollock and target the Glades, Egypt Beach, Third and Fourth Cliffs. An occasional terminal rig is donated to a bluefish but there’s no-where near anything resembling a “run” yet. Groundfishing for flounder inshore around the harbor’s of Green Harbor, Scituate and Cohasset are all in fine form. The haddock hoopla has shifted more between the “middle bank” and the NW Corner of Stellwagen.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been putting patrons into an interesting harbor double-header – flounder and stripers in one trip! The bass bite has been on light casting gear from the Lower Middle to Castle Island and the captain has had no problem finding flounder off Deer Island Flats! He had a brush with a much bigger fish as he rode shotgun with his friend Pete Santini off the Winthrop shoreline recently. But apparently the 48″ cow preferred Pete’s mackerel over Paul’s! Paul did tip me off to a recent and much appreciated inshore mackerel move! He had all he wanted the other day at Martin’s Ledge and he got word of good numbers just outside of Graves as well. Leave it to a fly guy to stop the guys who are spinning from grinning! Paul Cuzzupe and his wife Tracy slipped among the armada running and gunning throughout the harbor chasing schoolies to wrench a fine 40″ specimen out of the chaos! Right up there with his white/yellow Clousers and Decievers he gives credit to his Bite Me charters baseball cap! I heard that dipping it in the water now and then calls them in like chum!
Since first shoving off in April as just about the only loony out there, Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters has been awaiting one thing – the sun! Like clockwork when those rays warm up the bays the blackbacks binge! And that goes double for the larger fish and make no mistake about it, larger flounder are feeding! Patrons aboard the Little Sister have caught 19.5 and 21″ fish recently! Along with the seaworms take along a tub of clams for the fattest flatties out there!
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem told me of terrific tog tugged up from Beverly Pier! Regarding piers, mackerel numbers are up off Salem Willows! The boat guys are getting plenty as well in Salem Sound. There are some pogies around and odds are if you stick one and stay with it you’ll catch large. Kayaks cruising from Revere Beach off Lynn and Swampscott have been doing quite well with topwater lures such as the chicken scratch RM Smith Jigsmith! Some of those fish are 40″ beauts! Broad Sound has been good for bigger bass on mackerel. The kayak cadre has been killing the flounder off Revere, Lynn, Lynn Harbor and Swampscott. The deeper water/bigger fish mantra took a hit for one of Tomo’s customers the other day. The plan was sound: troll up some drag-pullers off the Salem/Beverly ledges with live mackerel. While the catching was good the schoolie size of those fish could have been more impressive. There’s no getting away from it this time of the year, the fish are on the move!
Tina from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester said that mackerel and bass can both be found right in Gloucester Harbor. There are plenty of small pollock too so bait is hardly an issue. Best catches are courtesy of trolling, drifting or live-lining the bait among structure. Surf guys are increasingly catching bass off the backshore of Gloucester! Flounder can be found among mud/sand flats inside as well. Water temperatures are still cold enough to keep haddock inshore, in fact the shop has a few customers who are catching them in only 100 feet of water and a short steam from port. The shop expects to hear of targetable numbers of squid soon!
Captain Chris of Manolin Charters was lamenting the other day that he was a day removed from fishing but was already feeling withdrawal pangs. Looks like Chris is the right guy for the guide job! Part of the “problem” is that he caught wind that mackerel have moved in closer to the coast. Historically when the macks are in you can catch them at Hampton Shoal Ledge, Breaking Rocks and the Speckled Apron. With the availability of such special forage, the mighty Manolin will be transitioning from schoolies to solid fish throughout the Merrimack, Joppa Flats, Plum Island Sound and off the beaches. When Martha of Surfland sums up this season thus far as a “great spring”, you may want to consider heading up to Plum Island. Bigger bass are more frequently in the mix now, perhaps because their preferred prey – mackerel – is more numerous! The usual spots are still good – Joppa, mouth of the Merrimack and the Ocean Front – but anglers are upsizing their gear now that larger linesiders are lurking. Customers have been gobbling up Musky Mania’s Doc spook plug, but the shop carries an attractive alternative which I can vouch for, namely the NTA Custom spook. NTA is the brainchild of homegrown Neal Allen who used to practically live in Surfland as a kid. I recently put his mackerel spook to work on the Canal and it impressed the heck out of my ditch troll buddy, who typically of those guys is a hard sell! They still catching shad as far upstream as the Lawrence Dam and there are big bass still up there as well smacking around herring!
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
If you have the beam and the South Shore is your port take the trip out to Race Point where a live mackerel will not last long! With encouraging news of more mackerel now may be prime time to troll them off Minot’s Ledge and the ledges off Hull. It’s blitz city among Boston’s inner harbor but to cull out the cows drop a jig or Deceiver below the bedlam for a bigger bass. You may have to wade through an initial onslaught of schoolies at Plum Island but if you stick with big spooks there are fish far bigger than a “keeper” waiting!
No Plum Island report?
Must be hot!
If you read the last paragraph, there are numerous references. Here are some key words in article; “Merrimack, Joppa, Ocean front, Martha of Surfland, Plum Island Sound, mouth of Merrimack”.
Sunday was a decent day in the three bays, even though the water was was 52-55 degrees in spots. Some good signs of pogies around which should bring in the big girls once we get through this unusual weather pattern. Some very big girls hanging around splitting knives on crabs etc at low tide (if you can trick them into hitting) Macs still pretty thick out front, Tight lines!