Massachusetts Fishing Report - September 21, 2017

It’s been hard to love Jose, unless you are in the wind farm business, but the calendar, bait volume and water temperatures are our allies, and despite the Nor’east nasties, fisherman have still caught stripers, the most notable of which is at least one 50-pounder!

Massachusetts Massachusetts South Coast Fishing Report

It’s been said a zillion times that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. And for the most part bluefish have been non-existent in Massbay. Along with a plethora of other predatory fish, your local best bet for ol’ yellow eyes might be Buzzards Bay. If you miss the bad intentions of a big blue as it crunches down on your topwater plug, then searching for surface feeds throughout the Westport side of the bay should satisfy that craving.

Along with Captain Jason Colby, his brother Hunter and Zach Silbert were recently in the middle of a pretty good Westport serpent/striper bite for fish up through 22 pounds when at false dawn I began dancing a Doc spook in front of a rockpile when a good blue hit. Multiple leaps and runs later, I led it to net and we were all left with one inescapable conclusion—that fish put on quite the show! If you’re looking to sprinkle in some toothy action among your striper obsession make haste to get down there and don’t forget to pack plenty of top waters, especially those Musky Mania Doc spooks. If you haven’t fallen under the spell of that noisy, magnum spook yet, you should—it is that good.

A nice bookend to this could be some tautog, after all we all know how well “black (fish) and blue” go together. Look for the tog activity to surge as water temperatures dip below 60 degrees and fish begin shoaling. Right now, it’s a case of finding resident fish lurking among wrecks and rockpiles and you may have to poke around numerous piles of structure until you find one that holds fish.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

If bluefish teeth aren’t quite intimidating enough, then consider what Captain Mark Rowell is frequently finding throughout Stellwagen Bank—makos and threshers! A freshly bled mackerel or pogy placed near one should do the trick. While you are out there, you may want to sprinkle groundfishing into the mix. It’s true that we can’t keep cod and the GOM haddock season is closed, but the pugilistic pollock has moved into the western edge of the bank in good numbers! Odds are that your groundfishing gear hasn’t gotten much of a workout recently so before you haul out there, swap out your leaders or risk break-offs from a double-header of hard-charging pollock.

It’s all about the peanuts according to Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait in Scituate! It has been way too long since we had a coastal invasion of these mini-menhaden. Because of these baitfish, there are Bay State-wide blitzes the likes of which we haven’t seen in years. The only issue is that unlike previous years when we had influxes of peanuts, there have not been mixed year classes of bass feeding on them. In fact, under most circumstances, you’ll find all micros, so consider leaning towards crimped-barb single-hook offerings such as spoons, jigs, and shads. Some of the better bites have been taking place by the Powder Point Bridge, Green Harbor and World’s End.

Sal “the smelt hunter” is feeling it this year, as repeated trips to the piers of Hull have been successful! Could we be riding the wave of a smelt resurgence, that would sure be nice!

Massachusetts Greater Boston Fishing Report

Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle told tales of opposite-sized fish when we spoke. Over the weekend customers found a pile of pogies in Quincy Bay between Sunken Ledge and Hangman Island and big bass were on them. Tops was a 50-pounder caught by a 16-year-old with his family. In addition to the trophy there were several 30- to 40-pounders in the melee.

Pogies, however, are not the biggest bass bait at our disposal. Just ask Tracey and Paul Cuzzupe who while aboard On The Rocks in the harbor hauled in hickory shad on flies! These aggressive, hard-fighting hyper herring are 14 to 20 inches, and will definitely cull out the cows from the schoolies. Of course, few could fault you for being content at just catching the shad. On a light spinning rod or a fly rod, they are a blast to catch! Hickories are most active at night and will hit a big Sabiki rig (heavy leaders only!), or any flashy spoon. Look for them to be facing into the current near dock lights where they will be pummeling peanut bunker and silver sides. Dan from Bob’s also has been experiencing hickory shad off the Belle Isle Bridge as well as various marinas in Winthrop and East Boston.

From Shea’s Beach (Constitution) in East Boston through Crystal Cove sometimes seems like one big blitz-fest as stripers are pounding peanuts on the surface. It takes a lot to wrench Captain Paul Diggin’s Sabiki rig out of his hands, but bass on bunker will do that! The skipper has been upsizing his bait and his striper standards as he targets pogy schools throughout Thompson Island, Dorchester Bay and out to Spectacle Island. The key to the cows is to keep your bait close to the schools!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

The biggest pogy schools of the season have taken up residence in Salem Harbor. Odds are that these are the same baitfish that thrilled Maine anglers about two weeks ago. The figures are easy to add up: late September plus pogies equals big bass, and that is precisely what anglers are now finding in Salem!

Peanut bunker rule from Lynn through Beverly, you don’t have to be a soothsayer to find the forage—just look and listen for mayhem as birds and bass tee off on the bait! Perhaps the biggest bass bite is taking place in Manchester Harbor where pogy schools have been pushed up against structure resulting in impressive catches of 20- to 25-pound fish!

Skip from Three Lantern Marine told me that the best bass fishing now is off the rocky eastern shore as migrating fish pin prey against the shoreline. Two friends of mine, who, while modest, are masters of the crags. Steve Papows loves topwater plugs such as yellow Rebel Jumpin’ Minnows and pencil poppers. Before you post any “wait a minutes” regarding the availability of yellow Jumpin’ Minnows, two North Shore shops, Fin and Feather in Essex and Surfland special order halfbeak Jumpin’ Minnows, which are a largely discontinued blue-top/yellow-bottom variation of the Jumpin’ Minnow and it is deadly. My buddy Dave Flaherty, on the other hand, likes white or yellow fast-sinking Magic Swimmers. One day while helping him land a 40-pounder the struck in close, the fish stubbornly stuck to the bottom. The fish blended into the bottom so well that the only way we could gauge where it was, was to follow the movement of the big bright plug!

According to Liz from Surfland, whales and big bass have had pogies pinned up against the sands of Salisbury Beach in remarkably skinny water. There also appears to be a more sinister presence nearby as two eviscerated seals have washed up on the ocean front and of the seals was decapitated! Watch out wetsuiters!

Schoolies can be seen chasing bait from the mouth of the Merrimack out to Plum Island Sound. For a chance at a bigger fish, Joppa Flats at night might be the place with eels. Brendon, who works at the shop has ogled some impressive linesiders meandering about in this slough just off the Merrimack. This is quiet, shallow water so stealth is a must!

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

Patrick Barone of Early Rise Outfitters is transitioning from speed to slow! The change certainly has nothing to do with his energy level but rather because a scant week ago he was dueling with Falmouth false albacore and now he’s targeting pike and largemouth bass while slow-rolling spinner baits above weedbeds. Once the calendar flips to fall, both these large-mouthed predators come closer to shore looking to make a meal out of young-of-the-year predominate forage, which could be sunfish, crappie, perch or even bass! Slowly worked spinner baits which are colored and sized to match this prey are the preferred offering. Think big and bright and odds are you’ll get them to bite whether it’s among the Berkshires or the Connecticut River! Or just hire Patrick to show you the ropes!

Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts

Once the bluster and seas of Jose are little more than unpleasant memory, you should find spectacular fishing! For fast-paced action on the South Coast and South Shore look for surface signs of feeding fish which should be blues in Buzzards Bay and bass from Plymouth through Hull. Boston anglers are skipping on the Sabiki, passing on the mackerel and looking for larger in tight by Thompson Island among pogy schools. Once seas subside, the backshore of Gloucester should be good again while Plum Island pluggers are looking to work their wares among nervous pogy schools.