Massachusetts Fishing Report – October 19, 2017

It may feel like summer, but from freshwater through the salt, fish are feeding as if it is the fall. If you’re an early riser, odds are you’ll see the surface feeds, which have been the handiwork of peanut bunker and striped bass.

Massachusetts Massachusetts South Coast Fishing Report

While water temperatures remain unseasonably warm, tog are beginning to bunch up and feed more aggressively among the Westport side of Buzzards Bay. Ultimately there’s no escaping the calendar. Captain Jason Colby has been pointing the Little Sister Two toward waypoints that have been winners this time of the year in the past and the crew are finding limits of tog much more achievable. Plus, the fish are bigger, with some pushing double-digit white chin category. Knowing this, I found it amusing when Martha of Surfland told me how annoying it was in Newburyport that eel traps had been choked with nothing but green crabs! If you’re from the North Shore and want to make a trip, you should have no problem catching local bait.

There are tog on the South Shore, however. Kayak customers of Belsan Bait in Scituate have been telling Pete that they have been spotting tog fishermen doing quite well off Cedar Point. There’s no let up on the hordes of peanut bunker and all that bait has kept schoolies in residence with blowups occurring throughout the Cliffs and Peggotty Beach. Most are micros, but live mackerel are like a cow-seeking missile as evidenced by 20-pounders recently caught at Fourth Cliff. The shop is enquiring about flounder; there was once a time when the “winter” in flounder meant that in the fall the fish returned to bays but almost no-one is trying. We need less enquiries and more endeavors!

Massachusetts Greater Boston Fishing Report

During most years, adult pogies only last until mid-October, and this year is no exception, but you’ll still find the pint-sized version aplenty as peanut bunker rule as far north as Plum Island! Mackerel can be had as close as inner harbor wharf piers and bridges. Dan from Bobs Bait Shack in Winthrop has been picking up a few smelt at dusk from the East Boston waterfront. He’s also been finding the ubiquitous mackerel there as well. Piers Park in Eastie is a possibility as is the extensive Harborwalk which circumvents most of the harbor’s shoreline and provides untold access to potential smelt and mackerel spots. If you’re ever in town, you’ll be surprised at all the pockets of angling activity that is sprouting up by the waterfront and right now the game is mackerel and smelt.

Striper scuttlebutt is not limited to schoolies according to Lisa from Fore River . Two of the shop’s most hardcore anglers, Joe Cronin and Brian Kelly, are chunking their way toward the 1000 fish mark for the year! Recent reports have them besting 37-inch bass from Hull shore spots. A few are finding flounder off Hospital Shoals and Perry Cove. The rivers and bays are full of peanut bunker and it shouldn’t take you long before you find schoolies blitzing on the bait. The shop is stocking flash-frozen grass shrimp and they are moving gills for smelt fans.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

There’s just something about that Devereux Beach in Marblehead that habitually makes it a late October producer! Regulars of Tomos Tackle are putting in time there and catching mostly smalls, but there was one guy who lost a tank the other day. Tomo has found his commute to Salem a bit distracting as he has had to endure explosive surface feeds each morning on both ends of Revere Beach and off King’s Beach in Lynn. Mackerel have recently been caught off the piers of Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem and Beverly.

While keeping a tight lip, Surfland’s diehards are still seeking eels! So much so that the ladies of Surfland cannot keep them in stock. My most effective eel substitute through the years has been a ¾- or 1-ounce jighead/7” Gulp Jerk Shad, especially in New Penny. Sometimes it’s so effective that I’ve left eels at home and haven’t missed them. Mackerel remain no problem to catch and some are trolling them in tight along the Parker River Wildlife Reservation.

Freshwater Fishing Report

If there ever was a freshwater flip-side to fishing for pike among the weedbeds of Cheshire Reservoir, dropping a well-placed fly to a Swift River trout would be it. That’s just where I found Patrick Barone of Early Rise Outfitters recently only a few days removed from targeting toothies. The stocking trucks have been making the rounds and the hatchery bows aren’t all that fussy but worm and egg patterns not only work for them but might interest one of the native brookies as well. Currently in the C&R section there are 6-8” brook trout but as the fall stretches into December look for much bigger brookies to become active. In fact, Patrick and pals have caught them up to 24” long!

Another river and trout option is the Quinapoxet River. Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle in West Boylston has taken a few busman’s holidays lately and caught brown trout up to 19” long! The shop’s specialty – “mean green” worms – have been great not only for browns but salmon as well! The Stillwater however could use some water volume to coax the salmon upstream and onto redds. Wachusett has been good at the causeway for lakers and salmon which have been hitting spoons. For smallies stick to the Cellar Holes with small yellow perch a safe bet.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Grab a pail of green crabs and drop them among wrecks and rockpiles throughout the Westport side of Buzzards Bay where the tog are schooling up and hungry. From Scituate to Swampscott, blitzes have been the norm with most fish small but with an occasional bigger bass sprinkled in. Something special must be still going on in the Surfland area for the ladies there to run out of eels. Check out Parking Lot 3 off the Parker River Wildlife Reservation and you may see firsthand why all the demand!