Pictured above: Andrew Cardeiro found a school of big albies feeding in the Westport River this week.
Ordinarily when the word is out of bass pounding pogies, the stripers are described in pounds, but that’s not the case when the pogies are peanuts. Throw in swarms of schoolies from the South Shore through the North Shore and many who are catching are ducking any questions about size!
Massachusetts Massachusetts South Coast Fishing Report
Patrons of Pete Belsan’s (of Belsan Bait) from Plymouth through Hull are finding a lot of striped bass but not much in the way of size. Peanut bunker and schoolies go together like early October and blitzing and that is just what’s happening across the board. The anglers catching better are trudging around at night in backwaters and casting eels. The year of the mackerel continues with tinkers available just beyond the mouth of the North River as well as close to the Gurnet, Green Harbor and Scituate Harbor. As is usually the case this time of the year, small bonito are mixed in with the mackerel. At night among marinas you’ll find aggressive hickory shad feeding on silversides and peanut bunker. These huge herring make for very effective big bass bait.
Massachusetts Greater Boston Fishing Report
There is an ever-dwindling population of pogies in the harbor thanks to the incessant netting by the pogy trawlers. Recent sightings put the pogies at the Fore/Town Rivers, good old Wollaston Beach and the Lower Middle of the harbor. Shadowing the schools of pogies with a live one is your best bet for catching a good fish. The bass could be bigger, in fact I haven’t heard of anything north of 40 inches in a while! Last weekend and earlier in the week there were big blues milling around the Winthrop/Revere area and considering that I’m hearing of bite offs in the harbor it looks as if they are still around. Try trolling a big, gaudy swimmer at the edge of the pogy schools for a shot at a blue. Peanuts which you find in open water generally don’t have fish on them but that same bait in rivers, marshes and embayments is often a tinder box to schoolie blitzes. Linda from Fore River said that the shop is planning on keeping live grass shrimp in stock because of the demand from smelt fishermen. The shop is getting positive reports from a number of different places too! We sure could use a stellar smelt season.
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
According to Tomo, from Tomos Tackle in Salem, you should have no problem finding fast action in the Salem area as schoolies push peanut bunker. Surface action has been the rule by Forest River Park and owing to the time of the year, the fish are aggressive and aren’t likely to pass up anything. Some of the bigger bass have been massacring bait in Magnolia. Mackerel have been easy to find, in fact one angler recently reported 3 dozen right of Salem Willows pier. Troll or liveline those macks in tight among the rocky structure of Magnolia or Manchester-by-the-Sea. Surfcasters have been driving the Route 127 lookouts and capitalizing on nomadic blitzes. Most fish are schoolies feeding on peanuts but every once in a while a drag-puller is caught. As recently as this past weekend, Cape Ann had some bass-eating-big blues on hand! My friend Steve Papows of Gloucester texted me a photo an unfortunate schoolie chomped in half by a blue which must have been one big ‘gator!
Martha from Surfland said that some such as shop regular Jimmy Waldron are “eeling” the beach front and catching numerous keepers up to 20 pounds. Apparently, the best bite has been a few hours before the top-of-the-tide. Other anglers are keeping on the move and doing well. Another recent report from a shop steady had the catch number up to about 30 schoolies between the mouth of the Merrimack to in front of the shop. Go easy on those schoolies by options for single hook offerings such as the Charlie Graves Tin Squid.
Freshwater Fishing Report
According to Patrick Barone of Early Rise Charters, the slight dip in water temperatures throughout the Berkshires has caused panfish to school up. While fun in their own right to catch, knowing where the schools are can often determine how well you do with pickerel, bass or pike as these predators patrol the edges of panfish schools. Patrick recommends that you work a firetiger crankbait, sized to match the hatch.
Eddie of B&A in West Boylston was less enthused with Wachusett and more excited about its tributaries! Usually Eddie is the source of other’s success but he’s been the one killing it in the Quinapoxet River. Floating the shops specialty – “green” dillies – in the current has resulted in healthy, colorful native brookies, lakers and landlocked salmon! And all of these fish have been ablaze with spawning coloration. The most productive stretch has been in the fast water by the newly-improved Handicap pier. The two places which are most productive in the Chu’ are the causeway as well Gate 8, where metallic perch Taskmasters have been the key.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
If you’re happy just to be catching stripers in October than you’ll find plenty to please you among inshore areas from Plymouth through Hull as schoolies slam peanut bunker in explosive surface feeds! For bigger bass, hit the backwater areas after dark with eels or shadow pogy schools in Boston Harbor with a live one. Mackerel remain numerous within reach of the shore on the North Shore and could be the ticket to a cow in the Magnolia area. If the turning foliage has you considering mixing fishing with aesthetics than check out Wachusett Reservoir or take a trip to a Berkshire pond.
good the blues have arrived
Am I reading that right? Small bonito mixed in with macs on South Shore? Never seen that before.
Thank your reports are very help full
Blues and Bass in the three bays the other day! better have your gear right! tight lines.