Massachusetts Fishing Report - February 22, 2018

The agonizing twists and turns that come with incessant thaws continue to torment those who prefer fishing among the eastern edge of our state. Redemption for anglers who want to wring out at least one more ice fishing weekend still exist, however, out west.

Holdover Stripers Anyone?

“It almost feels like cheating!” said a friend years ago as he set the hook into a Boston Harbor holdover striper. To catch the beloved striped bass when they are not “supposed to be here” is an unbridled thrill and goes a long way toward placating the woes of winter for the striper-obsessed. Decades ago when the harbor and estuaries were dotted with numerous hot-water discharges, we used to think that it was the warm water that “trapped” errant stripers (and blues!), and by the time the alarm went off on their migration clock, water temperatures in the harbor had plummeted below their comfort zone and the bass stayed put. But as the juice began to be turned off on many of those warm water discharges, a funny thing happened – most of the resident populations remained. One glaring exception was at the site of the old Boston Edison Plant in South Boston, but that was a unique environment as far as harbor holdover habitats go, since the current there dumped into the deep reserve channel. Other layover linesider locations were/are markedly different in that they are estuarial by nature and benefit from warmer tributary/river/marsh water. Above all, it’s the bait that keeps the holdovers in check. There was a time when that bait consisted of smelt and river herring, but now it is tilted almost exclusively to alewives and blueback herring since smelt in these parts have gone the way of most eelgrass that is pivotal to their existence, namely virtually extirpation compared to historically levels. Thank goodness that river herring numbers are on the rise with some reaching or cresting 1 million strong runs.

What’s remarkable about holdover stripers is how healthy they are, whether it be November or February; in fact they are far stouter than the average migrant striper. The knock against holdovers is that the fish are small and most are,but try telling that to my friend Carl Vinning who several years ago caught and released a 35-pound holdover. Until water temperatures swing into the mid-50s, you can expect holdovers to feed only briefly and typical of the species most of that will happen between dusk and dawn. Ironically, at about the time those water temperatures rise the river herring runs will be gaining steam and then those big girls will begin feeding in earnest. There is no tonic quite like seeing a slob striper pummel an alewife and all the while realizing that it’s still late March or early April. Obviously if you can get your hands on bait – be it seaworms or eels – then you have an edge, but a jighead/soft-plastic combination works awfully well. My preference is a jighead/Gulp Jerk Shad, but others have caught on Slug-Gos and Bill Hurleys. Many of our rivers have herring runs and due to spillover from surging neighboring runs some dormant ones are gaining steam. Do your homework and put in the foot work and leave the “can’t wait until May” stuff to the other guys.

For Ice, Out West is Best

For those of you who look forward to the winter because you are passionate about ice fishing, not only is the west best, but other than Northern New England, it is the only option. Patrick Barone of Charter the Berkshires Outfitters continues to celebrate the different world that western part of the state is. Thursday morning, he had a group who were standing on ten inches of ice on Pontoosuc while they were praying for pike. Just next to the group another angler iced a nice tiger muskie. Considering that the forecast calls for below-freezing water temperatures over the next few nights, that ice is not going anywhere anytime soon. While the bait those folks were using consisted of pond shiners, there just might be something even better swimming not far away. Patrick found a pile of smelt the other night at Lake Onota. His goal that night was a foreseeable future of fried smelt, but he may have missed a golden opportunity to offer some to the pike gods. A friend of mine goes to great lengths to catch smelt from the Maine smelt camps for the sole purpose of using them for pike bait. If you’re wondering how he does, check out the pike picture in the New Hampshire/Maine portion of the Fishing Forecast!

Not surprisingly Jim from JCB in Cheshire reported similar conditions in his bailiwick. Patrons of the shop have been enjoying that rare combination of a hot bite on the ice while wearing short sleeves. No longer is Cheshire Reservoir the central interest out there as customers have been flocking to Pontoosuc, Buel, Ashmere and Richmond. Some continue to explore Hilltown trout ponds. For many the logic is that with this wacky winter the future is uncertain and it makes things a lot more interesting discovering new spots. Jim was excited about good bait prospects as he just got word from Granby’s Bait that a fresh allotment of shiners arrived. If you hit the shop this weekend you should find a good assortment.

There are no issues with the ice in the Connecticut Valley Region according to Rod from Flagg’s in Orange. He had some pretty good numbers to pass along to me, more specifically 10-12 and also 1-8. The former is the general ice depth among local water bodies and the latter was the average size of a bunch of perch a guy jigged up on Wednesday at Lake Rohunta. If you’re paying attention to such a thing than you might recognize that 1 pound, 8 ounces is the qualifying weight for a state pin for yellow perch. Rod said he’s been cramping up from filling out affidavits. Stay off river “oxbows” as snow/ice melt has been raising river water levels making for unsafe conditions. The exception is the “setbacks” in Hinsdale New Hampshire where recent reports put the ice in good shape and pike and walleye on the feed.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Soon the forecast will be receiving a badly needed shot-in-the-arm from the stocking trucks but for now, your best bet for a fishy outing is among the 10” plus of hardwater between the Connecticut Valley Region and the Western part of the state. Of course, there is one coastal exception – holdovers anyone?