Massachusetts Fishing Report - May 17, 2018

Striped bass seem to be following the same script as spring did – they are taking their time getting here. Fish up to 30” have been caught as far north as the Merrimack River but no-one is exactly calling it an invasion. However with no shortage of bait, the tinder box may just need a spark.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Captain Mark Petit of Fire Escape Charters has found plenty of mackerel but he’s having to steam out about 4 miles out from Manomet Point in Plymouth to get them. The haddock fishing on Stellwagen remains hot with limits easily attained but I’m hearing of larger fish among southern Jeffrey’s Ledge. At the moment stripers are very hit-or-miss, which is atypical of what we’ve experienced during most years by now. Mark did say that a few bass have been found by Bug Light shadowing herring schools.

Captain Rich Antonio of Black Rose Charters is experiencing the ultimate MassBay irony – he’s trying his best to avoid cod! It’s head-scratching to say the least, but the crew is finding that if they skip on the bait, avoid the teaser and downsize jigs to as light as 5 1/2 pounds they will not be “pestered” by hordes of hungry cod and the haddock will have a chance to find their offering. To hear offshore salts describe it, it’s almost as if the state fish is the new dogfish! Regardless, the bite remains shallow and anglers are having a great time with light gear! Rich has been finding a pile of tinkers about 5 miles out from Green Harbor.

According to Pete from Belsan’s Bait And Tackle those tinkers are the ticket to catching 20” stripers in the North River. Some are scoring by fishing a rising tide and throwing the tinkers up against upstream structure which stack up the herring.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

It’s strange days indeed when I’m hearing of locally caught scup and tautog but not all that much news about mid-May striped bass!

While putting the fear into Quincy Bay flounder Thursday morning aboard Little Sister, Captain Jason Colby put patron Lee Smith into a decent scup caught from 52 degree water! That’s not that unusual a catch. One outing a few years back when we were into a brisk black sea bass bite in West Gut with our friend Armindo Ramos, I began bouncing off my friends an idea for a story on unusual species in the harbor such as black sea bass, fluke and tautog – all fish we successfully target in Boston – when Jason mentioned a scup spot he knew of. As if on cue, Armido’s rod began to buck and out came – a scup!

Bigger flounder – up to 19” – are moving in with the rising water temperatures. This Saturday is the annual Zobo Flounder Tournament which is the brainchild of Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett. The event is a celebration of our winter flounder, a lot of fun and features some of the best fried fish you ever had at the award ceremony at JJ Grimsby’s in Stoneham. Plus included in the entrance free is your very own Zobo Rig, which is what I use – I hope to see you there!

Mike from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop told me that a few tautog have been tugged in from the wharf pilings among the East Boston section of the harbor with some catches as close as Maverick Square. Those tog are there to spawn right now, so if you encounter a gravid female (egg-laden) consider letting her go to make more tautog! Many are having fun catching flounder! In addition to the high-profile places, some are getting them by the 4 Can, the Triangle and Green Island! Mackerel can be found among the North and South Channels, Boston Light and Martin Ledge. Lisa from Fore River said that small squid can be found off Pemberton Pier. There have even been a few mackerel and flounder taken from the pier. Just maybe the best fishing is the red hot haddock bite on the bank! For the next few weeks expect a mass of fish to remain on the middle of the bank until warming temperatures will push them towards deep water.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Noel Leslie of Bridge Street Sports in Salem said that the minus tides are resulting in a bumper crop of select sea worms. You can put those worms to good use from the shore of Devereux Beach in Marblehead where one angler has been catching stripers all week long. The catching climaxed on Thursday with a 32” fish! Mackerel move into the Beverly Pier in spurts but nowhere near predictable.

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said customers are catching both stripers and flounder in the Swampscott/Marblehead stretch on seaworms. Two upstream schoolie best bets are the Saugus River and Danvers River. The haddock fishing remains hot with anglers saving on gas yet still finding fish between Saturday Night Ledge and Hills 47 and 101.

While the striper fishing in the Gloucester area has yet to take flight according to Skip from Three Lantern Marine, the bait is in place! Silversides swarm inside the harbor, plus there are plenty of sand eels. A few fish have been taken from the Little River but they may be holdovers. There has been some mackerel encountered by the Groaner but not big numbers yet.

Patrons of Three Lantern Marine are fishing haddock in close but for bigger and a surer thing, put the southern edge of Jeffrey’s Ledge in your sites. A fixture of Surfland’s for decades – 90 years young Bob Smith – beached the first decent bass of the new year at the mouth of the Merrimack River! The 30” fish was a hefty 13.8 pounds as it was stuffed with river herring! Not surprisingly Bob was throwing a throwback lure – a white jig/curly tail – when he caught the fish. The Merrimack has had a resurgence of shad during the last few days and some are finding some big bass at the Lawrence Dam attracted by all the river herring. The Parker River is experiencing a surging river herring run and there are schoolie reports by the Governor Dummer Academy. The Exeter River in Great Bay is the white perch hot spot.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

I didn’t expect to get a report of Cape Cod Canal striper fishing from Patrick Barone of Charter the Berkshires outfitters but I’ve learned he’s one versatile guide, as he takes folks to the ditch when requested as well! Closer to his headquarters in Hadley’, while the Connecticut River remains hot, some of the tributaries such as the Westfield and Chicopee Rivers are seeing some breeder shad. Warming water is resulting in more active shad, resulting in flies that are as effective now as spinning gear.

Mike Didonna of the Deerfield Fly Shop said that conditions on the Deerfield are really good right now. The fish have spread out into the pockets and riffles and are actively feeding making for classic fly fishing! The trout are taking a variety of nymphs subsurface from attractors to standard mayfly, caddis and stonefly patterns. Surface action has slowly started to increase. Some prime patterns are dark Hendrickson’s 14-16, tan Caddis 16-18, Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tails and olive wet flies 12-16. For a more detailed look into what’s working visit Mike’s shop at 8A Elm Street, South Deerfield.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The colder than usual spring has resulted in a spring run which is more intermittent than usual, making for spinoff schools of stripers showing up at random spots. So far there has been no mass migration to speak of. The best bets appear to be schoolies in the North River in Scituate. While the harbor faithful is still waiting, a pocket of fish seems to have shown up between Plum Island and Swampscott. Thankfully this uncertainty should be about a week away from changing for good!