Massachusetts Fishing Report - June 14, 2018

The acquisition of mackerel is far tougher now than a week ago. But now it might not matter. With fallback river herring drawing in hungry stripers towards the mouth of rivers and the appearance of pogies, the theme for this week could be, “no mackerel, no problem”!

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Right on time for mid-June is the arrival of bigger bass according to Captain Mark Petit of Fire Escape Charters as he’s been finding fish up to the mid-40” range in both Cape Cod Bay as well as Plymouth Harbor! Mackerel are a tough pick, making some who used to abide by the adage, “Here by Mother’s Day, gone by Father’s Day”, opining that maybe there has been a correction to mackerel movements. Mark doesn’t sweat the lack of mackerel, instead when needed he’ll switch over to the ubiquitous harbor pollock which swarm among most every rockpile/bubbleweed patch on the South Shore. And of course the bass just love ‘em!

Haddock can still be found but they are drifting eastward. Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters put a young patron over the weekend into the winner’s circle in the North and South River Watershed Association Striper Tournament. The young angler’s second place finish was good for him but for you the prize might be what the captain found. The tip of Provincetown had no shortage of 7 year old, 28-32” fish but for bigger he had to make the ride to the “Golfball”. When asked if he was concerned about the lack of mackerel, he said he had no worries as long as all the sea herring stayed put!

Haddock are pushing northward and eastward off Middlebank in 150-200’ of water. There are a few porbeagle sharks prowling around out there as well.

Captain Rich Antonio of Black Rose Charters expects Charlie to come to town any day now that more typical summer-time SW winds are prevalent. In fact, he did get a few false pelagic palpitations recently on Stellwagen only to find that all the surface commotion was the work of Flipper and his buddies. Haddock is still child’s play but as the other skippers have found, as the season progresses the fish are moving off to deeper water. What’s ironic is that the same vertical jigging technique he employs for the groundfish is also great for the bass from Peaked Hill out to Provincetown.

Massachusetts Greater Boston Fishing Report

Traditionally herring runs begin to wither in mid-June. The bluebacks and to a lesser extent the alewives are still present but the push will be less prolific and more intermittent for the remainder of the month and come July, it’s over.

The good news is that the fallback herring will be greeted by a seven-striper welcoming party most anywhere there is a run.

Now is the time for shore anglers to frequent the mouths of rivers and nearby bays of herring runs. Boaters should be anticipating the herring slipping out of the inner harbor and moving out past inner islands where they will get mugged by bass. To up the ante even further, there has been a sudden surge of pogies throughout the harbor and nearby environs. So don’t sweat it, if you’re struggling to find mackerel.

If you can’t shake the mackerel addiction, Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Charters suggests you target lobster pot scopes. Lobsterman know the bottom well and drape their traps among current-breaking structure which form eddies which often hold mackerel. However, his soft plastic bite for mid-30” fish off Spectacle Island, Long Island and Egg Rock has made the acquisition of bait almost irrelevant. Regarding the two harbor islands, what interesting is that they do face the egress route of river herring! Mark from Monahan Marine in Weymouth told me that Long Beach in Plymouth has been good for chunk mackerel for shore casters while the boat guys are fairing well with live mackerel. Ironically outgoing tide at the mouth of the Eel River has been hot for eels.

Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters is regularly putting 3 pound flounder into his boat; he can practically hear that four pounder knocking! Quincy through Hull has been most consistent and there are even a few keeper black sea bass now in the mix.

Lisa from Fore River agreed on the black sea bass as she has customers catching them off Peddock Island, Rainsford Island and off Sunken Ledge. Hull Gut is a historically good spot for drifting and vertically jigging for them. Some pogies have appeared near the Hummocks side of Wollaston Beach and I’ve also received word of pogies deep inside the harbor by the Tobin Bridge.

Captain Paul Diggins has been taking his Reel Pursuit boat out to Thieves Ledge as well as other historic mackerel/striper ledges outside of Hull and finding bait and keeper bass!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle said that Salem Willows through Salem Sound has been the scene of impressive blitzes recently! The antagonists are mixed classes of stripers from 14” to 24”. For bigger bass jig up some mackerel and live-line or troll them just outside of Bakers Island. There are pogies around folks and while I haven’t heard specifics, Salem Harbor is traditionally a spot to get them, especially in tight among the moorings. Those fishing for flounder are still finding them off Swampscott, Marblehead Harbor as well as Salem and Beverly Harbors with the latter accounting for limits.

Captain Chris Valaskatgis of Manolin Charters has been steaming out by the 3 Mile Buoy outside of the Merrimack River and then treating his patrons to plenty of keeper (and bigger!) bass from the Amesbury section of the Merrimack River out to the mouth. There are pogies available throughout Ipswich Bay now! Joppa Flats as well as Plum Island Sound are deserved of serious angling attention as fall back herring will be pounded by their seven-striped predators right up until the end of June!

Not surprisingly, Martha from Surfland is now reporting an uptick in bigger bass between the mouth of the river, on out through the ocean front and towards Sandy Point! Just this Thursday morning there were mid-40” fish caught on mackerel chunk from the shore here.

There’s good news for those who cherish flounder – there finally is a reported blackback bite in Ipswich Bay! The spots of note are just outside of the mouth or the Merrimack, Parker and Essex Rivers! And then there’s the groundfish option. Last Saturday while aboard my buddy Tom Ciulla’s T Sea McKee Craft Center Console we decided to flee the fleet and try something different. At the behest of Skip from Three Lantern Marine we took the quick 20 minute cruise to Southern Jeffrey’s Ledge and were treated to most every sort of marine life except those with two legs. Minke whales and a young humpback breached around the boat and combined with non-stop action from redfish, pollock, haddock, cod and even a 20 pound plus wolfish it was quite an outing. What was shocking was that no-one else was indulging in all that action.

We know full well that anglers are staying away from the groundfish because of the cod moratorium but we were still having a blast catching and releasing 8 to 10 pound white bellies. As for dinner fare, that was more than satisfied by the keeper haddock we caught. To ensure maximum survival of short haddock and cod, as well as that awesome wolfish, we skipped on the bait and employed Shimano Butterfly Jigs rigged with a single assist hook. For a teaser, I did quite well with pink Sea Wolfe Cod Flies tipped with Gulp Swimming Mullets. We took great pleasure in watching fish after released fish swim with purpose right back to the 135 depths with little trauma. When you pass on bait and jigs with 12/0 trebles the survival rate of those released fish goes up dramatically. Plus with braid, an inshore rod/reel and 5 1/2 ounce jigs, the fun factor is ratcheted up significantly, especially in shallow water!

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

Now that most are swept up with striper insanity, chances are that your favorite freshwater honey hole is getting lonely.

Robert Bartalini, who is a regular at Fishing FINatics, took a sweetwater respite at Walden Pond and was rewarded with a 24”, 6 pound rainbow which took a crawler! Patrick Barone of Charter the Berkshires Outfitters was fresh from a trip the canal when we spoke. He along with his brother and dad are heading the call of the New Moon and intend on spending as much time as possible in the ditch. The exclamation point to that logic came this morning as Patrick’s brother caught a 30 pounder on a mackerel 24/7 Lures Pencil! In addition to his freshwater species prowess, Patrick also offers guide services for those who would like to catch their own Canal cow!

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Many of you were turned on to the noble pursuit of Sportfishing by your dad or other gentleman who took you under his wing. In honor of Father’s Day, consider taking your mentor or some other deserved gent out fishing this weekend! And if he balks because he doesn’t have a license, don’t worry – no saltwater permit is needed to fish this weekend!