Massachusetts Fishing Report - June 21, 2018

A wonderful ball of bedlam, composed of bass, bait and birds, is now a normal occurrence in most harbors throughout the Bay State. Usually this is the handiwork of 20” schoolies and makes for great fun for boaters who love to run and gun after the surface feeds. Not all is schoolie stuff, however, as increasingly there are bass big enough for another run, namely one involving a slipping drag.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters said that the third full week in June is living up to expectations off Provincetown as a slug of solid stripers has moved in right on schedule. Mark is nothing if not versatile and catching those fish on both live mackerel and while “snapping ‘chutes”! Working wireline/bucktails may not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but it can be deadly! From most accounts this is not the best season for mackerel but the skipper is finding them within a mile from shore provided that he’s looking by dawn. Bluefish should begin their reign of terror any day now and the first area on the list usually is the warm water discharge by the Pilgrim Power Plant.

Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters said that the haddock fishing had been fantastic just east of Stellwagen but then the draggers came leaving little more than sculpins! Because of that, he’s shifting his focus almost exclusively on stripers. The timing is perfect for that plan because of the invasion of solid stripers off Provincetown. Pay close attention to your fish finder since the fish are on the move from Race Point to the Wood End Lighthouse and naturally you’ll fare far better if stay on top of them. The crew is still finding mackerel just outside of Scituate Harbor with an early rise helpful. Scituate Harbor holds plenty of schoolies and surface action.

Pete of Belsan’s in Scituate had a report of the first bluefish of the season when we spoke. He wasn’t surprised that Rob Thompson was the angler who tallied that first 36” toothy! Some are complaining about the lack of mackerel and then there are the others who are taking the trip out to the 21 Can and topping off the livewell. Regardless, most agree that the the volume of macks is significantly down from recent years. Shore sharpies such as Barry Thompson are finding 15-20 pounders off Peggotty Beach and The Glades. A whole mackerel has been the trick to catching some of these fish. Rather than just let the bait soak in one spot, try a lift and drop technique with an occasional twitch of the rod as you reel in the bait, I bet you’ll do better than just dead-sticking. While fluke aren’t likely to make any top picks in these parts, the place to get them locally is while drifting at the mouth of the North River. Pete does know of at least one small fluke taken so far.

Boston Harbor Fishing Report

We know full well that we “pay to play” now to fish in the salt, a pastime which for generations was considered a birthright in these parts. It’s easier to pay the price when we know we are getting bang for the buck. One of the more intriguing proposals in Greater Boston cosponsored by the DMF and the MWRA has been the building of a pier on the harbor side of Deer Island. This would be a big boon to the recreational community, giving anglers easy access to one of the better flounder and striper locations in the harbor. The blueprint for the pier is a 210’ long by 12’ wide T-shaped design with 20 designated on-site parking spots, including handicapped spots. This is huge because currently there is no realistic access to Deer Island for handicapped anglers. The pier is intended to jut out onto Deer Island Flats, which is one of the harbor’s most consistent flounder hot spots! The possibilities of there also being a squid bite in the summer and a smelt fishery in the fall make this one of the more attractive angling developments in Greater Boston in quite some time. And if our cod ever came back, this spot would be ideal for catching them from November through April. Imagine anglers once again having a winter fishery again! However, there is a dark cloud which could potentially derail this development. Some shortsighted residents have organized and are protesting this pier. There will be a meeting at the Winthrop High School on Thursday, June 28th at 7:00 p.m. where the MWRA will be presenting further updates and accommodations to placate their concerns. The least we can do is to show up in force to voice our support of this project!

Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters is looking forward to focusing on finding the hot bite for stripers, flounders and blues with a lot more time to pursue his passion now that he is a retired guy. He’s been finding no shortage of striper surface feeds from Quincy Bay through the Lower Middle and up towards the mouth of the Mystic River. Most of the mayhem is the handiwork of 20” fish but now and then a surprise tackle-tester comes out to play, especially for those who are patient and allow their offerings to drop below the surface stuff. Paul has had to haul out to east of Hull and towards the sight of the old Weather Buoy to find mackerel for his charters.

Darlene from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop said that flounder fishermen are branching out to find flatties in more places than just the flats. One successful spot has been by the 4 Can off Winthrop, you might even want to try by the dolphin in Winthrop as well as Bob’s Bass Triangle. Ordinarily during this time of the year, anglers can bank on big bass among The Rip, Faun Bar, Seal Harbor and Short Beach and this year is no exception. Big fish will usually be few and far in between but there have been reports of cows up to 50” long taken among these places as well as Revere Beach. Many shop steadies are siding with artificials as opposed to bait with Savage Sand Eels, SP Minnows and Magic Swimmers leading the charge.

Captain Jason Colby has had to work for his flounder this year more than most but no-one is disembarking from The Little Sister without a bag full of fresh flounder fillets! Long Island, Rainsford Island and Hangman Island have all been producing as has chumming on anchor. There aren’t a lot of black sea bass in the harbor environs compared to points south but the one’s the skipper has been finding have been big! If water temperatures surge, we could have a directed fishery as we have during warm summers in the past.

According to Lisa from Fore River, shore anglers are catching a mixed bag of interesting stuff. Webb Park has been a winner for keeper stripers, while flounder and black sea bass have been taken off Nut Island Pier and Hull Gut.

Brian Coombs of Get Tight Charters has been his usual captain on the move as he covers everything from Race Point through Red Red Rock to put clients into the best possible action. However, a big school of mid-30” fish in the middle of Broad Sound has the skipper thinking that this could be the start of some better bass settling into Boston. For fly fishermen and light tackle anglers who want surface action there has been 5-hour blitzes between Spectacle Island through the Lower Middle and out past Castle Island. The fish are bingeing on big schools of brit herring! For bigger, the captain has been catching mackerel by Flipp Rock and drifting or trolling near the bottom by the PR Can near the North Channel where the crew has found mid-30” bass! Brian opts for circle hooks for the live bait affecting an uneventful catch and release if desired.

Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics periodically shoots me a picture of a jaw-dropping halibut taken from the gem of the Gulf of Maine – Fippenies Ledge. The latest was of 16-year-old Bradley Delzingo of Arlington with a 75-pounder he hauled in from his dad’s boat, the Fish Bucket. The slab flattie inhaled a Norwegian Jig. This place is a 70 mile+ haul for most but it is a veritable GOM Garden of Eden, where you stand your best chance of catching the king of the flatfishes.

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle has been seeing shots of slob stripers that anglers have been trolling up on live mackerel near humps and bumps and upwellings at the outer limits of state waters as deep as 150 feet! Regarding more manageable water, Tomo’s tip of the week is to get out on the water early and look for mackerel by the 5 Can off Misery Channel or Shag Rocks or Flipp Rock. Troll, drift or live-line those macks in Lynn Harbor, Nahant Bay or off Phillips Beach. There have been a few pogies around by the mouth of the Mystic River as well as Salem Harbor.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine said that with the dearth of mackerel, many are struggling to find bait! One option is pollock which are plentiful off the Dry Salvages and the Spindle. Another bait option is pogies, which have been present in Ipswich Bay. The payoff for time spent procuring bait could be huge, I’ve seen a picture of a 50’’ bass recently taken on bait. Skip suspects that those bigger bass that have been caught on bait were among structure in deeper water. An inshore possibility is the backshore of Gloucester.

Martha from Surfland said that this continues to be an improved flounder year over the last few! It has primarily been the province of boaters, but the feeling is that a surf angler who downsizes his hooks and tosses seaworms off the ocean front is bound to find a blackback or two. Joppa Flats had a few jumping June moments recently as it always does this time of the year as bass snare fall back river herring heading back out to sea. Spend some time between here and throughout the river and you’re bound to witness an aerial show as sturgeons take flight. These things, which are still listed as threatened, seem to be increasing in numbers. Bone SP Minnows have been hot for 20-pound class stripers from the jetties out through the Parker River Wildlife Reservation and into Plum Island Sound. As usual Sandy Point is one of the better bass producers.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

For chasing surface feeds, Boston Harbor is a best bet. From Quincy Bay through Castle Island, there is no shortage of 20-inch fish and they are aggressive. For better bass, the mid-to upper-30-inch biomass of stripers is immense from Race Point through the Wood Island Lighthouse. However, the harbor may finally have its turn at fish capable of pulling drag as a recent sighting off Broad Sound seems promising. For something entirely different and very intriguing, if you have the boat which is up to the task, consider Fippenies Ledge in the Gulf of Maine, where the king of all the flatfishes still rules!