Massachusetts Fishing Report – August 9, 2018

Our steamy temperatures have been feeling like a zephyr from down south, and with that has come southern visitors you would ordinarily not expect to swim in the Bay State.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

There is no better substantiation of a rumor than an eyewitness. The South Shore has been rife with the murmur of mahi mahi in close, and Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters saw four of the pelagics, which were recently caught in Cape Cod Bay! It might be time to start looking for high-flyer lobster pot buoys, flotsam and any other surface clutter from which these exotic fish can launch an ambush. Mahi mahi tend to not be fussy; a well-placed cast with a shiny spoon, jig, or small plug should do it. In my experience the sand eel Daddy Mac Elite casting jig has been a mahi mahi killer.

Surprisingly the skipper is finding the shallows of Stellwagen Bank loaded with big haddock. This may seem counterintuitive, but eddies of warm water have been spinning off from the Gulf Stream making, in some cases, the water east of the bank warmer than the bank itself – strange days indeed! For bass, Mark suggests showing them a tube-and-worm with the logic being it sometimes takes a different look to get their interest in the middle of all those pogies.

Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters has also been having success with striped bass from Plymouth out through Provincetown by showing those stripers something which sticks out from all the pogies, namely bunker spoons. Mark’s a virtuoso and vacillates from live bait through snapping ‘chutes (wireline/jigs) in order to put patrons into fish, and lately those big-profiled bunker spoons have been doing the trick. All that warm water east of the bank has been luring in sharks and Mark has been having no problem putting charters on blue dogs. A mako presence is expected to be imminent!

Pete from Belsans Bait has also heard the buzz about the mahi mahi. The brief appearance of bluefish, which this year are almost as rare as the mahi, off South Shore ledges caused a stir. Among the same deep-water ledges from Scituate through Hull, there was a spate of solid striped bass with anglers getting them on mackerel.

Massachusetts South Coast Fishing Report

We all need a break now and then! From an angling perspective, relief may be needed from the heat or even from the pursuit of our beloved striped bass. Captain Jason Colby has found a form of relief aboard the Little Sister now that he is docked in Westport. Aboard his boat, it’s been a bit of a “formal” affair with blackfish and black sea bass being the primary target. Ordinarily, both of those species are not found in steady numbers among the same structure but that’s not the case now. Some of the wrecks and rockpiles a short steam from the mouth of the Westport River are loaded with 15” to 22” black sea bass and surprisingly because it’s still August – they hold tautog! Sometimes it’s a simple case of culling through the more aggressive black sea bass before you can catch up with the crab-crunchers. If you’re now scrolling in your mind through the additional gear requirements you’ll need for these species, don’t worry – nothing could be simpler. Save the green crab requisite, all you will need for both species is a jig, in our case it’s the green and orange TidalTails Jig’z jig! We fluctuate between ¾-ounce through 1 ½-ounce for most conditions in water depths down to 35’, and have no problem holding bottom because of the hydrodynamic pill-type shape of the jig. For small crabs break off the claws and run the hook through one and out the other. For larger crabs, halve or even quarter the crabs and impale them the same way. Keep the crab just above the bottom and after a hit lower it so that it just touches bottom and there’s a little bit of slack for the fish to inhale it. All that is moot however if a 5-pound humphead or 9-pound whitechin takes it with purpose. Under those circumstances just lean back on the rod and retrieve like heck! Incidentally all this mahi mahi buzz has Captain Colby salivating about a Rhode Island Sound run to Coxes Ledge.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Lisa from Fore River said that with all the pogies around, some are doing quite well by giving the bass a different look, namely the tube-and-worm. Hangman Island has been hot, just ask Charlie Murphy who bested a 35-pound bass on a pogy. There have also been decent bass taken right behind the shop in Quincy’s Town River.

Captain Brian Coombs told me some exciting news which could pay off nicely during the fall run, namely that a sizable ribbon of peanut bunker was spotted running from Thompson Island through Winthrop. This could be a boon for the surf angler who thus far has been struggling with bass sticking with pogies which are usually just out of reach. According to the Get Tight Sportfishing skipper, skyrocketing water temperatures along with sated bass is causing many stripers to stage among skinny water rockpiles facing the main tidal exchanges of the harbor. Find an Island or other interesting structure while the current is cooking and fish a lively pogy in tight among that structure and you may be able to entice a paunchy, neutral bass to pounce on a pogy despite it being full.

I’ve also heard from a number of sources that there has been a thresher shark thrashing its tail through the schools of pogies inside the harbor stunning and then eating the prey!

Dan from Bob’s Bait Shack said that the best bass fisherman continue to show patience and fish among only those schools of pogies which show obvious signs of striped bass. Some shore anglers casting pogy chunk from the jetty and front wall of Deer Island are catching 30” plus fish.

Matt from Monahans Marine said that the adage of fishing early and late is still the mantra to live by when it comes to fishing for stripers in temperatures this warm combined with all that bait. In addition to inner harbor honey holes, likely southern harbor linesider lairs are Hull Gut, Point Allerton, Toddy Rocks, Strawberry Ledge and Ultonia Ledge. For bait it’s simple, give them what they are eating – pogies!

Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been burning up the water in search of the best bite and he freely admits nothing this year is predicable! Mackerel have been easy to acquire between Flipp Rock and the 2 Can off Nahant but he’s having to search between Egg Rock, Broad Sound and the North Channel before there’s a payoff! However, more often than not, charters are leaving the Reel Pursuit grinning.

North Shore Fishing Report

Finally according to Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem, the Salem Willows Pier is up and running! Dovetailing perfectly with this good news are reports of good catches off the pier for squid and mackerel! Another place for you if you crave calamari is in Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott but to do best you’ll need a lit-up boat at night! Pogies remain plentiful from Salem Sound through Beverly but anglers are having to really work at it to find active bass.

An alternative to consider is what my friend Captain Tom Ciulla did Wednesday morning, he put two guests into borderline insane groundfishing among Southern Jeffrey’s Ledge. The crew tried to keep track of the catch as much as possible of the sea pollock, haddocks, cusk, huge mackerel and cod which came over the gunwales at a break-neck pace. The counting attempt soon became overwhelming but the guesstimate was about 300 fish between keepers and throwbacks. And just maybe best of all the action, which was often between 125 and 145’ did not include a single dogfish. If you’re looking for a break from striped bass hysteria this is a solid option to consider. Plus you can leave the bait home as Tom often knocks them dead with little more than Shimano Butterfly Jigs and cod flies embellished with Gulp Swimming Mullets.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine told me that the shop’s season-long striper tournament has a new leader at just under 45 pounds. It’s little wonder that the angler caught it on a pogy and Skip is figuring it was caught “south” of Gloucester in the middle of a pogy school between Misery Island and Manchester. Thatcher’s Island has shown some signs of life with stripers falling for mackerel and harbor pollock which can be found either at the Groaner, Dry Salvages or even Thatcher’s.

Mugsy from Surfland said that he’s not hearing much of pogies lately but in spite of that there is some impressive fishing. Not surprisingly considering water temperatures and the nocturnal leanings of bigger bass, most of the success is coming after dark, with eels being the offering of choice. The list of potential hot spots are the jetty as well as Sandy Point and Emerson Rocks. The last two are easier to access by the booter now that parking lots 6 and 7 in the Parker River Wildlife Reservation are open. Commercial guys are targeting these spots heavily at night from boats but they are casting in tight to the shoreline and sometimes even pitching their serpents into the sand and dragging then into the water! While I was not surprised by the striper stories, I was pleasantly surprised to hear of winter flounder catches off Cranes Beach. It seems a few folks have found a nice pile of blackbacks just outside of the Parker River and are even limiting out! That’s great news in the face of a far poorer flounder fishery nearly everywhere else.

Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts

It certainly has been feeling like more southern environs and with mahi mahi in our midst, it’s starting to fish like it! Cape Cod Bay and most likely Rhode Island Sound now have a touch of the exotic to target thanks to the arrival of these acrobatic, psychedelic pelagics. For a break from bass with stripes, that other bass – black sea bass – are feeding furiously among rockpiles just outside of Westport. On the South Shore and through the southern side of the harbor, a tube-and-worm may be just the thing for pogy-stuffed stripers. On the North Shore, a pogy on the line remains your best bet for a good bass, other than night-stalking and eel slinging off Plum Island. However, don’t discount the groundfishing option, which is hard to top for fast-paced action.