Massachusetts Fishing Report – September 20, 2018

Mother Nature certainly responded to last week’s question as to whether the sweltering summer would ever end with a resounding…”it’s over!” With that, you would expect a parallel in striped bass catches, and thanks to pogies both big and small, that’s the case. There’s even the best bluefish presence of the season out there now – finally!

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report

The post in last week’s report from one of Wachusett’s finest fisherman, Jimmy D’Angelo, reawakened some dormant sweetwater stirrings in me, especially for the mighty Wachusett Reservoir. Anyone familiar with the Chu’ knows that the Cape Cod Canal has nothing on this reservoir during the first few weeks of the season in April. That place is jammed then, and it takes a combination of daring do and luck to find prime places to wet a line when the bite is hot. But, then there’s the rest of the season. A handful of times during the middle of striper insanity, I break free and hit the Chu. And every time I do it, I wonder why I don’t fish this cold-water species gem more often from June through October (the “offseason”). If you go, chances are (especially during the week) that you’ll have 37 miles of shoreline all to yourself. Unlike early in the season, a pre-dawn entry is not necessary.

Even during the dog days of summer, lakers will follow forage in close and be but a cast away from the shore. It may seem counterintuitive, but I find those forktails more consistently during the “offseason” than during April/early May and November! Something can be said for a mid-day trip so you can take advantage of the reservoir’s slab smallies, which move in closer as dusk nears and are susceptible to topwater lures. And if you believe that the lakers of summer/early fall are all small, you’d be wrong. Jimmy’s 6-13 laker was a darn good fish and during my last trip, I broke off a big laker that refused to budge from the bottom and scrubbed my line off on the stones/rocks below. Take along an assortment of Kastmasters and Krocodiles, especially metallic perch, blue/chrome and gold/red or gold/orange, and probe for drop-offs.

Then, there are the ancillary moments that make you appreciate the ‘Chu. During an outing last month, we released a laker that didn’t make it. But, it swam just far enough out of reach where we couldn’t retrieve it. Mere yards away from where we stood, an adult bald eagle swooped in and plucked the 17-inch laker from the surface and flew back to its nest. Pretty cool!

Massachusetts South Shore Report

Captain Rich Antonio of Black Rose Charters last week found an impressive topwater tuna bite for 68- to 88-inch fish in Cape Cod Bay. The fish were also susceptible to soft-plastic jerkbaits. Arguably, there is nothing in the world of sportfishing that compares to the thrill of catching a 150-pound-plus tuna on spinning gear. The fish were busting baby bonito and mackerel. Mixed in with Charlie and crew were 25-pound stripers.

According to Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait, not all faired poorly during the kicked-up surf. Shore fishermen capitalized on an impressive bass bite among the rollers. Peanut bunker drew in blues to 14 pounds and similar-size bass off Brant Rock, Peggotty Beach and Nantasket Beach. Boaters also found big blues from the power plant well into Plymouth and, again, the prey was big schools of peanuts. Peanut bunker really are a surf fisherman’s best friend as nothing calls those fish in close like those baby pogies.

Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters said he was determined to steer clear of the “popcorn” on his radar. A lot of tuna had the boats jammed into the SW corner of the bank and he knew that the marks on his screen would look like – popcorn! Instead he found a nice limits-out haddock bite in the middle of the shipping lane east of Stellwagen, knowing that Sunday was the last day of the “for hire” season for haddock.

According to the skipper, a trusted friend swears he had an orca rise out of the deep and relieve him of his catch! Things could get very interesting if they become a factor.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

As you can imagine, the “nasty easties” haven’t been very conducive to center console fishing so most haven’t been out. Captain Paul Diggins however has a beast of a boat as Reel Pursuit Charters just shrugs off the combers so on Thursday he along with first mate Rick McKenna and friends took their lumps and headed out. They found the macks off Nahant, where they will apparently be forever more, and then found a nice little bass and blue fish bite off Revere and Winthrop Beach. The blues were nice 10-pounders and the bass were bunched between 32” and 34”.

There’s good news from Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing, the pogies are back! After a hiatus from the harbor for a few days, finding pogies in Boston is no longer bewildering but finding the bass among the bait is not a lock. Brian plucked a few nice fish just outside of the fleet by trolling nearby structure. He has a buddy who has been doing well by concentrating among smaller schools of pogies and finding that the less is more equation is resulting in more fish. The Hull/Hingham side of the harbor has had “heavy” schoolies, upper 20”, pounding peanuts, making for perfect topwater sport. Not surprisingly the better of the bass are falling for wares worked below the bedlam.

North Shore Fishing Report

Activity in Salem has increased dramatically according to Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle), and it has nothing to do with costumed tourists prepping for Halloween either. Peanut bunker have attracted some impressive surface feeds throughout Salem and Beverly Harbors. When I asked where the action was I realized I should have asked “where not?” Popes Landing, the Kernwood Bridge, Pickering Wharf (conveniently behind Tomo’s Tackle) and all through Salem and Beverly Harbors, it’s game on. In addition to small schoolies, there are a smattering of fish up to 26” joining in on the fun. Patrons of the shop are not exclusively tossing soft shads at the blitzes but also Kastmasters. For my tastes, the 1 ½-ounce blue/chrome Kastmaster is standard issue when bass are beating up on those baby bunker. Not only do they catch but they don’t need to be changed out every few fish like a soft plastic. Some of the bigger bass are being taken from the shores of Marblehead on chunk mackerel.

While some are lamenting the loss of groundfishing options, my friend Captain Tom Ciulla is simply pointing his T Sea towards a more sporting quarry, namely pollock – big ones at that! The bite off Jeffreys has been good but it’s not all on top of the ledge. Fortunately, when you’re speed-jigging flat-sided Shimano Butterfly Jigs, you can cover a lot of water while you’re looking. Should you find shoal water that gradually descends to the deeper stuff (190’), focus there. Pink and chartreuse have been two of the better colors. You can skip the bait entirely if you pack along a few packages of Gulp Swimming Mullets. Pollock get a bad rap but Tom bleeds them right away, tosses them on ice immediately, and swears they rival their more glorified haddock and cod cousins when prepared right.

Liz from Surfland said that pogies at the mouth of the Merrimack River were recently getting pummeled by tuna. Peanut bunker along the coast have been keeping bass of mixed sizes in close and this has kept surfcasters at it despite the big rollers. For more action but smaller fish, Liz suggests the Merrimack and Parker Rivers. For larger, try the breakwater, the sandbar and the Parker River Wildlife Reservation.

Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts

From Plymouth through Plum Island, right now is your best chance for finally bagging a bluefish. The Power Plant has ‘gators feeding on peanut bunker. Peanuts from Scituate Harbor out through Hull have also attracted striped bass attention with surface action the norm. For a shot at a Harbor cow, focus in on the smaller pogy schools or take a trip to Nahant and steam on back to Boston with live mackerel. On the way in pay rapt attention to Revere/Winthrop Beach. Salem through Sandy Point are featuring some blitzes involving both stripers and bluefish. If those toothies begin taking their toll on your soft plastics, do as at least one shop owner suggests, throw them a metal Kastmaster!