Massachusetts Fishing Report – October 4, 2018

Some images of this early October just aren’t making sense. Foliage in the Bay State is beginning to pop, geese are fine-tuning their migrational formations, and yet there are bonito still busting on peanut bunker off Plum Island – huh?

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

If you are preoccupied with pelagics than you know that now is crunch time for Charlie. The “season” got a new lease on life (most likely a short lease) as of October 1st and from all indications those bluefin are feeding with bad intentions.

Captain Mark Rowell over the weekend treated charter customers to catch-and-release giant fishing aboard the Legit Fish that is comparable to most any fishing challenge on the planet. He categorized the fish as big, giant and colossal! Bait remains bountiful with plenty of mackerel and even halfbeaks available. While most fishing of this sort takes place on the edge of drop-offs, the bait has pushed off those edges and following are the tuna. Gone are the days of needing to pay rapt attention to your fish-finder; the fish are so aggressive now that they are usually showing themselves with explosive surface displays. Scituate Harbor still has plenty of peanut bunker with both bonito and bass giving chase. And according to Mark, the harbor seems to have been reloaded with better bass which have probably migrated from up north.

Pete Belsan of Belsan’s Bait said that the peanut bunker are still drawing fire from striped bass from Plymouth out through Green Harbor and through Cohasset. Most fish are schoolies but every once in a while anglers get into “7-year-olds” which average around 30 inches and give a good account of themselves. One of the more steady striper spots is the North River from Fourth Cliff all the way to Damon’s Point. The rocky shorelines of Minot and The Glades have featured some surface feeds and are some of the more preferred casting spots fo anglers tossing eels into the wash.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Sightings of Captain Brian Coombs are so widespread it’s as if he has been cloned. In a week’s time, he’s been putting charters aboard Get Tight Sportfishing into mixed sizes of harbor bass as well as Falmouth false albacore. You may have even spotted him whipping a few albies during breaks in the action at the Striper Cup festivities over the weekend. Blitzes remain commonplace thanks to plentiful peanuts which have been under attack in the Hull/Quincy section as well as Spectacle Island. Brian’s tip for wrenching the larger bass from the schoolies is to upsize your presentation. In the skipper’s case he’s pitching bubblegum and bone Hogy originals into the feeds and letting them sink before imparting any action.

The other option worth paying attention to is what Captain Paul Diggin’s of Reel Pursuit Charters is sticking with what has worked since May – mackerel! Nahant had been hot for the bass and the bait but if there’s one thing for certain in October – bass will be on the move. Lately Paul has been finding low 30” fish stacked by the PR Can on an outgoing tide and in 20-feet of water off Revere Beach. A more recent report is promising for surfcasters with news of blitzing fish up tight against the shore of the beach.

Carl and Dave of Bite Me II fame saw an osprey pick up a pogy, so apparently they have not all disappeared. The harbor’s dynamic duo also spotted stripers chasing baby bonito at the mouth of the Mystic River, made all the more amazing considering that it was October.

North Shore Fishing Report

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that he’s hearing of some of the better bass fishing of the year on the North Shore. Shore jockeys, kayak anglers and boaters are all getting in on the act. The attractant is peanut bunker but the wares which are working are varied with mackerel, swimmers and pencil poppers all catching fish. Because the bait is small, sharpies are downsizing to 5 1/8-inch bone SP Minnows and finding that they are outfishing lures with a bigger profile. If you prefer the night shift, try the smaller black Yo-Zuri Mag Darter, which is a night slayer when peanuts are plentiful. Nahant Bay, Devereux Beach, Castle Rock and Beverly Harbor have all been hot.

Many in the fishing community were sickened to learn of the capsizing and death/injury of the two anglers who were fishing in the Rockport section of Cape Ann on Sunday. I was out that day in the same area with my buddy Captain Tom Ciulla and the thought that at one point we probably saw those guys left a lump in my throat. Skip from Three Lantern in Gloucester emphasized the need to be cautious, especially at this time of the year when big rollers are the norm. The combination of those big waves and the rocky islands can result in a catastrophe and you can expect similar conditions for the remainder of the season.

Mackerel are numerous in Gloucester Harbor as well as by The Groaner. On Sunday Tom and I found willing stripers among the white water of Thatcher Island and Milk Island. Pick an upcurrent section of the island, anchor out of harm’s way and let the current float a mackerel into the foam. Mike form Surfland said that the Plum Island area still has small bonito chasing peanut bunker in spite of the fact that it is October. One angler picked up clams at the shop, walked off to the surf in front of the shop and caught stripers up to 35 inches.

The rivers are a best bet for numbers of bass while the ocean front is a better option for bigger. The exception to that is when using eels at night. Bigger bass will move upstream into the Exeter, Parker and Merrimack Rivers at night at this time of the year and they will have eels on the brain. My favorite October North Shore river has a distinct shadow line below a bridge. It’s at that shadow edge, where eels have been magical and I’ve found significant fish there until the last days of October.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

While most would circle September as their favorite fall month for stripers, for many tuna chasers it would be October and all indications are that the giants are feeding ferociously. Latest intel has them chasing mackerel off the edge of Stellwagen Bank and into Cape Cod Bay. While adult pogies seem to have done a disappearing act, thankfully their prodigy – peanut bunker – continue to be the catalyst for South Shore stripers, especially in Scituate Harbor and the North River. Blitzes in Boston can also be traced to the peanuts with bonito joining in on the act, October notwithstanding. On the North Shore, mackerel remain plentiful off Gloucester and are the surest bet for catching a bass from nearby islands. Just make sure you keep a respectable distance from where those rollers meet the rocks.