Massachusetts Fishing Report – April 18, 2019

The haddock season so far could be compared to that philosophical puzzle about the “tree falling in the forest when there’s no one to hear it”! It’s hard to gauge how good the fishing for these groundfish is, since gale force winds have whipped up the seas from the onset making fishing nearly impossible.Thankfully freshwater fishing has been more predictable with both bass and trout cooperating.

Massachusetts Fishing Report

Pete from Belsan Bait told me that a handful of anglers were able to squeeze in a few hours of haddock fishing before the howl began again. The word is that the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank was quiet with more going on between the Middle Bank and out towards the NW Corner. Sweetwater anglers are fairing better with plenty of praise to go around for the impressive all-around size of the stocked rainbow trout which in many instances are averaging about 14”. The shop has been getting good reports from First Herring Brook and Tack Factory Pond. The wait is on for the shad run in the North River/Indian Head River with runs gathering steam by the end of the month in most years. Pre-spawn largemouth bass are beginning to feed heavily in the cranberry bogs which dot the Southeast area. Often access to these lightly pressured locations with a pram, canoe, or kayak can be achieved by a simple courteous request of the owners.
 
Matt from Monahan Marine in Weymouth said that he’s been hunting for holdover stripers in the North River, but more often than not, catching little more than a nice day. He’s hearing more promising news coming from the Housatonic River. That will all be academic soon however as fresh fish should appear in only a few weeks! Mid-week and in between bouts of the blow, patrons were able to hit the haddock grounds to put their new Shimano Toriums and 14 ounce Norwegian Jigs to good use. Early season results put the Muscle Beds as one of the best producers, although I have no confirmation yet on size or ease of limits.

Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing did put in a few hours in pursuit of flounder in Deer Island flats but considering the low 40 degree water temperatures not surprisingly the results weren’t good. He did find a nice pocket of holdover stripers in the harbor which left his patrons with smiles for the day. Brian’s immediate schedule will be haddock fishing on Stellwagen for the remainder of this month. In May he’ll be light tackle casting towards Buzzards Bay bass with soft plastics and topwaters. Anyone who has fished with Captain Coombs while he’s Cape-bound can attest how dialed in he is to this fishery.

Captain Jason Colby and crew’s first day aboard the Little Sister will be Thursday and haddock will be the focus. He has a hunch that there may be a pile of fish closer than Stellwagen Bank among inshore wrecks and discontinued dumping grounds.

Noel Leslie from Bridge Street Sport in Salem confirmed what another North Shore shop said, namely that they are catching flounder in Cape Anne! A few have been taken in Gloucester Harbor, especially by Ten Pound Ledge.

Tina from Three Lantern Marine has already caught several flounder in the harbor this year!

According to Martha from Surfland, shad are the first quarry anglers are expected to catch up there soon. Any day now, Rocks Village in West Newbury should be the place where that happens! Wachusett Reservoir has been hit or miss and much of that depends on whether you are fishing near the forage. Shoals of smelt can occasionally be seen just off the shoreline and lakers, salmon and sometimes even smallmouth bass will shadow this preferred bait. Recently I was fishing the Chu’ with a friend and in spite of peppering a proven location off of Route 110 with all manner of choice spoons which have performed well for me through the years. After little more than the skunk to show for our efforts I surmised to a friend that it must be a simple case of the bait hanging elsewhere. On the way out, we passed a couple of long-term Chu’ fishers who had been into both lakers and smallies. Not surprisingly in addition to the gamesters there were birds diving on a big ball of smelt just off the shore! We weren’t far away but it was a far different realm because we were not fishing over bait. Keep on the watch for those smelt!

Rod from Flagg’s in Orange said that anticipation is building for opening day on Quabbin Reservoir this Saturday, April 20th! When asked for a tip as to where the action should be, Rod said that this early in the season you can expect salmon, rainbows and lakers not far off the Gate 31 boat launch. In some cases anglers do well without even leaving the shore, especially for rainbows! Set up two rods: one with a shiner under a float and the other with a shiner behind an egg sinker tossed on the bottom. This way you should have everything covered and any fish swimming buy should notice!

Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts

While waiting for winds to subside for a Stellwagen sortie, cooperative rainbows and bass on the South Shore make for a pretty good plan B. With news of a few willing founder on the North Shore, there should also be willing winter flounder in Green Harbor, Scituate Harbor, Cohasset Harbor, Boston Harbor and Lynn Harbor. Meanwhile Gloucester Harbor seems to be the only place for good news regarding flounder, but it my be a simple case of more effort producing more results!