Almost two weeks into the haddock season, the results so far have landed with a disheartening thump. The winds are one thing, but Stellwagen Bank which is usually haddock heaven this time of the year appears eerily devoid of life. During the slim window when anglers have found a seam in the nasty weather they are catching but the action is deeper and more north.
Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Report
There has been no shortage of boats on the bank but they are almost exclusively draggers, most of which are purportedly dredging the bottom for scallops. Theories abound as to why the haddock aren’t where they normally are in April, namely on top of the bank.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters who just returned from one too many Luaus in the land of the pineapple feels it’s a simple case of sand eels moving onto Stellwagen while Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait believes its the sea herring that will goad the gadoids onto the bank.
Fortunately not all is limited to just speculation, as Captain Rob Green pointed his Elizabeth Marie towards Tillies Basin last week and found haddock and very impressive action on slab redfish! And some of those redfish really were slabs at 18” long! I also heard from Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics on Wednesday that a pile of haddock had moved into 200-foot depths east of Stellwagen. All the hand-wringing and naysaying hopefully will prove premature should the haddock move onto the 100-foot depths of the bank, but thus far it has been an unspectacular kick-off, to say the least!
Captain Jason Colby, on Saturday aboard the Little Sister, set his sites on winter flounder in spite of near gale force winds and the mission was accomplished – well, sort of. They did catch flounder or more specifically one short flounder just outside of the Sugar Bowl and that fish was foul-hooked, proof that the fish are not feeding yet. That will change beginning next month.
Today the Little Sister found a good bite of haddock about 5 miles east of Middle Bank! Harbor water temps are now 52 degrees which is very high for this time of the year and means that the flounder should be feeding. Also the first shad of the year were taken in the Merrimack River over the last few days!
According to Matt from Monahan Marine in Weymouth, a few customers of the shop faired better for flounder, although the “where” proved difficult to pry from them.
Running counter to common sense, the best black back bite continues to come out of Gloucester Harbor. There’s hardly a feeding frenzy going on but a few are being taken off Niles Beach and Ten Pound Ledge. The next greatly anticipated salty events are the shad runs of the North River and the Merrimack River.
Captain Dave Panarello of Bite Me Charters took his first few casts off Rocks Village on Wednesday with nothing to show for his efforts but that is bound to change.
Often good karma seems to come into play after the annual Rocks Village Cleanup which will take place this Saturday from 7:00 am to 9:00. Many of the North Shore’s most ardent stewards of the Merrimack are involved in this spring cleanup and it almost seems as if Neptune expresses his gratitude in giving them a few shad to catch!
Another nearby option is the white perch run which is really hitting its stride throughout the Exeter/Squamscott Rivers of Great Bay. These cousins of the striper may just the thing to get you through the next few weeks until the schoolies arrive. For white perch nearly as big as a schoolie read on!
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
If you’re ready to make that leap from mere trout to trophy than consider heeding the call of Quabbin Reservoir. While hearing Rod’s report from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange, I had all I could do to resist dropping the phone and heading out there! The shop scale has been getting quite the workout during opening week and Rod’s getting writers cramp from filling out Masswildlife award affidavits! Anglers have been catching salmon up to 6 pounds, lakers up to 7 pounds and brown trout up to 5 pounds. If you know the Q’, that last fish may leave you shaking your head as it did me. Rod assured me that the brown trout did indeed come out of Quabbin and while it’s very rare, occasionally brown trout are caught there in spite of no known stocking program. One thing that is certain is that the fish are all fat this year owing to a substantial smelt base! DB Smelt spoons in orange with spots and white with spots have been deadly. The fish can be found just outside of the boat launch by Gate 31 and in some cases right from the shore. Another shore spot that has been hot is Gate 35!
Smelt are a major factor also in Wachusett Reservoir according to Eddie of B&A in West Boylston. Dave Nelson caught a colorful, kype-jawed 6-pound Quinapoxet River brown trout on a crawler. That river has also given up other nice brown trout as well as some good rainbows.
The combination of rising water temperatures and shoaling smelt have brought in Wachusett’s whopper white perch. Ed Parmateir topped the trophy white perch category this week with a 2-7 slab and there were several others taken on crawlers, especially on the Route 70 side of the reservoir.
With rising water temperatures, the Chu’s big bronzebacks are getting active as well. While the salmonoids prefer smelt above all, smallies are especially fond of yellow perch fry and crayfish. Consider perch-patterned crankbaits and soft crayfish baits.
Another attractive freshwater option is the urban rivers where herring are thriving. Brackish and freshwater portions of several watersheds which support river herring are unsung hot spots for a variety of warm water species and with many runs surging they are only going to get better thanks to the herring fry that they fatten up on. Slab pre-spawn crappie and largemouth bass are getting very aggressive right now. Find a current edge in one of the rivers or tributaries and often those fish will be feeding just outside of the flow. A small floating Finish-type minnow will catch both species.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
If you catch a break among the bluster, haddock are the best saltwater bet but be prepared to steam beyond Stellwagen, to the east of the bank, Tillies Basin or if it works for you top sections of southern Jeffrey’s Ledge. It wouldn’t hurt to drop a bait on the bank briefly since the feeling is that sooner or later the fish should find their way on top of Stellwagen. The arrival of shad to the North and Merrimack River watersheds is probably days away and worth a shot for those who love to be among the first. Meanwhile it’s hard to top freshwater fishing for big fish among the Bay State’s two blue-ribbon reservoirs – the Chu’ and the Q’!