Massachusetts Fishing Report – June 20, 2019

The bay state is fishing like an embarrassment of riches with something of the seven-striped persuasion for nearly everyone! The harbor however remains the hub with everything from topwater schoolie action to live bait 48-inch behemoths! But just in, there are reports of a nice North Shore bass bite punctuated with the arrival of big schools of pogies.

Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report

The most consistent spots for larger linesiders in Cape Cod Bay remain The Race and Billingsgate Shoal, according to Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters. As befitting the skipper, he recently treated a veterans group to fast-paced mid-20” schoolie action among the Three Bays. Mackerel as usual are the slam dunk entree and for ease of procurement look for macks about 2 miles out from shore. The “pogy guy” in Duxbury Bay once again has pogies for purchase so you know this cow candy is around.
 
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters treated a family on Father’s Day to a throwback pollock bite among rockpiles about a mile and a half from the mouth of the North River. These fun fish averaged between 14” to 20”, which is the size we commonly caught inshore in my formative years. While flounder will always have a special place with me, I remember fondly those pollock putting up a heck of a lot better fight than the flatties ever did. Mark said for schoolies, there are surface feeds in Scituate Harbor and I also heard a similar tale in Green Harbor. Pete Belsan of Belsan’s B&T in Scituate said that some of the shop canal guys reported some big bass cruising through the ditch mid-week and it’s hoped that those fish will make it to Humarock and other nearby environs soon! Pete did hear of few slab stripers up to 48 pounds taken on mackerel near Billingsgate and deep water ledges between Scituate and Hull. Anglers are finding flounder at the mouth of the North River as well the harbors of Green Harbor, Scituate and Cohasset! The talk is of fun even if not necessarily limits!

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Regarding limits of flounder, when the conditions are favorable – sunny, without a high pressure front – Captain Colby and the crew aboard the Little Sister are putting limits in the boat. However, fickle weather puts the flounder off the feed. When those winter flounder feed they are gluttonous; the skipper recently put a 4 pounder on an official scale, which is now leading the state Saltwater Derby. With the arrival of big Boston bass, Jason’s is targeting them with eels at night at West Gut, Hull Gut and Winthrop. If you’re looking to improve your odds with serpents, stick with a moving tide, target rockpiles and make sure you are working that eel within a few feet of the bottom whether that is courtesy of a three-way rig or by simply casting.

Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing’s gut proved good as he predicted an onshore invasion of those deep water cows of last week. Actually Brian’s good buddy Captain Vinny Simone of Storm-buster Charters first sniffed them out last Friday in Broad Sound with tales of 47” fish landed and unseen beasts busted off. There are mixed sizes of fish to be had, but bigger bait (macks/eels) is definitely better and for that matter so are high tides. Brian has also been finding an interesting topwater bite on larger-than-average schoolies between Hull Gut and George’s Island.

Captain Paul Diggin’s of Reel Pursuit Charters has been chugging off to just outside of Hull to load up on macks and then steaming back towards the Lower Middle/Castle Island/Logan Short Pier area to catch mixed sizes of schoolies with the occasional keeper thrown in.

Captain Anthony Arenas of Chasin’ Tail Charters told me that he’s getting bigger bass than most under the surface feeds by vertical jigging under the blitzes! Another go-to lure of his is the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow. The skipper is networking with three boats so in a moment’s notice he’s able to roar off and chase the better fish. Recently he heard of a big bass show down south between The Race and Peaked Hill Bar, mobilized his charter and put them on big bass. A good-size school of pogies was observed recently on the backside of Spectacle Island as well as the inner harbor. There’s no word on bass with the bait – yet!

Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Captain Dave Panarello of Bite Me Charters told me he recently heard chatter on the radio from northward bound Boston pogy boats about acres of bait in Ipswich Bay. Upon hearing that news I placed a call to Matt from Three Lantern Marine for confirmation and got affirmation. That could be a tinder box ready to go off should some big bass show up. Meanwhile I did hear of surf sharpies off North Shore beaches racking up double-digit numbers of 40” fish after dark on bottle neck poppers.

Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Pickering Wharf in Salem said some are targeting fallback herring feeds in the Merrimack River as good-size bass ambush the spent river herring as they tumble back to the sea. The picking’s is easy for these bass and they are fat! Tomo told me that squid can be caught among most lit harbor piers throughout the North Shore.

For flounder those focusing on them at the mouth of the Danvers River, Swampscott Harbor and Beverly Harbor are picking up on average 5 or 6 14-15” fish per tide. Mackerel remain spotty on the North Shore with some making the trip to Broad Sound between Flipp Rock and the NC Buoy to load up. Liz from Surfland said that Joppa Flats has picked up now that post-spawn river herring are migrating out of the river. Stealth is a requirement since these shallow cruising fish are skittish. There have been hickory shad encounters, especially by fly fisherman! Check out the marina piers in the Merrimack River, especially at night, for these monstrous herring. They make excellent big bait for big bass, however, are fun in their own right on light tackle. The usual spots such as the mouth of the Merrimack and the reservation/beach ocean front continue to produce mixed sizes of stripers on seaworms with the occasional drag-puller thrown in.

Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts

It’s impossible to predict how long this superior striped bass fishing will last, so you’d be wise to get while the getting’s good! From the South Shore, Billingsgate Shoal as well as Minot Ledge, Flatt Ledge and Stone Ledge are good bets for bigger bass while trolling live mackerel. Hull towards George’s Island has featured a sustained top water high-end schoolie bite. Target rockpiles from Deer Island through Lynn with live bait for an honest shot at a 35 pound striped bass! And with the appearance of Cape Ann pogies, can cows be far behind?

Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts