Massachusetts Fishing Report – July 11, 2019

Pictured Above: Tyler Branson (left) with his personal best bass caught aboard Get Tight Sportfishing.

For weeks I’ve been wincing and feeling a bit guilty when talking to friends and contributors of this report about the volume of mid-40” stripers we have in the harbor. But not now, not only is the South Shore and North Shore reveling in the big bass good times, but the anglers north of the border are having a heck of a time also.

South Shore

The text from Pete Belsan from Scituate said it all, “Finally, we got ‘em!” The wick was lit last week when a slug of pogies moved into the South Shore and now big bass have sniffed them out. “Wolf packs” of 20 to 35 pound stripers are crashing pogy schools. As has been the case it is imperative to keep probing for the right pogy schools, ones which have balled up/rushed bait that is under seige. Hot areas have been Minot Beach, the mouth of Scituate Harbor, Fourth Cliff and Rexhame Beach.

If you’re not getting any love for live pogies, try a dead one, drop it below the melee and occasionally hop or twitch it off the bottom. And by all means take along a big topwater such as the 9” Sebile Magic Swimmer or 9” Doc, under low light those fish are inclined to pop on top! All those pogies have attracted tuna within 2 miles of shore with sightings and occasional spoolings occurring.

Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters told me those who are targeting tuna and know what they are doing are having no problem catching. The sweet spots between Stellwagen Bank and the backside are random with pogies being the go-to bait. Due to a glut in the market, prices for tuna are way down keeping many away making conditions less crowded for sport fishermen. Marked said that “The Race” is stacked with striped bass of various sizes. Mackerel, which are a tough pick now, do not last long before they are assaulted. Obviously the bigger pogy is a better choice if you want to cull out the cows.

Greater Boston

Captain Jason Colby is pulling the plug on flounder fishing in Boston Harbor, and just maybe – for good! No-one knows the state of blackback affairs better than Jason and anyone within ear shot – especially fishery managers – has heard him sounding the alarm for years. I have accompanied him to meetings with the last two directors of the DMF and in spite of us presenting irrefutable evidence that the stock is in trouble, they have refused to act. In addition to anecdotal evidence, we have presented them photos of an increase in net rash on flounder, an indication of more directed commercial effort, and affidavits from most every bait shop along our coast decrying a dramatic decrease in flounder and flounder fishermen. This could very well be the end of an era and it could have been avoided – so sad! Thankfully before Jason pulls his boat to the Westport/Buzzards Bay area and the panoply of species there, he’s treating charters to cows between Hull and the BG Buoy. While everyone else employs live bait, as befitting a guy with Montauk roots, he’s going old school and catching ‘em up on bunker spoons by day and eels at night!

The good news for those who don’t want to make the haul out to deep water is that there are big inshore fish as well, you just have to time it right. In addition to the deep stuff, Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing has been trolling pogies and catching well inside of the Tobin Bridge, by the North Washington Street Bridge and the Chelsea Creek. However it’s hard to keep up with this guy as we had to cut short our conversation as he was rocketing off on fresh intel of a big bite off Winthrop! His tip: don’t drift, troll those pogies and save temporary, daily waypoints! Brian will map out a temporary grid and troll over and over the same spots where he’s finding fish. At the end of the day he deletes those waypoints and begins anew the next outing.

Captain Anthony Ahrens of Chasin’ Tail Fisheries continues to pluck bigger bass out of inshore surface feeds by vertical jigging. Latest hot spots have been the Castle Island area, the Lower Middle and the short pier off Logan Airport.

Captain Paul Diggin’s of Reel Pursuit Sportfishing however is putting his large, luxurious sportfishing cruiser to good use by pointing his bow towards Graves Light and the BG Buoy and pounding those fish on pogies. With such a big, comfortable ride he’s also been traveling out to the tuna grounds where he recently bested a beast of a bluefin which took 3 hours and 15 minutes to subdue! Judging by the sweat and effort his crew was putting into catching Charlie, Paul said he was glad to just stick to the helm while the other guys fought that fish.

North Shore

Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem echoed what most everyone else is saying, pogies and big bass are all the rage! Nahant Bay out to Tinker’s Island has had a pretty good eel bite at night and a hit-or-miss bite on pogies by day. In outer Boston Harbor there has been schools of big bass pushing pogies and sea herring. Big topwater plugs such as the Magic Swimmer and Doc have become standard issue, but don’t discount a big metal lip either! Squid are being taken even during the day off piers in Marblehead, Salem, Beverly and Gloucester. The nighttime action is better but at least you have a daytime option. Schoolie surface feeds can be found inside the harbors and at the mouth of rivers.

Skip from Three Lantern Marine told me that those sticking to fishing inside the harbor in small skiffs, kayaks and from shore are catching schoolies, squid and flounder. Pogies are plentiful from the Groaner all the way through Ipswich Bay, but not every pod has the predators. Occasionally tuna are busting on the bait, remarkably close to shore. Mackerel are spotty but some are making it worth the effort because of the better strike to hook-up ratio compared to the larger pogies.

Captain Nat Moody has had luck putting a live mack rigged with an egg sinker under the bass on bunker bedlam. Tuna fishing is nothing short of fantastic and most are deploying pogies along the edges of Stellwagen with trolling working best since the fish are spread out. Martha from Surfland said that pogies off Plum Island are so plentiful that surf guys are snagging right from the shore! The bunker bounty does not guarantee a bass but it sure increases the odds! Martha also mentioned that anglers casting eels off the ocean front are catching better bass than the others. The kayak cadre trolling a tube-and-worm at Joppa Flats at dawn and dusk are finding consistent action.

Fishing Forecast

The spoiler in the big bass euphoria is that shore fishermen are feeling as if they haven’t been invited to the party. I feel your pain as my roots will always be that of a surf rat. Your best chance at a cow is to target shorelines closest to where the boat guys are catching. Point Allerton, the mouth of the Weymouth Back River, Neponset River, the mouth of the Mystic River and assorted beaches will have random visits by those big bass which have been such a story line this year. Toss eels and metal lips under cover of darkness and sooner of later it’ll pay off for you. Meanwhile a pogy on the line between Plymouth and Scituate is your best bet for a big South Shore striper, but with increasing tuna attacks be prepared for a chase or a spooling! The harbor remains hot with the action flipping between the Graves/BG Buoy and among inshore pogy schools. Nahant to Tinkers Island and the always interesting Ipswich Bay are good North Shore bets. And above all don’t be afraid to leave a pogy school for another pogy school, finding bait should not be the priority – finding big bass should be!