Pictured above: Jovanne Cosme of Winthrop caught this 46-pound striper while aboard Get Tight Sportfishing.
As temperatures rise, bait and bass are now moving northward with the epicenter of the cow pasture now on the North Shore. With plenty of pogies, the trick is to find which schools have striped bass. Just in is news of diced mackerel on the South Shore, so those linesiders may have some sharp-toothed competition soon!
Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report
Finally, South Shore striper sharpies don’t have to look at the luck of their Boston brethren and wince – they have their own now that a surge of 20- to 40-pound stripers have arrived. Pete from Belsan Bait in Scituate said that 20-pound fish have been pounding pogies 2 miles east of Egypt Beach. Bigger still have been belting those same bunker just east of Minot Light.
Fallback herring are keeping a few keeper-plus stripers sated at the mouth of the North River, however, anglers live-lining mackerel have had their bait chomped in half lately. Could it mean that “yellow-eyes” has finally arrived? Pogies are no problem to find between Sand Hill Beach and Bryant Rock. Not every pogy school has bass, so look and listen for the sweet sight and sound of upset pogies.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters said that Race Point has good if not great striper fishing while Scituate Harbor is home to schoolies. The crew, however, has its sights on tuna, which are averaging between 200 and 300 pounds and most prevalent on the backside of Cape Cod. On the morning I spoke to the skipper, he had already had two “knockdowns” on squids. Some mackerel can be found just outside of Scituate Harbor and the mouth of the North River but for more consistent macks, the edge of Stellwagen is where it’s at.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
Captain Jason Colby is more often than not putting patrons aboard the Little Sister into limits of flounder but it’s taking some effort and he’s consistently having to probe in deep water for the flatties close to Hull and the Brewsters. He’s also increasingly finding “interesting” striper marks in the Quincy side of the harbor and has been pounding likely linesider lairs with clams by day and eels by night!
It’s hard to keep track as to where Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing will be found next as he carves up Mass Bay in search of big bass. On Tuesday two friends of mine, Captain Carl Vinning and his mate Mike K, did loops around the Lynn area and save for a few schoolies had little to show for their efforts. No sooner did those guys leave then in came Captain Coombs and out came the cows, including a 46-pound fish! After commiserating with the dejected duo, it was learned that it was less what could be seen on the surface but more what Brian’s Humminbird side sonar marked – namely suspended pogies with big bass underneath. Keep on eye on your electronics as you sweep past Red Rock in Lynn through Swampscott and out to Marblehead. The key to the cows sometimes is finding subsurface schools of pogies. Hull still has surface feeds, but the action is mostly the work of schoolies. Keep an eye out for bigger fish feeds in deeper water from Point Allerton toward Graves Light. With rumors of bluefish on the South Shore, this area could see them next. The red-hot Revere through Winthrop bite has cooled down a bit for the moment, but bass are creatures of habit and in the past they have shown a penchant for returning to such locations when least expected.
Captain Paul Diggin’s of Reel Pursuit Charters told me that mackerel are a bit spotty at the moment with best reports coming from Flipp Rock out to the NC Buoy. While you’re there in deep water, try putting a mack down close to the bottom with an egg sinkers which is a favorite trick of Captain Diggins.
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that there is a lot of buzz about big bass from 30 to 40 pounds on the North Shore. The key is not just finding pogy schools but “nervous” bait that is tightly balled or “rushed”. Devereux Beach through Misery and Bakers Islands have had bass-on-bait blowups. Customers are also catching cows in Manchester Harbor. Squid are not numerous but those being caught off lit piers from Salem through Gloucester are big, with some 19” specimens!
Noel Leslie of Bridge Street Sport in Salem reported similar tales of big squid from Beverly and Salem. A best bet for flounder is at the mouth of the Danvers River by the Jubilee Yacht Club.
Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics said that the flounder fishing from North Shore piers is so outstanding that he’s been passing on boats in order to fish from shore there. As proof he sent me a picture of Antoine with a double-header which he had just plucked out of the water from the Swampscott area.
Skip from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester said the flounder can be found inside the harbor by Ten Pound Island. He also said that there are plenty of mackerel just outside of the harbor and schools of pogies from Thatchers Island out through Ipswich Bay. Just like the other areas, do not waste your time around unmolested schools but search to you find one which is being pushed by predators.
Martha from Surfland said that things have slowed down for surf fishermen, probably because the bass are shadowing schools of pogies which are just beyond reach of the casting crowd. At dark, the pogies will often come closer to shore bringing with them hope for the wading gang. The rivers have fish, but they tend to be smaller than what’s available at the ocean front.
Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts
On the South Shore, keep an eye out for pogy schools off Egypt Beach in Scituate; there have been 20-pound stripers shadowing the bait! For harbor flounder, track down the offshore migrating blackbacks off Hull and among the Brewster Islands. Bigger bass are now prowling around pogy schools from Lynn through Cape Ann. If the bait you encounter appears more relaxed than under attack, then keep looking for pogies that are pressured: there are 40 pounds worth of incentive to persevere.
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts
wheres the july 11 report?