We are now in that rarified time when yesterday’s “nice” striper will quickly be bested by tomorrow’s bigger fish! For schoolies, rivers will continue to be where it’s at for the foreseeable future but some are now beginning to pay more attention to beachfronts where the winning formula will be big baits for big bass!
Massachusetts South Shore Fishing Report
File this one under the “can’t touch this” category. While scouting around for haddock, Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters found a pile of 28” plus cod in only 55’ of water in Cape Cod Bay! This is just another indication that less nets out there is resulting in more inshore life! The intended species was found as well and not far from port in Plymouth. Mark also marked but didn’t jig for mackerel. Toss in all the sea herring many are talking about and you can’t help but think that when those cows come grazing the South Shore is going to erupt! In spite of being shackled by the governments suspension of “for hire” vessels, Captain Mark Rowell couldn’t wait to get out there when we spoke after hearing of a red hot striper bite in the South River! The North River has been good also according to Mark, but he gives the nod to the South.
If there ever was a fluid fishing snapshot it is now with the current biomass consisting of two main sizes of fish: 11-15” fish and 21-25” fish. But boy is that ever about to change! In fact according to Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate, the fuse is often lit by a sustained southwest wind which is precisely what is predicated for this weekend. Just in case, check that drag! Haddock remain in close by Stone Ledge/Stoney Bar.
Greater Boston Fishing Report
If you’ve been the recipient of Captain Jason Colby’s stream of emails/reports through the years than you are well aware of what “net rash” is. For those who don’t know, net rash is the abrasions on a fish when it manages to escape the clutches of a net. Over the last few years, Jason has been witnessing and documenting an increase in the volume of flounder displaying these scars, indicating that increasingly commercial entities have been targeting flounder. But there has been a drop this year and with water temperatures now topping 50 degrees, he’s been limiting out on fat flatties up to 17 1/2 inches long! And if ever there was a year when we needed the family-friendly flounder than this one is it! Interestingly during a recent trip, clams out-fished sea worms!
Lisa from Fore River Bait and Tackle told me that other anglers have been getting in on the flounder fun off Peddock Island, Hospital Shoals, Sculpin Ledge and Deer Island Flats.
Striped bass are now plentiful in Boston Harbor with fish up to 32” falling for clams below the Fore River Bridge. Other rivers which have been hot are the Weymouth Back River and especially the Neponset River. One of the shop’s hot lures has been the 5” Bill Hurley Swim Bait.
After weeks of chasing schoolies from the South Coast through Greater Boston, Matt from Monahans Marine in Weymouth is beginning to transition towards the imminent arrival of bigger fish. He’s now given to working bigger profile offerings such as Danny’s and Redfins and he’s fishing at night! Shallow beaches in the evening are stop-overs for big bass migrating northward. You won’t get the action others will have in rivers but you stand a better chance of getting that early season cow!
Captain Paul Diggins has his Reel Pursuit purring and poised to launch at it’s slip in the Charlestown Marina. Paul is a live mackerel pro and with a fresh report of a bass-on-mackerel blitz by Boston Light, you might see him out there this weekend.
Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing continues to bounce back in forth between Boston Harbor and Buzzards Bay giving him a unique perspective on what’s on the way. He called the mid-20” fish which are swarming the harbor now and he hopes to have news of drag-pullers which are on the way, stay tuned!
Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett said that flounder are now being caught right from the shoreline, almost like the “old days”! Lynn Harbor has been good as has Deer Island and the Belle Isle Marsh. Small boaters/kayak anglers have been finding flatties by Snake Island.
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
Sam from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that plentiful pogies on the North Shore are a harbinger of explosive things to come when the big bass show up. Last year one of the hotter early season bass bites took place between Tinker Island and Baker Island and it was pogies that provided the fuel for that feed. Right now it’s a schoolie show with seemingly every river on the North Shore holding fish. Mackerel are beginning to make an appearance in Nahant Bay. Anglers looking for flounder are finding them in the Revere/Lynn area.
Noel Leslie of Bridge Street Sports in Salem said that flounder, stripers and even tautog are being caught by the Kernwood Bridge. The patron targeting tautog plies the pilings at slack tide with seaworms and purportedly couldn’t care less about striped bass!
Martha from Surfland said that right on schedule for mid-May is the outgoing tide bass bite by the sandbar on the Merrimack River. Some anglers are tallying double-digit catches on a tide with bass up to 31”! Bucktail jigs or leadhead/soft plastics are all that are needed here. The ocean front is beginning to take off as is Plum Island Sound. After weeks of hit and miss shad fishing in the Merrimack River the action is finally consistent with schoolies joining in the fun as well.
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
If you can hit the pause button on striped bass hysteria there is still some mighty fine freshwater fishing to be found with the added bonus of pressure waning.
Eddie of B&A in West Boylston gave me a dizzying array of recent trophies taken from Wachusett Reservoir. It sounded like a “who’s who” of what swims in the Chu, from 5 pound bronzebacks to 4 pound salmon to lakers of over 10 pounds, Wachusett is hot right now and with striped bass invading the coast, many anglers have now shifted their focus away from freshwater.
Patrick Barone of Charter The Berkshires told similar tales about the South Hadley section of the Connecticut River regarding the shad run as well as post-spawn pike. The fish are plentiful as pressure wanes.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
Expect the schoolies of the Three Bays and South River to be supplemented by fish that will test your tackle within the week! Flounder fishing in the harbor and beyond is in fine form from Quincy Bay through Lynn Harbor. To check off all the boxes take along some clams to go along with the seaworms. On the North Shore the phenomenon of the red hot outgoing bass bite at the mouth of the Merrimack River is going on right now!
It’s Game On!
Tight Lines
Let them be shackled! They think they own the oceans and every striper belongs to them. Don’t believe the fake news. The commercial guys and all those that profit from it , like charters, caused the striper down fall.
Well said JC from Lynn. People like you Ron kiss up to the “for hire boats” because they take you fishing for nothing. The vast majority of us earn our fish ourselves.
The blame game. Everyone is responsible but you. Just keep pointing your finger at every other group rather than accepting the fact. Everyone that goes fishing has a piece of the pie. If you hook fish you kill fish.
True. But my piece of pie is a lot smaller than theirs. They are more than a piece of pie. They’re an entire bakery
Can’ we all get along! There should not be a commercial fishery for stripe bass. Walmart Burger King looking for help.
Small, shiny jerkbaits. Anything with some silver or gold flash in it, 4-6 inch minnow style hard plastics have been consistently producing very well for me in the late afternoons the past 2 weeks. X raps have been stellar, some bigger fish including 1 keeper on an SP minnow, bomber long has been working, also yo Zuri crystal minnow and mag darter have been effective. Haven’t tried top water yet, been having to much fun ripping these baits. Looking forward to tossing some bigger plugs in the surf soon
Fish are moving through each and every day and getting bigger with every tide! Plenty of bait around and things are looking to shape up well by end of the week and into June! Remember to crush those barbs when you can and get the fish back in the water within ten seconds! As always practice Catch, Photo, Release (CPR) as much as you can!
Tight Lines ladies and gents
P.S- White tsunami paddle tails have been en fuego