Massachusetts Fishing Report – August 13, 2020

One of summer’s perennial playmates – bluefish – have been noticeably absent but from the South Shore through the North Shore, gators have suddenly appeared and occasionally with a vengeance. Greater Boston continues to be among the best bets for a big bass although a drop in water temperatures in Cape Ann have been calling in a few cows also.

Massachusetts South Shore and South Coast Fishing Report

During those rare moments when the Little Sister Charters crew is not chirping “I’m on” or even better, “Get the net!” a popular pastime is to compile a species count. The number can sometimes climb into the double digits. A recent trip on Coxes Ledge was a perfect example with Captain Jason Colby putting patrons into cod, haddock, pollock, black sea bass and winter flounder. Be that it was the flounder which first hooked me on fishing that report had me especially jealous! Another neat tidbit was that of the all the cod that were caught there wasn’t one that wasn’t a keeper. Mahi mahi are out there too, but what’s not is the high flyer lobster pot buoys where they tend to congregate. Still should you venture out there and see flotsam of any sort, lob a few casts into that direction.

Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters experienced a similar bluefin bite on the bank as we did over the weekend – a bad one. Watching and listening to the rest of the fleet left one inescapable conclusion, Charlie was not playing nice on that day. There was plenty of bait, whales and birds – all strong indicators – but marked tuna were down deep and showing little interest in angler’s wares. Mark did find hefty haddock around Stellwagen as well as big bluefish hunkered down in 60’ of water by the channel before Minot Light. The fish were fooled by bucktail jigs snapped where they were marked. Scituate Harbor continues to be crawling with sub-slot stripers with the occasional keeper in the mix. You would not want to be a tinker in that harbor for sure!

Captain Rich Antonio of Black Rose Charters faired better on the bluefin front as he found more willing fish on the backside of the cape. In fact I heard a number of reports of tuna action in such areas as the Regal Sword. The skipper is also making the occasional successful doormat fluke run to Nantucket Shoals.

Captain Mark Petitt of Fire Escape Charters said it all regarding a recent trip, “Ah, what a day!” For the crew it was a 10 blue shark outing on Wildcat Knoll! Stripers and blues from CCB to the Three Bays have been pretty consistent with the big blues the big news. There also have been increasing reports of fluke in the Kingston and Duxbury area!

From Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate came news of peanut bunker resulting in surface feeds at the mouth of the North River. For a shot at a bigger bass, troll a tinker mackerel from Minot Light out through Hull – fish up to 35 pounds recently have been caught this way. Second place in the big bass sweepstakes has to go to nightime eel slinging at Second and Third Cliffs. Strangely adult pogies are among the missing on the South Shore.

Greater Boston Fishing Report

Locally its still a “triple H” show – the Hub’s harbor remains hot! Less frequently are the deepwater humps the ticket and more often the fish are closer in. Because of that kayakers and surf casters are getting in on the action increasingly provided they fish between dusk and dawn. Eels and large soft plastics such as the GT Eel are drawing a lot of strikes!

For a hint as to where to go I enlisted the services of Captain Sam from Boston Saltwater who has been doing well with fish up to 49” in shallow water off West Guy, Wollaston Beach and Broad Sound. Finding pogies helps short-circuit the search for big striped bass. Macks can be jigged up at sunrise by Graves Light and as close as Flipp Rock.

With the predicted east wind soon to hit our coast, Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing is betting that it will bring on the feast. Odds are good that dropping water temperatures and those onshore winds will push in sea herring which should re-ignite the hump/topwater bite which is the skippers calling card. Meanwhile he’s been poking around Broad Sound, Lynn Harbor and Nahant Bay while more often than not culling out cows for his charters.

In addition to the other locations Captain Paul Diggins of Reel Pursuit Charters has been trolling X-Raps and umbrella rigs from Broad Sound to Egg Rock and he continues to do well on mixed sizes of bass.

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Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report

Strangely there has been a Greater Boston gap in bluefish reports but the North Shore has picked up right where the South Shore left off – with numerous gator reports!

Sam from Tomo’s Tackle has even been picking them up right from the shore with some fish reaching 38/39”! His go-to lure has been Yo-Zuri’s new 3D Inshore Twitchbait. Some beaches to consider are Nahant’s Long Beach, King’s Beach and Devereux Beach. Anglers trolling tinker mackerel in Beverly Harbor are reporting cut-offs as the big blues inhale the bait and severe right through the leaders or cut pogies cleanly in half. There has been an uptick in good stripers taken from shore for those casting eels as well. There even has been a few fluke caught in the harbors of Salem and Beverly.

According to Mat from Three Lantern Marine a drop in water temperatures has resuscitated life in Gloucester Harbor. No longer stuck in the stifling lower 70 degree range striped bass up to 49” have now moved into the harbor on the pogy schools.

Unprepared anglers continue to be schooled and spooled by tuna busting on the bunker schools as close in as the Groaner. A better bet if you’re prepared for pelagics is to check out Jeffrey’s Ledge or Tillies. While you’re at it, drop down a speed jig or diamond jig, you shouldn’t have long before a few haddock find your offering.

Martha from Surfland Bait and Tackle said that lately it has been a family/schoolie show now that the Parker River Wildlife Reservation is open and being utilized. Worms, clams, sunsets and schoolies make for a pretty good way to enjoy Plum Island and many are doing just that. Pogies are around but more towards the Salisbury side of the Merrimack River. With less bait your odds of finding a hungry bass increase should you find a school.

There are some murmurs of fluke but no specifics. If I were to give it a go, I’d like to try an outing tide drift through Plum Island Sound with a Spro Jig on the bottom and a long leader and squid strip about a foot above!

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The wait is on for a real shake-up to our fishy situation with the pending east winds sure to energize everything from tuna to stripers! Meanwhile, the best bluefin catching seems to have shifted from Stellwagen to the backside of the Cape. That could be tentative, however, because those on the bank were marking fish, they were just reluctant to eat! Big bluefish have finally made an appearance in deep water near Minot and with a little east-wind coaxing could cruise in close to shore from Plymouth to Cohasset. The pogy schools off Wollaston Beach continue to attract the cow crowd and with blues now part of the equation be prepared to have an occasional pogy sliced and diced. Beverly Harbor has been holding a few blues and with more tolerable temperatures stripers have moved in on the menhaden in Gloucester Harbor! The night/eel squad are focusing in on Lynn Harbor, Long Beach, Beverly Harbor and Manchester Harbor and doing well. For those more interested in a decompressing, fun outing the folks spiking their rods in the evening sands of the Parker River Wildlife Reservation are reveling in schoolies, occasional slot-fish and sunsets!