If you’ve been chasing striped bass since April, and just maybe earlier if you’re a holdover loony, than chances are you may be in need of a change. Filling that void is the arrival of bonito! While it is not unheard of to have these fish rip through Massbay, to have this happen in July is extremely rare. Even more exceptional is the size of these fish which would be impressive even in Buzzards Bay!
Massachusetts North Shore Fishing Report
No, this is not a typo as this week the major story is coming out of the North Shore. Sam from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that he and some pals have been catching 3 to 4 pound bonito off of the Cape Ann shoreline! This coupled with a similar report from Surfland Bait and Tackle had me shaking my head and wondering whether this was the other cape they were referring to! Sam’s been catching them while ripping in X Raps and Coltsnipers, both of which can be worked at a high speed. Best of all he’s catching from the craggy shoreline of Cape Ann!
The lead-in story from Liz of Surfland was of Mike Parent, a shop regular, who had just tallied an “Island slam” as she called it off the oceanfront. The “slam” consisted of bonito, bluefish and of course your run-of-the-mill striped bass.
When we have an exceptionally warm June, strange critters tend to creep on up north. I’ve actually alerted some Maine friends who are flexing their fly rods in anticipation! With the monsoons pretty much in our rear view mirror for the foreseeable future, it might be time to revisit rivers and other inshore areas as well. Now that most of the freshwater has flushed out, cooler ocean water has brought bass back to areas which a week or so ago seemed barren of life.
John from Three Lantern Marine in Gloucester told me that both schoolie and big bass have been active in Magnolia, Gloucester Harbor as well as outside of the Dogbar Breakwater. Pogies are a tough find but there is no shortage of mackerel to fill the bait void. Tuna however are the big story off of this historic fishing community. John himself battled 6 mixed sizes including giants in only a few days and not surprisingly described his condition as “crippled”! Stellwagen as well as “north” are holding fish and live mackerel or sea herring are the baits. His tip this week is to put one bait just above the bottom! On one of the days a fish hit seconds after the bait was lowered and they were back on the dock by mid-morning! Plum Island Sound, Joppa and the rest of the Merrimack River were declared a dead zone after the deluges but according to Liz the stripers are back there! Trolling mackerel in tight in Ipswich Bay has been one of the more productive striper producers Tuna have been observed exploding on bait just off Halibut Point!
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Massachusetts South Shore/South Coast Fishing Report
While meaning no disrespect to Fenway Park’s iconic food peddlers, hearing “peanuts” from a bait shop owner in my opinion is far sweeter! Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that shoals of those precious little pogies have appeared off Rexhame Beach, Peggotty Beach and up into Hull. While no feeding activity yet, that will surely change. Peanuts not only provide the fuel to a solid fall striper run but when we also have a bonito presence the clash of bait and those tiny tuna can be epochal! Regarding stripers, rivers have regained their appeal now that the brown water has been flushed out and the green, cooler oxygenated ocean water has reclaimed the rivers. Serpent slingers at night in Green Harbor as well as the Three Bays and the North River are finding impressive fish again. Off the Glades and Minot has been good for anglers trolling mackerel and there has also been a commercial presence at night with eels being deployed.
Captain Mark Rowell of Legit Fish Charters told me that anglers fishing around a mackerel bait ball on Stellwagen Bank are likely to come up with anything from a tuna, to a halibut to a thresher shark! There’s a lot of life out there! Stone Ledge is still producing a hot haddock bite with anglers who have earned their stripes catching limits! Mark has also been trolling up mid-30” stripers off Minot on mackerel.
Captain Jason Colby now has tautog to add to his Little Sister Charters agenda out of Westport. If you’ve fished with the skipper, you know he always keeps a crab trap boatside at his slip. Ordinarily this time of the year it’s filled with spider crabs and few of the preferred green or Asian crabs. On a hunch he tried the spiders and found out that they are producing tog! He claims that a “certain” type will work but having this plentiful prey present is a boon to say the least for later in the season when he’s all in on tog. Stripers continue to swarm the Westport River; in fact two charters caught slot stripers right off his docked boat on clams while waiting.
Captain Bruce Calvin of Strike II Charters told me that high fliers near The Claw and The Dump are now holding mahi mahi! The crew also took a 63” tuna on a mackerel by the Regal Sword.
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts
Greater Boston Fishing Report
Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy said that anglers are finding pogies in the Town River and the Fore River. A kayak customer is snagging them, transferring the bait to a rod with an inline circle hook and then catching large right in the shadows of the Fore River Bridge. The same guy is getting them also on eels – during the day no less! Now that the freshwater has flushed out of most of the rivers, the Weymouth Back River, Weir River and Neponset Rivers are all fishing well for striped bass. A few decent bluefish have been caught off Wollaston Beach on pogies and the Santini tube-and-worm. When asked which color, she listed red, black, bubblegum and honey mustard in that order. Regarding that early warm-up to June phenomena, black sea bass in good numbers have moved into the Quincy through Hull area with the “Guts” fishing best. In fact one angler reported 70 fish during an outing! Squid and scup can both be found off Nut Island Pier.
While hot on the subject of the Santini tube, I spoke to the man himself – Pete Santini – who told me that Johnny “Plankton” Hoffman has been trolling up nice stripers with his honey mustard tubes off Long Island and Spectacle Island, with the latter fishing best by Lion’s Rock. Possibly because of the early bump in water temperatures the wharves in the Charlestown section of the harbor have plenty of tautog and Lynn Harbor/Point of Pines continues to hold fluke.
Captain Paul Diggin’s of Reel Pursuit Charters said that he’s having to cover a lot of water to put patrons into fish but when he does the bass are special! He’s opting for mackerel by day but under low-light conditions he’s switching to X-Raps, Mojo Rigs and his own umbrella rigs. His theory is the when dark-ish the fish are transitioning and moving quickly so with artificials he can cover more water and also when bass cannot see as well they are more apt to be duped by a ersatz offering. As always the catch-and-release cow catching kayak cadre led by Billy “bass” Eicher continue to catch along area beaches at night in water as shallow as two feet! Eels of course work but so will Hogy Slappy Eels and Gravity Tackle Eels. The closer water temperatures get to a stripers ideal temperature range – 55 to 65 degrees – the more aggressive they are and the more inclined they are to fall for a lure.
Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing has been putting his sophisticated Humminbird side sonar system to good use and not only finding pogies in the harbor but besieged bait at that. A recent outing underscored this advantage as a patron of his plucked out big bass in the middle of a pressured pod of pogies surrounded by other boats.
If you’re wondering where Captain Sam from Boston Saltwater report is, you’ll have to wait a bit longer as his ride is temporarily seeing a medic. He can’t back in the salt soon enough as he is fresh from his best outing ever!
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
While we’ve had a cool July, the migratory fuse was already lit in June resulting in some southern “exotics” such as bonito moving up north. To target them pay rapt attention to fast-paced feeds off of rocky shorelines off Nahant, Marblehead and Cape Ann. The presence of peanut bunker on the South Shore this early is a great sign of blitzes to come, especially as the calendar turns to August. Regarding bonito’s bigger cousin, the tuna game off Stellwagen bank and off Jeffrey’s Ledge is on! Should you be launching from the North Shore it might behoove you to load up on macks and take a look in close at Ipswich Bay where Charlie has been crashing bait right off the shoreline. As for stripers, take another look at rivers that were producing pre-torrent.
The traditional ways of surfcasting are, for the most part, all but forgotten. I have had too many conversations with anglers lately, regarding the fantastic fishing off our local beaches that I have been experiencing. The darter and needlefish bite has been superb. The response I get is, “What’s a darter, how do you work it and what do they look like?”.
Unfortunately, we have come to a time where the majority of anglers solely know how to throw a magic swimmer in a 7-mile funnel. No longer are there anglers studying the cuts, rips, troughs, and so on of our local beaches. It is sad to see the industry turning in this direction and generally speaking, turning into a couch sitter’s “activity”.
Get off your @$$, put in your time, enjoy the solitude, and maybe you will start to learn a thing or two in regards to the excellent surfcasting opputunities along the Massachusetts Coast.
Well written!
Very accurate as well.
Right on as usual H,T. A lost art for sure. I also remember my elders teaching me the multiple correct methods to casting different types of lures, chunk baits ect. Tight lines.
You got that right Walleye! The fishing is on fire in our local waters right now, as I know you already know. The past 7 days have resulted in slot fish, over slots, and plenty of 25-30 pound fish to keep one occupied!
Tight Lines
H.T./Walleye! Thanks a bunch for the vital information about the Three Bays! If that doesn’t give readers incentive to keep casting I don’t know what will. And I totally agree that learning the nuances of structure/current and how to present a bait properly pays dividends all around. Good points. It’s also nice to hear of a nice diversity of year classes!
-Ron
Night time is the right time ?